Standings: Red Wings (44-25-4), Rangers (45-20-7)

NYR Leading Scorer: Marian Gaborik (35-31-66)
DET Leading Scorer: Pavel Datsyuk (17-43-60)

NYR Goaltender: Henrik Lundqvist (53 GS, 1.89 GAA, .934 SV%)
DET Goaltender: Ty Conklin (9 GS, 3.40 GAA, .880 SV%)

Rangers Lines (probable):

Carl Hagelin-Brad Richards-Marian Gaborik
Brandon Dubinsky-Derek Stepan-Ryan Callahan
Mats Zuccarello-Brian Boyle- John Mitchell
Mike Rupp-Artem Anisimov-Brandon Prust

Ryan McDonagh-Dan Girardi
Marc Staal-Michael Del Zotto
Tim Erixon–Stu Bickel

Probable Scratches/Injuries:  Mike Sauer (concussion), Steve Eminger (undisclosed injury), Jeff Woywitka (healthy), John Scott (healthy), Ruslan Fedotenko (healthy), Anton Stralman (healthy)

Preview: The Wings have the Rangers number. They have won five in a row and 12 of 13 against the Blueshirts. But this time it’s different, the Wings are decimated by injuries, and the Rangers are coming off an emotional win against the Devils where they clinched a playoff spot.

Out for the Wings tonight: Jimmy Howard, Niklas Lidstrom, Darren Helm, Johan Franzen, Jonathan Ericsson, and Joey MacDonald. It’s so bad for the Wings that they didn’t even know if Conklin was starting today until noon, when he cleared waivers.

I don’t watch much of the Red Wings, so I don’t know too much about their forechecking strategies. They don’t strike me as a trapping team, so this could be a fast paced game. The Rangers need to take advantage of the shorthanded Wings, and put some distance between them and the Penguins/Flyers.

Crazy Thought: Zuccarello gets in a fight.

Opposition Blog: Nightmare on Helm Street

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