Bruce MacLeod, the hockey beat writer for the
Macomb Daily, reports that the
Detroit Red Wings will formally shuffle their second, third, and fourth lines for tonight's Game 6 of the Western Conference Finals. The top line, composed of
Henrik Zetterberg,
Pavel Datsyuk, and
Tomas Holmstrom, will remain unchanged.
The main move is the promotion of
Jiri Hudler from the fourth line to the second, where he spent much of Game 5. He'll skate on
Valtteri Filppula's wing with
Dan Cleary.
With 13 points, the diminutive Czech is Detroit's
fourth-leading playoff scorer despite averaging just 10:58 in ice time troughout the postseason. He scored the only Detroit goal in Game 5.
Hudler has long produced consistently at a rate out of proportion to his ice time, but has had trouble gaining a second line spot on a deep Detroit squad. He has a bit of a reputation of having a poor work ethic and is considered to be among the weakest Detroit forwards in his own end. The first charge is largely unfounded, as Hudler generally shows a lot of hustle. There's something to the second charge, but he has made enormous strides since hitting the NHL. Apparently, not enough, as his continued relegation to fourth line purgatory indicates.
As a consolation, head coach Mike Babcock lets him out of the doghouse long enough to quarterback the second power play unit.
He has matched Zetterberg's power play production this post-season.
Avalanche 4, Flames 3: Colorado ended a four-game losing streak with its win over Calgary on Monday night, thanks in large part to a three-point effort from Marek Svatos. Svatos chipped in two goals (including the eventual game-winner late in the second period) and added an assist, while Ryan Smyth registered a pair of helpers in the win. 
