The seperation left the lines at practice looking like such:

Fillpula - Datsyuk - Holmstrom

Franzen - Zetterberg - Samuelsson

Hudler - Draper - Cleary

Drake - Hartigan - McCarty

This strategy forces Predators coach Barry Trotz to choose which line to send his checking line against.

It’ll be interesting to see how Red Wings coach Mike Babcock chooses to use his third line. With Kris Draper and Dan Cleary, it could be used as an effective checking line. However, from an offensive standpoint, Draper and Cleary’s speed and grit could free up a lot of room for the offensively minded Jiri Hudler to work his magic. Regardless, Babcock is showing more confidence in Hudler than he did in last years playoffs as Hudler was benched more than once.

The Red Wings currently lead the series 2-0, and they’re headed to Nashville for games 3 and 4.

However, with Nichol’s loss comes the gain of David Legwand for the Pred. Legwand at first was doubtful for the opening two games of the series, though Legwand has shown to coaches he’s ready to play.

Abdelkader was key to the Spartans national championship last year scoring many key game winning goals. By signing the amateur tryout, Abdelkader effectively ended his Spartan hockey career to which Abdelkader replied to in his press release published by College Hockey News, “ …it’s difficult to leave Michigan State. My three years there were the best of my life, and not only from a hockey standpoint. I’m proud that we were able to win a National Championship, and was thrilled to have the opportunities that were given to me not only by the coaching staff, but also within the University. I want to thank everyone who has been incredibly supportive of me over the last three years.”

Also, it’s Abdelkader is close to signing a 3 year entry-level contract. In order to be eligible for the playoffs, Abdelkader must be signed by saturday.

But Darren McCarty went from playing in the IHL to being back on the Red Wings roster and will be playing tonight.

All I can say is, SWEET!

His story thusfar has been nothing less than storybook like. He’ll find a way to contribute, he has to.

It’s also possible that he may miss the beginning of the playoffs.

This comes at a bad time as Stuart could use all the time that he can to blend with the team prior to the playoffs. Team officials told reporters that his injury typically takes 3-6 weeks to heal completely.

Add Stuart to the list of the ever growing list of injuries, which seemed to be going down for a while. Valtteri Filppula, Dan Cleary, Tomas Holmstrom, Kris Draper, and Darren McCarty and now Brad Stuart all are out with injury.

I think Chris Osgood should start for the playoffs.

I have never, really had much confidence in starting Osgood, in most any situations.

Last season I was a firm believer in Hasek carrying the load for the playoff burden. All throughout this year I held the same mentality.Even with Osgood’s “All-Star” season, I was still very skeptical.

It’s come to the point now where it’s almost undeniable; Hasek shouldn’t start in the playoffs.

Babcock’s plan to start him for most of the remaining games isn’t exactly working out, with a slight nagging injury before and poor performance as of late (in spite of a poor team performance as well), Hasek looks unable to perform to his top ability.

This season when Osgood has felt confident, his game is better than it’s ever been. His positioning is solid and he challenges perfectly in the right situations. He gives the team a great feeling of confidence and therefore plays better in front of him.

Ever since the All-Star game though Osgood’s game has been somewhat shaky at times, not looking like himself this season. Starting him the last 10 or so games of the season should help get him back on top of his game.

Update - Hasek made some great looking saves in the 3/20 meeting against Nashville, however he still let in a weak goal, putting his total to 3 for the game.

Other Notes

Henrik Zetterberg hasn’t had the greatest month so far, scoring only 3 goals in the past 17 games. All of this of course is before the last game on March 20th when Zetterberg scored a natural hat-trick in the 3rd period to put the Wings up 3-1 against the Blue Jackets and ultimately win the game. Now this may just be hindsight bias, but in the first two periods Zetterberg looked angry and determined in the first two periods. He was jumping everywhere and he continued to drive the net. He had that look in his eyes, the look that shows you that you know the game is on his back.

Hopefully not literally though, his back is always a concern among Red Wings fans.

With his upcoming last year of his contract, Holland has been preparing to give him a contract extension to keep him with the team. The worry is if his back will hold up enough to have him be worth a long term, expensive contract. Clearly when he’s on his game, he is nearly unbeatable. He brings all the intangibles to the table, and he’ll be the eventual Captain of the team.

Though with his bad back, it’s hard to see whether or not it will effect him later in his career or not. When healthy, he can lead the league in scoring. When hurt, his leadership and defense is undeniable but the numbers don’t always show up. It’s hard to say whether or not that makes him worth Pavel Datsyuk money (which he clearly is when healthy). Datsyuk is rarely ever hurt and continues to put up numbers.

Franzen is an absolute beast.

LOST: Brett Lebda - With the acquisition of Brad Stuart coupled with the returning health of Lidstrom, Rafalski, Kronwall and Chelios, Lebda’s starting spot on the back end seems to be gone. While he’s supposed to play Thursday against the Stars, it seems as if Babcock will stick with Lilja in the long run. While Lebda’s defensive game is not quite astute, his great wheels gives him the ability to rush the puck into the offensive zone with ease; something the Wings may need in the playoffs against teams implementing the trap.

LOST Samuelsson scoring - As of late he’s been scoring more points. This could be accredited to his increased role finding himself on the second line with the absence of Holmstrom and Cleary. Regardless though, he’s only scored 10 goals this season. With only 11 games left, he’s had a disappointing season.

LOST Holmstrom - His MRI reviewed no tears in his groin, and he has begun skating which is a good sign. However before he left due to injury, his goal scoring and confidence in general were down. His last goal was January 30th, equal to 16 games. He has always been a streaky player, expect him to score in bunches next time he puts one in.

FOUND Playoff starter - For all intents and purposes it looks as if Dominik Hasek will be protecting the net in the playoffs. Coach Babcock said that Hasek will be starting about 2/3 of the remaining games. It’s pretty clear who they will be going to for goal once playoffs arrive.

FOUND Secondary scoring - Guys like Maltby, Franzen and Kronwall have really stepped up and have been supplying that much needed extra scoring threat outside of Datsyuk and Zetterberg. If things continue to go the way they do, the Wings are looking good heading into the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

FOUND A goal for Hudler - His game is supposed to be offense. He’s had a rather disappointing season, finding himself in Babcock’s doghouse a couple times, and his offense as of late has been nonexistent. Prior to the March 9th meeting against the Predators, Hudler went 22 straight games without a goal. However he’s now on a 2 game point streak, getting an assist on a Pavel Datsyuk goal against the Blackhawks.

After some rumblings of a possible trade because of his UFA status, Daniel Cleary signed an 5 year extension worth 14 million a year.

This gives Cleary a 2.8 million cap hit each year. A bit of a home discount I believe, Cleary could of received at least $3 million per year from the open market.

This season he has proven that when healthy he can be a great NHL defenseman. Staying healthy is key though, his seasons have been injury plagued, including last year’s playoffs.

Other game notes:

-Franzen played real well being involved in scrums and offensive opportunities.

-Maltby looked like the Kirk Maltby of old. He threw his weight around all night, and had an absolute rocket of a goal to help put the game away late in the third.

-Dallas Drake scored his first in 15.

-Brian Rafalski should be back by the next game Wednesday in St.Louis. However don’t be surprised if he doesn’t suit up, groin injuries are often tricky and Detroit won’t hesitate to rest him more to assure Rafalski doesn’t aggravate it again.

-Darren McCarty will be called up from his conditioning stint next Monday, don’t be surprised to see him action as soon as possible afterwards.

-Nik Lidstrom should be back within 10 days or so, but same thing that applies to Rafalski applies to Lidstrom.

Last but not least; finally a convincing win.

Something the Wings haven’t seen much of the last month.

Brad Richards is very noticeable out there tonight. His passes are crisp and are right on the tape. So far (in the 2nd period) he has two assists on two good plays. Actually, Richards just assisted on another great play for a goal as I was writing this. So that’s three assists so far. Richards is exactly what could put Dallas into Stanley Cup dreams. He’s a proven playoff warrior and seems to fit in Dallas and their system right away.

Albeit against a real banged up Chicago team right now, Dallas is making quick work out of them. Many odd man rushes, with great tape to tape passes. Like the HDNet announcer was saying, “they’re looking like the Harlem Globetrotters right now.”

Update - Richards had another beautiful assist on Hagman’s hat-trick goal. So that’s now 4 assists in his first game.

Update - Blackhawks trade deadline addition Andrew Ladd just scored to put the game 6-3, Dallas. Players just seem to do so well their first game with a new team don’t they?

Update - Game getting a lot more physical towards the end of the game, Chicago’s frustration is easy to see. Morrow just whooped on Burrish, I mean he just pounded on him for a while. Looks like Morrow might have hurt his hand though, which wouldn’t bode well for them coming down the stretch.

Update - Another great pass by Brad Richards resulting in a goal. So that’s 5 assists in Richards debut, simply amazing. Have to remember though that many of Chicago’s key players aren’t in the game tonight (Lang, Havlat, Khabbibulin, Sopel, etc). Game looks to be about over at 7-3. Well right after I posted this update Borque scored for Chicago making the score 7-4. Dallas picked the right day to score 7 goals, as a busted up Chicago team has scored 4 goals.