Detroit Red Wings Game 3 Preview: Vancouver Canucks
The Detroit Red Wings host the defending Western Conference Champion Vancouver Canucks tonight at 8:00 PM at the Joe Louis Arena.
Vancouver’s 2010-11 Numbers
| W | L | OTL | PTS | Divisional Finish |
| 54 | 19 | 9 | 117 | 1st |
Regular Season Numbers
| W | L | OTL | PTS | Division |
| 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | Tied for 2nd |
Top Three Scorers from 2010-11
| GP | G | A | Pts | |
| Daniel Sedin | 82 | 41 | 63 | 104 |
| Henrik Sedin | 82 | 19 | 75 | 94 |
| Ryan Kesler | 82 | 41 | 32 | 73 |
Top Three Scorers this Season
| GP | G | A | Pts | |
| Daniel Sedin | 3 | 2 | 3 | 5 |
| Henrik Sedin | 3 | 1 | 4 | 5 |
| Alex Burrows 3 1 2 3 |
The Canucks come into tonight’s game with Detroit battered and bruised early this season. Mason Raymond, Ryan Kesler, and Aaron Rome have all not yet played a game in this young season. None of them figure to play tonight as well. As shown above, Kessler is a major piece (both offensively and defensively) of this team, and Raymond is counted on for secondary scoring from the second or third line.
There is still plenty of talent to keep Vancouver in games though. The Sedins are as good as ever. Alex Burrows balances their top line. Mikael Samuelsson, Chris Higgins, and Marco Sturm provide a dangerous second line. The remaining forwards are grinders for the most part, led by Jannik Henson, Manny Malhotra, and Maxim Lapierre
A common question in Vancouver is “What’s up with Roberto Loungo?” Though 2 games are a small sample size, you hate to see your all-world goaltender with a 3.89 goals against and a .855 save percentage. The back-end is still very solid with names like Salo, Bieksa, and Edler, so you have to wonder what the trouble is.
I hate to be a homer, but I like the Wings chances to go three for three. The Wings can match the Canucks top two lines, and still control the game with thier talent on the bottom two lines. Would love to see a big game from Jimmy Howard.
Projected Red Wing Lines
Danny Cleary — Pavel Datsyuk — Jiri Hudler
Valtteri Filppula — Henrik Zetterberg — Johan Franzen
Justin Abdelkader — Darren Helm — Todd Bertuzzi
Drew Miller — Cory Emmerton — Tomas Holmstrom
Defensive Pairings
Nicklas Lidstrom — Ian White
Niklas Kronwall — Brad Stuart
Jonathan Ericsson — Mike Commodore
Goalie – Jimmy Howard
Changes – I do expect to see Mike Commodore tonight. After missing the first two games of the regular season because of a sore knee, I think Coach Babcock will want to see him in the line-up. The top 4 will be the top 4 all year barring injury. In addtion, I think Cory Emmerton and Drew Miller will be in the line up, as those two continue to rotate with Patrick Eaves to get everyone time.
Prediction: Wings 4, Canucks 3