I know we need to win now, but I think he should sit out on Saturday.  Conklin looked fantastic yesterday, and I think he has something to prove.  Starting him against the BJ’s would be just fine with me.  Additionally, groin injuries are a very nagging injury and it could easily flare up if he tries to return too soon.

Posted by Itrusteddrrahmani from Nyc by way of A2 on 03/22/12 at 01:12 PM ET

Screw it, get Howard completely healthy. The Wings aren’t in danger of missing the playoffs, and the way San Jose has been playing, I’d almost rather see the Wings have the 6th seed, where every day Dallas and/or LA look more and more like the 3 seed with the Sharks scuffling.

Posted by Nathan from the scoresheet! on 03/22/12 at 01:21 PM ET

I’d say to let him sit on Saturday.  A little more time to heal would be a good thing.

Posted by hockeychic from Denver, CO on 03/22/12 at 01:25 PM ET

If he’s not literally 100%, let him rest. Conks did fine last night, might as well give him a few more starts for the risk we went through putting him through the waiver wire.

I’ll even sacrifice Howard starting at all for me this week in fantasy semi-finals…

Posted by MarkK from Maryland on 03/22/12 at 01:31 PM ET

What they’ve said above.

Posted by mrfluffy from Long Beach on 03/22/12 at 01:36 PM ET

obviously Conks playing time in GR here tuned up his game. Watch the 5 hole Ty….PLEEEEEEZE

Posted by Rdwings28 on 03/22/12 at 01:37 PM ET

Conks did fine last night, might as well give him a few more starts for the risk we went through putting him through the waiver wire.
Posted by MarkK from Maryland on 03/22/12 at 11:31 AM ET

He won’t have to go through waivers again to be sent down. He won’t meet the minimum days up/games played requirement for that.

Posted by RyanVM from Philly on 03/22/12 at 01:46 PM ET

Is Janik’s return to GR a “help the Griffins while the Wings have an off-day” type of thing or does it mean a d-man (Lidstrom??) is back in the lineup?

Posted by deezer on 03/22/12 at 01:56 PM ET

Is Janik’s return to GR a “help the Griffins while the Wings have an off-day” type of thing or does it mean a d-man (Lidstrom??) is back in the lineup?

deezer, the answer is yes.  Grand Rapids needs him.  He can be recalled for Saturday if needed.  It does look like either Kindl or Lidstrom (or both) will be back on to face the Hurricanes.

I think the question with Howard’s groin can best be answered by Howard.  If he feels he is ready, let him play Saturday. 

People have been so enthusiastic about how Conklin played against New York that I guess they were watching a different game.  Conklin is a terrible puck handler these days.  He got in trouble behind the net at least three times and one of those should have resulted in a goal.  It was plain good luck that kept that from happening.  He still spits out uncontrolled rebounds way too often.  The defense was on top of that in New York, but they have not been earlier in the season.  In other words, at his best, Conklin scares the hell out of me.  At his worst, he makes me shut off the game as I cannot stand to watch.

Doc

Posted by DocF on 03/22/12 at 02:05 PM ET

Are the Wings better off holding him back and let him play in one of the Columbus games or are you okay with him playing Saturday?

I completely agree with DocF. If the doctors say nothing is wrong with Howard, it’s up to how he feels playing. With Conklin back for now, he can be pulled if it starts bothering him during the game. But if he doesn’t play, he might get rusty like Conklin did earlier.

Posted by bleep bloop on 03/22/12 at 02:26 PM ET

Is Janik’s return to GR a “help the Griffins while the Wings have an off-day” type of thing or does it mean a d-man (Lidstrom??) is back in the lineup?

According to Brendan Savage, both: Ken Holland says they expect Kindl or Lidstrom to be ready and Kindl says he expects to play Saturday.

Posted by bleep bloop on 03/22/12 at 02:30 PM ET

The following is a statistical analysis of West Conference based on 10 games (#63-72) and projected to games 73-82.

These are the actual standings after game #72 played for every team:

Team       DIV   GP   P   ROW   L10 (incl. SOW)

1. St Louis     CEN   72   98   41     7-2-1 (0)
2. Vancouver     NW   72   94   36     3-5-2 (0)
3. Dallas     PAC   72   83   33     7-2-1 (2)
4. Nashville     CEN   72   92   38     6-3-1 (1)
5. Detroit     CEN   72   92   37     3-6-1 (0)
6. Chicago     CEN   72   86   34     6-3-1 (1)
7. L Angeles     PAC   72   82   30     7-3-0 (1)
8. San Jose     PAC   72   82   29     3-4-3 (1)
9. Phoenix     PAC   72   81   30     3-5-2 (1)
10. Calgary     NW   72   80   31     6-3-1 (0)
11. Colorado     NW   72   80   29     7-3-0 (2)
12. Anaheim     PAC   72   71   27     3-6-1 (0)
13. Minnesota NW   72   70   23     2-7-1 (1)
14. Edmonton NW   72   64   24     3-5-2 (1)
15. Columbus CEN   72   53   19     5-5-0 (1)

And this is how the final standings would look like if every team maintained the same win/loss rate in their last ten games of the season (#73-82):

1. St Louis     CEN   82   113   48     7-2-1
2. Vancouver     NW   82   102   39     3-5-2
3. Dallas     PAC   82   98   38     7-2-1
4. Nashville     CEN   82   105   43     6-3-1
5. Detroit     CEN   82   99   40     3-6-1
6. Chicago     CEN   82   99   39     6-3-1
7. L Angeles     PAC   82   96   36     7-3-0
8. Colorado     NW   82   94   34     7-3-0

9. Calgary     NW   82   93   37     6-3-1
10. San Jose PAC   82   91   31     3-4-3
11. Phoenix     PAC   82   89   32     3-5-2
12. Anaheim     PAC   82   78   30     3-6-1
13. Minnesota NW   82   75   24     2-7-1
14. Edmonton NW   82   72   26     3-5-2
15. Columbus CEN   82   63   23     5-5-0

As horrible as the RW have been playing in games 63-72 (3-6-1), if they earn the same amount of points (7) in their last ten games of the season they would finish 5th or 6th.
They have already played games #73 and #74 and collected 1 point. They need 6 more in their last 8 games. I think even Griffins can do that.
And it looks very much like finishing 5th or 6th will be decided in the very last RW game - Sat Apr 7, 2012 CHI at DET.

Posted by Alex on 03/22/12 at 02:35 PM ET

Sorry Alex, your last comment was caught in our spam filter, all ok now.

Posted by Paul from Motown Area on 03/22/12 at 02:53 PM ET

Even before Radulov returned to Nashville, I wanted no part of them in the playoffs this year.  Now with him in the mix, Nashville is the last opponent I want to see in the first round.  Better for the wings to finish 6th than 4th or 5th. 

Bring on the Coyotes/Stars/Sharks, even the Blackhawks, even if we lose home ice.  If Chicago gets hot and passes either or both of the Wings (i.e. gets 4th or 5th seed), the Wings can’t face Nashville in the first round.  So go Hawks’... (reswallowing mouth vomit).

Posted by Puppies and Hookers from La la land on 03/22/12 at 03:00 PM ET

So classy and nice of you to fix it personally and let me know.

Posted by Alex on 03/22/12 at 03:01 PM ET

So classy and nice of you to fix it personally and let me know.
Posted by Alex on 03/22/12 at 01:01 PM ET

He’s like that.

Posted by 42jeff from Minot, North Dakota on 03/22/12 at 03:08 PM ET

I guess it’s up to Howard, but I’d sure like him to wait until he’s sure it’s all better.  The fact that he re-injured it makes it seem like he came back too soon last time.

Posted by MsRedWinger from Flori-duh on 03/22/12 at 03:38 PM ET

Here’s a thought on Conklin.  He’s FAR better when the situation is desperate and he’s THE guy rather than just a number-two guy coming in to give Howard some rest.

Remember he played very well a couple years ago when Osgood was playing like crap and got essentially benched in February of ‘09?  I think he needs to have something on the line to get UP for a game.

Which means he’s a headcase, just like most goalies.  But it also suggests letting Howard rest.  We’re screwed for home-ice—might as well get healthy…

Posted by Chris from DC on 03/22/12 at 04:16 PM ET

I was not thirlled with Conklin’s performance last nite, despite only giving up 2 goals. That said, we need a healthy Jimmy for the playoffs almost as much as we need a Healthy Lidstrom.

Posted by Nate A from Detroit-ish on 03/22/12 at 04:23 PM ET

I guess it’s up to Howard,
Posted by MsRedWinger from behind rose-colored red and white glasses on 03/22/12 at 01:38 PM ET

No, it’s not, or at least it should not be. Jimmy is a gamer. He wants to be in there every minute. He fought hard over a lot of years to make it to the NHL and he is not going to let an injury keep him out of there. I love that attitude. BUT it makes him the least able to judge whether or not he is ready to play. It’s like a pitcher in baseball, they never want to come out of the game and they always lie to the manager about how they feel.

At the end of th SJ game, Jimmy had trouble getting up. Look at 3:33-3:38 of this video. He braces himself on his stick to get back to his feet.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NSXxnTTUMFk

Groin pulls are kryptonite to goalies. I say sit him down until the for the next 6-7 games and give him a game or two before the playoffs start. The losing streak isn’t his fault or Joey’s or Conk’s; it’s been a team effort to suck this bad.

Posted by CaptainDennisPolonich from Warm and sunny SoCal on 03/22/12 at 05:26 PM ET

He should get more than 2 games to get his timing where it needs to be for the playoffs and I’m sure that’s what he’s worried about since he’s already missed so much time recently.

This Joey mac injury if fuching with my Chi.

Anyone else not too excited about Kindl coming in to replace another D man?  I thought Smith was absolutely stellar last night.  Kid’s hockey vision is outstanding, works his stick like Lidstrom, fast enough to recover to position, meaning more pinches to keep sustained pressure (which is was phenomenal at)

I like Janik out there too and Smith seems to play well when paired with him, they know eachother and it shows in Smith’s play and Janiks steadiness.  Not to mention Janik came close than any other dman to tyting the game.

Lot to be excited about, ESPECIALLY drawing Bubba in the first round.  Fuch this being scared shit, go big or go home.  If you can’t beat them now, might as well hit the courses early instead of the same cock teasing we’ve got the past two years.  Trashville is the perfect team to awaken the beast, and if they don’t, it’s on the players and at least I can go on my spring fishing trip.

Posted by HockeytownOverhaul on 03/22/12 at 06:45 PM ET

Lot to be excited about, ESPECIALLY drawing Bubba in the first round.  Fuch this being scared shit, go big or go home.  If you can’t beat them now, might as well hit the courses early instead of the same cock teasing we’ve got the past two years.  Trashville is the perfect team to awaken the beast, and if they don’t, it’s on the players and at least I can go on my spring fishing trip.

Posted by HockeytownOverhaul on 03/22/12 at 04:45 PM ET

Bring it on!

Posted by calquake on 03/22/12 at 07:06 PM ET

Lot to be excited about, ESPECIALLY drawing Bubba in the first round.  Fuch this being scared shit, go big or go home.  If you can’t beat them now, might as well hit the courses early instead of the same cock teasing we’ve got the past two years.  Trashville is the perfect team to awaken the beast, and if they don’t, it’s on the players and at least I can go on my spring fishing trip.

Posted by HockeytownOverhaul on 03/22/12 at 04:45 PM ET

There you go.

Posted by mrfluffy from Long Beach on 03/22/12 at 07:07 PM ET

Yeah, the big bad Predators?  After getting their asses handed to them yet again tonight, they’ve now posted exactly one win in their last five.  I happened to watch the one game they did win recently, and trust me they were badly outplayed that night too, but their backup goalie flat out stole one for them.

Since when are we afraid of these guys?  The last time the two teams met, the Prednecks, with a completely healthy squad, on home ice, managed to squeak out a hard- fought one goal win over a badly depleted Detroit team that had played the night before.  They’ve won one game since.  These guys aren’t exactly the 1976-77 Canadiens, gang.  Give me an even somewhat healthy Detroit team and I’ll take that matchup!

Posted by WestWing from Portland, Oregon on 03/23/12 at 12:19 AM ET

Jimmah please sit until groin feels better honestly.
I’m with Quake. Bring bubba on. Last time Radulov played against us in the playoffs, he knocked out his own guy in a goal celebration . Hopefully he will destroy the chemistry and identity of this team just like Forsburg did a few years ago. Hell I would like to play the sharks , but they are struggling to even make the playoffs.
We always do well when we confront and beat the team which knocked out in the previous year. Except last year. Ahhh you know what I mean.

Posted by cigar_nurse from Greenville South Cakalakee on 03/23/12 at 12:30 AM ET

You guys are nuts.  Yes you can beat them, even in 6.  But there is no way it won’t cost you three bodies minimum.  San Jose is the soft target, and revenge will awaken the beast.  50/50 they miss it, but that’s what I’d hope for.

Posted by tuxedoTshirt from the Home of the 1937 World Champions on 03/23/12 at 04:31 AM ET