...but he should be ok.  At least, we hope he is.  Here's a snicker inducing, cherry picked quote from the Free Press:

“I felt my groin a little yesterday in the third period."--Valterri Filppula

Hey, so did I while I was watching TV...what guy doesn't?  Actually, truth be told, I was brewing beer with brother in law, a little Christmas present from my sister was a beer brewing kit.

But fear not, ladies... Val said that he is absolutely playing tomorrow.  As Pav would say, "for sure".

Kronwall should be good to go in about two weeks tops, which is outstanding news.

Here are the lines for tomorrow against Pinky's Wild:

Bertuzzi-Datsyuk-Zetterberg
Cleary-Filppula-Miller
Draper-Helm-Eaves
Leino-Abdelkader-Maltby

Lidstrom-Rafalski
Meech-Stuart
Lebda-Ericsson

Howard (starting)
Osgood (whining)

Sorry, Ozzie...but you're pissing us all off.

NHL.com has a few good quotes from Babcock and a few players which help paint the picture of what the attitude is like for those not disgruntled Chris Osgood...

"Don't get me wrong, we're in the winning business and we need points, but I like the way our team has played.  We know we're a work in progress and we think we're getting better all the time. I think if you ask their team how our team played I think they will be fairly respectful to say the least. They got the points here (in D.C.) and that's what it is all about, winning, but they know who had the puck."--Mike Babcock

Who could argue with that?  The Wings have indeed been playing a better game as of late.  If you forget about the fact we only got two past Alex Auld in Dallas, the games against Chicago and last night against Washington were pretty sound games.  If you add Kronwall, Franzen, and Williams in the past 3 games, we might have managed to win all three.

Apparently, I'm not the only one who doesn't like watching the out of town scores...

"It's different.  When you're scoreboard-watching to see how other teams are doing, it's different. But, it makes games like (Tuesday's) real important as opposed to previous years when we'd come in and not necessarily know it was a given, but we would know we had a real good chance of winning if we played our game."--Dan Cleary

Well...honestly, Dan, you should still feel that way.  I don't know where the lack of confidence is coming from.  Perhaps the whole injury situation is starting to wear on the players as well.  Maybe they feel like the teams they're playing have gotten that much better.  It could be a combination of the two.  Either way, this team even with Franzen and Kronwall is still a top eight team in the West (or should be, as the case may be).

"We've had a few games like this where we should have pulled away or we should have gotten a second goal earlier in the second period but we didn't and teams find a way to beat us.  That's a little bit of what we have seen so far, but I do think we have been getting better at playing as a team again by keeping goals against down and keeping scoring chances down. We haven't been able to score as many goals, and that's been one of our problems."--Nick Lidstrom

Bingo.  Trash Ozzie all you want, but we should have scored more than two goals last night.  Osgood obviously didn't need to steal this game.  And he certainly didn't save it.  But the fact of the matter is scoring two goals in this NHL is simply not good enough on most occasions.  We had multiple chances that we didn't convert.  Soft goaltending plus failing to execute on golden scoring chances (yes, you, Bert...) almost always yields zero points in the standings.

Usually when a player start feuding with the head coach, one of them is sent packing.  So is Chris Osgood and Mike Babcock's relationship damaged?  It certainly seems like when you see what Ozzie was telling the Detroit News...

"I haven't played in a month.  I think if I had played a little more -- I mean those were good goals -- but I still think I could have stopped them if I was in more of a groove. You take what you can get, I guess."

Babcock has already decided to start Howard on Thursday.  He said that it was because the team needed points.  That didn't sit too well with Mr. Osgood:

"I've gotten him a lot of points, you can write that.  I got him to the Stanley Cup Finals the last two years, you can write that, too."

This is getting heavy...so far as to say that it appears Ozzie was quasi-accusing Babcock of setting him up for failure last night against the Caps.  When asked about getting his first start in a while against the highest scoring team in the league, Ozzie quipped:

"Yeah, that's quite a coincidence.  Or maybe not."

I have a feeling that this is not going to end well.  Like I said, when a player feuds with the coach, one of them has to go.  When it's a star on the team, usually the coach gets the axe.  But when the disgruntled player is Chris Osgood, and the trade deadline is approaching....finish that sentence.

The Wings beat themselves last night.  There were many things that went well.  Rafalski was excellent.  The "Little Red Corvettes" line gave Washington fits all night.  We were peppering Theodore throughout the entire game.

But our bad "puck luck" returned.  Shot after shot last night would get deflected and miss the mark.  Bouncing pucks never seemed to be favorable on the Red Wings' behalf.  We could have blown that game wide open at any point.  But Washington held off each time, just waiting for their chance to strike.

We let them.  Bertuzzi takes a needless tripping penalty 160+ feet from his own net late in the third.  You knew they were going to score on that powerplay.  Stuart got turned inside out by Backstrom on a routine one-on-one (the move that beat him was nothing special).  And Osgood looked....well, like Osgood quite frankly.  And that is far from complementary.

Maybe you give Ozzie one more chance to start in the next game.  But at this point, if last night was the best he had to offer, no matter how "stagnant" he was, then maybe he needs to be put back on the shelf.

At least San Jose beat LA.  We're still only one point out of 8th place in the West.  Anaheim is coming up fast though, they're now tied with Dallas just three points behind.

We controlled 55 minutes of that game last night, but let the two points get away from us in the final 5 minutes.  Those are the kind of games that sting.

This one hurts.

The Wings outplayed for near 60 minutes (or at least I was told they did, I missed the first 30 minutes of the game) a team that many, if not most of the NHL "experts" have picked to win the Stanley Cup.  They held the "Great 8" to zero shots on net.  No other team has done that all year long.  Think of that. They outshot the Caps 44-23, an outstanding statistic.   After the first, it was 15-3 in favor of the Wings.

All that for a 3-2 loss to the team from the nation's capital.

0 Shots for OV, but a W anyways.

The Wings are playing very well lately, however, they seem to have forgotten how to do a very important thing.   Win the game.  That was the difference tonight, one team knows how to win games, the other has gotten a bit too accustomed to hard fought games that could go either way.

These Red Wings, many of which have won multiple cups before, have got to get back to winning and winning often.  Because if they don't, well, there aren't many more games that they will be able to take a mulligan on before they find themselves out of the playoff race for good.

Nobody wants that.

Couple quick notes:

• Solid game from Val tonight, picking up two assists.  On the PP, he seems to be the only one actually heading towards the net with the puck rather than sitting there waiting for someone to pass it to. 
  
  
• Before people attack Bert for that last call against him, that was nothing more than a fluke of having his stick in the wrong place at the wrong time.  The Wings got a make-up call right after that on Knuble, but weren't able to take advantage. 
  
  
• Knuble is one of those guys you have to just respect. Michigan man and likely secret Wings fan at heart.
  
  
• Osgood played exactly how he's played all year.  Alright, but not good enough to win.  Backstrom's goal was not only stoppable, but a must stop.  He's not giving the Wings any reason to keep playing him and his comments aren't showing anything but someone who isn't willing to fight for the starting position.  Now he didn't play poorly today, but I think with Howard in net, the Wings win this game. 
  
  
• All that being said, simply put, Detroit has to score more than twice on 44 shots.  The fault isn't on Ozzie there. (Though Jose Three-or-four did get an assist...)
  
  
• Check out Babcock's Death Stare's "Ultimate Offseason Guide" for a great read.  I think he's got it pretty much down other than resigning Meech.  I'd rather they resign Robert Lang at this point. 
  
  
• Speaking of signing, Sykora was put on waivers today by the Wild.  Now I'd say this might be a decent pickup if it didn't come with the baggage of his agent. 
  

Wings Three Stars

1.) Valtteri Filppula - Solid game, he controlled the puck well and looks confident.

2.) Brian Rafalski - Slapper only goes in because of the quickness of the release.

3.) Helm.  For Herm.

Here's what we're going with tonight at Verizon Center via Khan(!)...

Bertuzzi-Datsyuk-Zetterberg
Cleary-Filppula-Miller
Draper-Helm-Eaves
Leino-Abdelkader-Maltby

Lidstrom-Rafalski
Meech-Stuart
Lebda-Ericsson

Osgood (starting)
Howard

That's right, Ozzie is back (starting) between the pipes for the first time in what seems like a dog's age.  Here's what the Wizard of Oz had to say:

“At the start of the year Howie didn’t play for about a month and then I didn’t play for a month. To me that’s not a good way of doing things, to let one guy get stagnant.  You have to have both guys going, especially with the amount of games we have, especially coming back after the Olympic break we have a ton of games in March. So we have to have two guys in case something happens.’’

Stop whining, Osgood and be happy that you're getting the nod tonight.  Chances that this little stint is a last ditch effort to get Ozzie's value up come trade deadline?  I'm just throwing it out there...

Oh and why not play Ville Leino tonight?  This is the exact place that he started getting us all excited.  Maybe he can re-capture some of that magic tonight.  Please?  Pretty please?

Well...while we're waiting for the diggers to give us some news about tonight's lineup, here's what Zetterberg told the Free Press about tonight's game.

"We've just got to play like we did and take care of our own end, and then we'll get the chances and put them away. It's going to be a challenge for us and we're looking forward to it."

Is Washington's offense comparable to Chicago's?  I'd probably say so.  Chicago has arguably more depth, while Washington's main gunners are more dangerous.  I hate to keep ragging on the guy, but Derek Meech didn't play in our win against the Caps back in October and I think I'll keep my eyes closed if I see him out with with Ovechkin/Backstrom/Semin.

Hurry back, Nik Jr.

Two out of four possible points over the weekend isn't terrible, I guess.  Detroit's schedule seems a little more screwed up than usual this season with West Coast trips ending on Long Island and playing a game in Dallas and then a game at home within 36 hours.

Speaking of that game in Dallas, I know it was a few days ago, but I feel like more should be said:

November 18th, 2009: Brad May finds the puck on his stick and shoots it into the net.  Ref calls it no goal.  The replay shows the puck crossed the line.  Over the net cam shows the puck crossed the line.  Reverse angle shows the puck crossed the line.  No goal.

January 16th, 2010: Steve Ott tries to slide a shootout attempt past Jimmy Howard; he doesn't.  The ref calls no goal.  The replay shows that the puck was never across the line.  Over the net cam shows that the puck never crossed the line.  Reverse angle shows that the puck never crossed the line.  Goal.

Oh...and both of those scenarios just happened to be against the Dallas Stars oddly enough.  Your replay system is broken, Gary, please fix it.

Not really much to say about the Chicago game other than it was a pretty good entertaining game.  If Franzen and Kronwall were playing?  It might have turned out a little different.  Still, it was nice to Detroit let the kids from Chicago know that the team they shut out a few weeks ago is gone forever.

We have yet another chance to climb into the top eight in the Western Conference tonight against the Capitals.  That is, if Detroit wins and San Jose beats Los Angeles later tonight. 

Detroit hasn't played too well in Verizon Center in recent past.  But they did handle the Caps way back on October 10th when Ovi and the boys came to the Joe.  They made Ovechkin look human and they won.  That, of course, was before Derek Meech was in the lineup.  Babcock would do well to make sure #23 or #5 in white is out on the ice when red #8 is on the prowl.

There is something about Detroit playing Dallas that makes the NHL turn into some f'ing retard from the Jersey Shore and somehow NEVER get the f'ing call right.

Unless within 24 hours a clear photo comes out that shows me that the puck was entirely over the line, the NHL just totally f'ed the Wings here. Again. Against the f'ing Dallas Stars.  AGAIN.

There is no way, showing what they did on the SD feed on FSN, to say that the puck was in and overrule the referee that was in perfect position for once.

If there isn't a photo or view that shows up very soon, I'm not sure what more needs to be said that everyone in control of the NHL needs to be fired.  Start from f'ng scratch.

Wings win a game 3-1, play decent, but bet you can't guess who was on the ice for the only goal against?  No, surprisingly not Brett "I'm an offensive defenseman who doesn't score" Lebda.  Yes, obviously the answer is f'ing Derek Meech.

This is clearly a photoshop, as Meech has never hit anyone, ever.

Meech has done the "un-possible" and made me forgot my hatred of Brett Lebda.  During a time when, other than against a team owned by an I don't give a crap Asian named Wang, the defense has been very solid, Meech has pulled off an incredible run of, well, just being terrible.  We need Kronwall back worst than Micheal Moore needs to hit the toilet after a late night Taco Bell run.  In fact, here's a short list players I'd rather have play in Meech's place.

Doug Janik

Actual picture of Doug Janik (as of 1/14/10)

Larry Murphy

Even with his current serious drinking problem, strange hair, and obvious affliction for little boys (okay, I made that up, but doesn't he look like he'd be one of those in this pic?), he'd be better than Meech.

Steve Chiasson

Apparently Chiasson played for the Wings during the Civil War era, because this black and white is the only picture in the world (aka Google) of him playing for Detroit that isn't an autographed hockey card for sale for probably a nickel.  But if he's still alive, which he might be, he'd be better than Meech.  Updated by Drew: Chris was honestly unaware of Steve's tragic and fatal car accident back in 1999.  Please don't hold that against him.  The fact remains that Chiasson was better than Meech.

Mike Babcock

Babbles was a defenseman in his playing days and actually scored 132 points one season in the BHL, which, when converted to NHL points, is 3, one more than Meech.  Reggie Dunlop anyone?

Joe Men's Leaguer

Well, this one might be about the same, because this is where Meech should be playing.  Simply, you can't get much worse.

Traffic Pylon

Because just like Meech, it would just be a minor inconvenience for opposing defensemen.  But unlike Meech, you don't have to feed it during road trips. And it probably gets knocked over less.