Abel to Yzerman

Abel to Yzerman

Preview And Notes- Detroit Red Wings/Minnesota Wild

01/20/2015 at 9:40am EST

via Dan Myers at NHL.com,

Season series: The Minnesota Wild and Detroit Red Wings each won on home ice last season. The Red Wings won 4-3 at Joe Louis Arena on Mar. 23. Detroit forward Gustav Nyquist had three goals in the two games. The Wild are 4-3-0 in their past seven games in Detroit.

Wild team scope: Minnesota will be playing the second half of back-to-back games following a 3-1 loss to the Columbus Blue Jackets Monday in St. Paul. Forward Mikael Granlund, who has missed the past 10 games following wrist surgery, and goaltender Darcy Kuemper, who has missed six games with a lower-body injury could return to the lineup. "(Granlund) is a guy that's a huge part of our lineup and a huge part of our team, and certainly we've missed him," coach Mike Yeo said after the game. Kuemper was activated from injured reserve on Monday, but with three healthy goaltenders, was scratched from the lineup. Yeo did not rule out the possibility of Kuemper starting in goal on Tuesday.

Red Wings team scope: Detroit has won four games in a row and six of its past seven following a 6-4 win against the Buffalo Sabres Sunday. With Jimmy Howard (groin) out indefinitely, 22-year old Petr Mrazek has taken the reigns in goal and won four of his past five starts, including each game of a back-to-back set over the weekend. "It's like being on the mound in baseball," coach Mike Babcock told the Red Wings website. "When they give you run support, it's way easier to be great. … I thought the guys got off to a good start and then he was big and square." The Red Wings have scored 17 goals during their winning streak, led by Henrik Zetterberg, who had a hat trick against the Sabres and leads Detroit with 41 points this season.

TEAM STATS
GP RECORD HOME ROAD L10 G/GP GA/GP PP% PK% PIM/GP S/GP SA/GP FO%
Minnesota Wild 45 20-20-5 11-7-5 9-13-0 3-6-1 2.71 2.91 14.9 83.6 10.3 31.9 26.9 49.3
Detroit Red Wings 46 26-11-9 15-4-6 11-7-3 7-3-0 2.89 2.35 25.2 85.4 8.2 30.2 26.9 54.1

DETROIT RED WINGS

THE MATCHUP

- Tonight is the 50th all-time meeting between DET and MIN
- Tonight is the 1st of 2 meetings this season between DET and MIN, only meeting in DET
- DET took 3-of-4 points vs. MIN in 2013-14 (3-2 W on 3/22, 4-3 OTL on 3/23)
- DET’s all-time record vs. MIN: 31-9-3-6
- DET’s all-time home record vs. MIN: 16-4-1-4
- Brendan Smith has 5 points (2-3-5) in 5 games vs. MIN
- Pavel Datsyuk has 28 points (9-19-28) in 39 games vs. MIN
- Gustav Nyquist has 4 goals in 4 games vs. MIN
- Henrik Zetterberg has 34 points (15-19-34) in 36 games vs. MIN
- Niklas Kronwall has 15 points (1-14-15) in 28 games vs. MIN
- MIN’s all-time top scorers vs. DET: Ryan Suter (4-18-22 in 52 GP), Mikko Koivu (6-12-18 in 27 GP), Matt Cooke (8-9-17 in 39 GP), Zach Parise (5-3-8 in 10 GP) and Thomas Vanek (4-4-8 in 14 GP)
- Six MIN players skated for the US NTDP in Ann Arbor: D Keith Ballard (1999-00), F Charlie Coyle (2—0-10), F Zach Parise (2001-03), F Jordan Schroeder (2006-08), D Ryan Suter (2001-03) an dF Jason Zucker (2008-10)
- MIN assistant coach Rick Wilson skated in 77 games for DET in 1976-77, recording 16 points (3-13-16)

ZETTERBERG MOVES PAST ULLMAN; DATSYUK APPROACHES FEDOROV

Heading into Sunday night’s game against Buffalo, Henrik Zetterberg trailed Norm Ullman by one point among Detroit’s all-time scoring leaders. With four points (3-1-4), Zetterberg jumped Ullman to become Detroit’s seventh all-time leading scorer. Meanwhile, Pavel Datsyuk picked up an assist to put him within two of tying Sergei Fedorov for fifth all time in assists.

BACK-TO-BACK STATS

Tonight marks the third straight game that Detroit’s opponent is playing the second half of a back-to-back. Prior to facing Detroit on Saturday, Nashville defeated Washington 4-3 before losing to the Red Wings 5-2, and Buffalo lost 4-3 to Philadelphia on Saturday prior to falling 6-4 to Detroit on Sunday. Last night, Minnesota took on Columbus and lost 3-1.

Detroit has played 12 games this season against an opponent that played the day before; they will play 21 such games this season (next occurrence: March 6 vs. Calgary). The Red Wings are 7-2-3 this season when facing a team that is playing the second game in a back-to-back set.

RECENT/UPCOMING MILESTONES

- Weiss played in his 700th NHL game on 1/13 at BUF
- Glendening played his 100th NHL game on 1/15 at STL
- Datsyuk surpassed 550 career helpers with 2 on 1/17 vs. NSH and is 2 behind Sergei Fedorov for 5th in DET history
- Babcock is tied with Toe Blake for 28th in NHL history in games coached (914); he also coached his 750th for DET on 1/18 vs. BUF
- Detroit won its 2,800th game as a franchise on 1/18 vs. BUF
- Nyquist scored his 50th NHL goal on 1/18 vs. BUF
- Abdelkader is 1 goal shy of 50 in the NHL
- Datsyuk is 2 games shy of tying Nick Libett (861) for 12th in DET history in games played (3 games shy of tying Ted Lindsay at 862)

THIS DATE IN RED WINGS HISTORY

January 20, 1970 – Gordie Howe scores his 10th and final goal in an NHL All-Star Game, notching the game-winner as the Eastern Conference defeated the Western Conference 4-1 in St. Louis.

MINNESOTA WILD

WILD INJURIES

D Keith Ballard (IR) – 19 games (upper body)
C Mikael Granlund (IR) – 12 games (fractured left wrist)
D Justin Falk (IR) – 3 games (upper body)
2014-15 TOTAL MAN GAMES LOST: 129

WILD vs. RED WINGS

All-Time Wild Record: 15-25-9 overall (7-9-8 at Xcel Energy Center, 8-16-1 at Detroit)
2013-14: Minnesota went 1-1-0 in two games against Detroit last year...The Wild lost, 3-2, at Xcel Energy Center (3/22) and earned a 4-3 victory at Joe Louis Arena (3/23)…C Charlie Coyle (2-1=3), C Mikko Koivu (1-2=3) and LW Matt Moulson (1-2=3) led Minnesota with three points each…G Darcy Kuemper stopped 27-of-30 shots in the first meeting while G Ilya Bryzgalov made 13 saves in the second meeting...RW Gustav Nyquist (3-0=3) and D Brendan Smith (1-2=3) led Detroit with three points…D Jakub Kindl (0-2=2), C David Legwand (1-1=2), C Riley Sheahan (0-2=2) and LW Tomas Tatar (1-1=2) registered two points each…G Jimmy Howard went 1-0-1 with a 2.95 GAA and a .891 SV% in two starts.

WILD LEADERS: D Ryan Suter paces the Wild with 22 points (4-18=22) in 52 games against Detroit...Koivu has 18 points (6-12=18) in 27 games…LW Matt Cooke owns 17 points (8-9=17) in 39 contests... LW Zach Parise has eight points (5-3=8) in 10 games.
WILD GOALIES: G Niklas Backstrom 2-4-3 with a 3.11 GAA and a .915 SV% in 11 games (nine starts)…G Devan Dubnyk is 2-1-2 with a 2.47 GAA and a .924 SV% in five career starts…Kuemper is 1-1-0 with a 2.54 GAA and a .918 SV% in two career starts.
RED WINGS LEADERS: C Henrik Zetterberg owns 34 points (15-19=34) in 36 games against Minnesota...C Pavel Datsyuk has 28 points (9-19=28) in 39 matches...RW Daniel Cleary owns 27 points (12-15=27) in 47 contests…RW Johan Franzen has 24 points (13-11=24) in 28 games.
RED WINGS GOALIES: Howard is 10-3-3 with a 2.21 GAA, a .907 SV% and one shutout in 16 starts vs. Minnesota...G Jonas Gustavsson is 1-1-0 with a 2.54 GAA and a .902 SV% in two starts…G Petr Mrazek is 0-1-0 with a 3.04 GAA and a .875 SV% in one career start (2/17/03)…G Tom McCollum has not faced the Wild.
CONNECTIONS: Rick Wilson skated in 77 games with Detroit in 1976-77.
FAST FACT: Minnesota is 5-3-1 against Detroit over the last three seasons and has earned a point in nine of the last 11 games played at Xcel Energy Center (4-2-5)…The Wild is 4-3-0 in its last seven games played at Joe Louis Arena.

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Welcome to Abel to Yzerman, a Red Wing blog since 1977. No other site on the internet has better-researched, fact-laden and better prepared discussions than A2Y. Re-phrase: we do little research, find facts and stats highly overrated and claim little to no preparation. There are 19 readers of A2Y. No more, no less. All of them, except maybe one, are juvenile in nature. Reminding them of that in the comment section will only encourage them to prove that.

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