The Setup: Red Wings vs. Oilers – 12/3/09

As a Wings fan, one of the most surprising things of the past week was the fact that we actually had a few days off in between games. It’s been a rarity recently, as the Wings managed to cram what seems like a million games into the month of November. OK, maybe it wasn’t a million games, but it sure seemed that way during that abysmal run of losses. At any rate, the break allowed me to drop some posts with actual analysis and opinion and also allowed the Wings to get a few days of rest and, presumably, have a few days of maintenance for any bumps and bruises that were picked up along that bumpy November road.

Wait….what? More injuries? Naw…

“He (Brian Rafalski) had some back stiffness yesterday,” Babcock said. “We just didn’t feel with his history that wouldn’t be worth pushing it today.”

Forward Patrick Eaves (sore left ankle) skated but will not play.

Best laid plans…

At any rate, the Wings are required to field a team for tonight’s event, and in doing so have recalled defenseman Jakub Kindl, who will be making his NHL debut tonight. Always the master of excitement, Mike Babcock has decided to put the pressure squarely on Kindl’s shoulders by reinforcing his “he has to become an NHL player at some point” statement by sticking Kindl on the top powerplay line with Nick Lidstrom. It’s not so much a knock on Kindl’s abilities (12 points in 19 games for Grand Rapids this season), but holy crap Mike Babcock, there’s no way Kindl is a lateral move from Rafalski (which may be a good thing at this rate.)

Anyway, here are the forward lines for tonight, as Mad Magician Mike has yet to figure out his defensive alignments:

Line Pairings

Forwards

Holmstrom-Datsyuk-Leino

Cleary-Zetterberg-Bertuzzi

Draper-Helm-Miller

Maltby-Abdelkader-May

Defense

(Some assortment of:)

Lidstrom

Stuart

Ericsson

Lebda

Meech

Kindl

Goaltender

JIMMAH

Other News and Notes:

• Well hey now, apparently Babcock figured out that Todd Bertuzzi and Pavel Datsyuk just aren’t getting it done together, so Ville Leino makes his way onto the top line tonight. For a guy who has done as little as Leino has, maybe playing alongside Pav will give him the kickintheass he needs. I’ll be keeping a close eye on this line.
• Stick tap to Petrella for pointing out that Kindl’s start makes him the first Red Wings player to make his NHL debut since the aforementioned Ville Leino did it on Jan. 31, 2009. FTR, Leino scored a goal in just over 12 minutes of ice time in that game. Your move, Jakub…
• If you need more information on the banged-up Oilers squad, might I suggest you head over to Blogging for Oil or The Copper & Blue.

One more note for those of you attending the game (Luttrell, I’m looking at you): Puck drop is at 7:00 PM, not 7:30 like your tickets may say.

See you after the game. Go Wings!!!!

Tags: Brian Rafalski, Edmonton Oilers, Jakub Kindl, Nick Lidstrom, Patrick Eaves, Pavel Datsyuk, Todd Bertuzzi, Ville Leino