MacDonald

The Detroit Red Wings started slow and ended strong in a 5-2 victory over the last place Columbus Blue Jackets tonight.

Johan Franzen got his first point in five games on a first period goal, which was quickly followed by a tally by Rick Nash, who by the way still plays for the Jackets.

The Red Wings played a sloppy second period and the score remained 1-1. Although they were missing Nicklas Lidstrom, Pavel Datsyuk and Kyle Quincey (Ericsson doesn't count), the players that replaced them were very good in this game, most notably Brendan Smith. More on that in a bit.

The Blue Jackets scored a shorthanded breakaway goal due to the fact that Jiri Hudler sucked tonight a...

The San Jose Sharks have knocked the Detroit Red Wings out of the playoffs in the Western Conference Semifinals two years in a row. Their regular season success has been dominant against Detroit, and when the Sharks visit Joe Louis Arena tomorrow, they know what's at stake.

The Red Wings have not lost at home for 22 consecutive games. Their record at JLA is an amazing 25-2-1. 

Expect the Sharks to proceed with caution as Detroit has been unstoppable at home. Mike Babcock has even said he doesn't think the Wings are playing their best hockey, just managing to win games.

The Red Wings will get a huge boost with the return of goaltender Jimmy Howard from a brok...

The Detroit Red Wings won their 18th straight home game tonight in a 4-2 win against the Edmonton Oilers. Though it wasn't a pretty game, Detroit got a huge boost from the physical play of Justin Abdelkader.

He took on Ryan Jones after a big hit on Ian White, dropping the mitts and hanging on against the much stronger Jones. It energized his team and they went on to take a 2-0 lead on goals by Johan Franzen on a powerplay and Cory Emmerton on a scramble. Abdelkader drew an assist on Emmerton's tally, driving to the net and jamming a shot on goal resulting in a rebound and a wide open net for Emmerton's 6th of the year.

Edmonton eventually scored on one of th...

The Detroit Red Wings announced today that goaltender Jimmy Howard is out for the next two games with a broken finger on his blocker hand.

Howard appeared to injure it on a shot a few minutes into the third period of yesterday's game in Vancouver. He was seen shaking his hand repeatedly and eventually went to the bench to get it taped. Howard finished the game, stoning the Canucks and stopping both shootout opportunities.

It's a good thing that the injury isn't serious because this means Ty Conklin will start the next two games against the Oilers and Coyotes; both away games. Howard should be back for the Wings home game against the Oilers and the Ducks. He'd b...