FanHouse DetroitRedWings

The defending Stanley Cup Champion Detroit Red Wings have hit a couple significant road bumps this month in their bid to repeat. Those bumps came in the form of a pair of Saturday losses in which they surrendered a total of 16 goals to possible first-round opponents. The losses provided a stark reminder of the team's major issue this season: defense.

The Central Division rival Detroit Red Wings and Nashville Predators met for just the second time this season Tuesday night in Tennessee. The result was 5-3, which is about the score you'd expect, except when you drop Pavel Datsyuk's late empty-netter.

The Wings outshot the Predators 51-21, but came disturbingly close to losing. They led 3-0 after five minutes into the second period, but the game was within a goal of being tied by a minute after the halfway mark. Detroit pulled head again, only to see the Predators come within one goal, again. What should have been a clear-cut win turned out to be in doubt until the final minute.

The Detroit Red Wings and the Pittsburgh Penguins meet for the second time this season Sunday afternoon on NBC. The Penguins hold a 1-0 advantage in the regular season Finals rematch series with a come from behind win on November 11th.

The two teams have had trouble since that game, but have found success in their recent games. Detroit won its third in a row Saturday with an 8-3 decision over Edmonton, and Pittsburgh has won its last two. Both teams will look to continue their respective turnarounds today. Hit the jump to read the discussion resident Pens guy Adam Gretz and I had on the game Saturday afternoon.

The Detroit Red Wings continued their sluggish recovery from five-game losing streak Wednesday with 5-4 win over the Phoenix Coyotes. The game came two nights after an ugly win over St. Louis and was just the Wings' fourth in ten games.

It was a game of role reversals relative to Monday's against the Blues. Whereas Monday it was Chris Osgood who kept his team in it and put them in a position to win in shootout, Wednesday it was Osgood's teammates who carried their goaltender to a tick up in his win column.

The Detroit Red Wings defeated the St. Louis Blues, 4-3, in shootout Monday night to bring an 0-4-1 skid to a halt. It was perhaps their ugliest win of the season, as they allowed 33 shots to the last-place Blues while mustering just 21 of their own.

The win should provide a boost to a team struggling under the weight of injuries to key players such as Henrik Zetterberg, Tomas Holmstrom and Brad Stuart. Their troubles in recent weeks have been reminiscent of last season's awful, injury-plagued month of February, their worst of the season. Last night may have been what the team needed to snap out of it.

The Detroit Red Wings and the Washington Capitals face off today at 12:30 ET for the one and only time this season. Although the game could be considered a potential Stanley Cup Finals matchup, it hasn't received a lot of hype this week. Eric McErlain and I discussed the game Friday, covering topics ranging from the matchups to the future of both franchises. To a fan who rarely gets to see Washington in action, Eric had a lot to offer. Hit the jump to check out what he had to say.

Detroit Red Wings general manager Ken Holland told the Detroit Free Press' Helene St. James Sunday that progress has been made in the contract extension talks with forward Henrik Zetterberg over the past two weeks. According to Holland, "[t]here's still a little work to be done," but things appear to be on track enough to describe a deal as "close," as St. James does.

Holland hopes to have Zetterberg signed to a long-term contract by the March 4 trade deadline. That would be a month earlier in the year than Pavel Datsyuk signed a seven-year extension on April 6, 2007. Datsyuk makes $6.7 million a year, but is likely to be underpaid relative to his Swedish friend. Most reports on the Zetterberg talks have numbers in the $7-$7.5 million range.

The Detroit Red Wings and the San Jose Sharks meet Saturday night for the third time this season in a battle for supremacy in the West. A regulation win for Detroit would put them in first, while a point for San Jose would preserve their place in the standings.

The series is tied 1-1, with the defending Stanley Cup Champion Red Wings decisively winning the most recent meeting, and the Sharks winning the first. The Sharks will be looking for payback for the 6-0 drubbing they suffered at the hands of the Wings on December 18th.

Bruce MacLeod reports that Detroit Red Wings captain Nicklas Lidstrom will miss tonight's home matchup with the Chicago Blackhawks. It will be just the 30th game Lidstrom has missed over a career that began in 1991.

The defenseman has been out since taking a Shea Weber shot off his left ankle last week. An MRI yesterday revealed no break, but Lidstrom is evidently still experiencing discomfort and perhaps swelling. At this point in the season, the team isn't taking any chances by rushing him back. His status for Thursday's Winter Classic at Wrigley Field is still in doubt.

Chicago-born defenseman Chris Chelios will play against his former team tonight in Lidstrom's absence. It will be just his third NHL game this season.

MacLeod also reports that Mikael Samuelsson missed practice today due to what would probably go down in the injury logs as the flu. Defenseman Derek Meech skated with the forwards in the optional practice this morning and will play on the fourth line if Samuelsson is still too sick to play.

Tonight may not be pretty, Detroit fans, with with Lidstrom's absence on top of the Hawks' winning streak and the Wings' back-to-back losses to subpar teams.

The game, by the way, is the 700th meeting all-time between the Wings and the Hawks. Sorta makes you wonder why the schedule couldn't have been rigged to cause the Winter Classic to be that meeting.

The Detroit Red Wings host the San Jose Sharks tonight in the second of four games between the two teams this season. San Jose won the previous meeting 4-2 at home.

The Sharks stand atop the League standings with a remarkable 25-3-3 record through 31 games. They have been playing the game at such a high level that criticisms regarding the influence of their three shootout on their record-breaking start seem weak. Shootout wins or not, this team is the best in the NHL right now and has had one of the best opening stretches in League history.

They are coming off a 2-1 overtime loss to Columbus last night and will no doubt be at their best against their coach's former team.

The Wings hold down the #2 spot in the West, but are behind San Jose by nine points. Their record is 20-6-4, but as I wrote Tuesday, that record paints a false picture of how the team is playing. They are certainly suffering from some kind of Cup hangover and have yet to find their stride through 30 games.