Howard shines in Red Wings win 3-1 over Rangers

Red Wings celebrate Dan Cleary's game-winning goal

After losing hard fought battle against the New Jersey Devils on Saturday night, the Wings came back and put together a solid 3 period effort against the New York Rangers, winning 3-1.

Rookie goalie, Jimmy Howard put together a career night, stopping 28 shots and a penalty shot that would have given the Rangers a 2-0 lead early in the second.

In the first period, the Wings came out hard outshooting the Rangers 14-6. However, the Rangers caught a break as Brian Boyle tipped in a nice pass from Chistopher Higgins when Boyle was able to skate past Justin Abdelkader.

In the secondperiod, Henrik Zetterberg took a shot that was heavily screened thanks to Thomas Holmstrom. It bounced off Henrik Lundqvist, and went right to Pavel Datsyuk who buried his 7th goal of the season.

Late in the third Dan Cleary was able to sneak in a weak goal from a nice pass from Henrik Zetterberg. This proved to be the game winner, as the Wings were able to hold off the Rangers for the rest of the game.

Finally, with six seconds left, Kris Draper was able to put home a empty netter to seal the victory, 3-1.

Rangers forward Artem Anisimov was flattened by Brad Stuart in front of the penalty box as he skated with his head down. Stuart caught him with a hard hit to the chest that sent Anisimov sprawling to the ice. Not as big as Kronwalls bonecrushing hit on Havlat last season, but it was still a ferocious hit.

The Red Wings were also able to stop the NHL's goal leader Marian Gaborik to no shots, which has not happened all season. Coming into tonight's game, Gaborik has averaged 3.8 shots per game.

Red Wings injury updates

Hey Everyone,

Sorry I haven't posted anything in awhile, I have just been very busy with school and all. Plus, with the Wings just being "mediocre" thus far, I haven't really been the Wing nut that I have been in the past. No worries though, I'm confident that they will be able to turn it around when some guys like Filppula, Williams and Kronny get healthy. Speaking of injuries I have some updates on when guys are expected to return.

Nicklas Kronwall- Out until atleast late December

Jason Williams- "I'm hoping to be back sometime in mid-January at the latest," Williams said. "I'm drinking as much milk as possible."

Johan Franzen- Out until atleast mid-Febuary

Valteri Filppula- Out until atleast late December, "It’s tough to say -- we just have to go a week at a time to see how it is healing, then get rid of the cast, and then see how it moves and everything. But now I can really skate better, so I’m looking forward to get a little more out there and skating a little longer. That’s going to help going back."

Brian Rafalski- After missing two games with a back injury, Rafalski hopes to be back tonight against the Rangers.

Andreas Lilja- Out indefinitely

*All according to http://www.cbssports.com/

TONIGHTS GAME:

RED WINGS (13-10-5) at RANGERS (14-13-1)

Kudos to Jakub Kindl making his first NHL starts this week

LETS GO WINGS!

Wings sign Williams

The Detroit Red Wings recently announced that the club has signed free agent forward Jason Williams to a one-year contract. In accordance with team policy, additional terms of the deal were not disclosed.Williams, 28, was originally signed by Detroit as a free agent on September 18, 2000. In 233 games with the Red Wings between 2000-01 and 2006-07, he posted 49 goals and 67 assists for 116 points. The London, Ontario native enjoyed his best season as a professional with Detroit in 2005-06, finishing with career highs in goals (21), assists (37) and points (58).Williams played in 80 games last season for the Atlanta Thrashers (41 games played) and the Columbus Blue Jackets (39). He finished the season with 19 goals and 28 assists for 47 points. In 376 career NHL games, Williams has 205 points (85-120-205). He also played 128 games for the Cincinnati Mighty Ducks of the American Hockey League in 2000-01 and 2001-02 under the direction of current Red Wings head coach Mike Babcock.

Top 10 Greatest Red Wings of All-Time

I recently came across this list on youtube and thought I should share it with all of you. In my opinion ESPN had most of it right, just maybe Yzerman in front of Sawchuk because he was the main reason as to why the Wing's dynasty was built. Not to mention the fact that he was the longest serving captain in league history, haha. Also, Datsyuk and Zetterberg should be on that list someday, just not yet. Credit goes to ESPN and HockeyWebCast.

GO WINGS

The Hudler Report

This is one of those James Bond sports scenarios. Absolutely full of ups and downs, but in the end, don’t we all kind of know how it’s going to end? I’ve always figured Jiri Hudler was going to end up back with the Red Wings. Just like when Pavel Datsyuk agreed to terms with a Russian team back in 2005, I never really thought he was going to leave the Red Wings. Same deal here, I’ve just always assumed Hudler would end up back in Detroit. Maybe I’m naïve, maybe I’m dumb (save the emails), but I have a hard time seeing how he can actually leave.
And should he return, I don’t see any reason why the Wings fans wouldn’t welcome him back. All sports fans can be fickle and Wings fans are no exception. Just look at how Sergei Fedorov still gets treated when he returns to the Joe. It’s explainable, but it’s still inexcusable. The bottom line was that the guy was a spectacular player and was a huge factor in three Cups. But Fedorov made the fatal mistake of saying that he wanted to leave Detroit. You can get arrested, you can speed and you can do drugs and the fans will always forgive and forget. But if you dis Detroit, the fans will never ever forget it. That’s why Fedorov gets booed and Martin Lapointe gets cheered. That’s why Cecil Fielder and Juan Gonzalez got blasted and Alan Trammell is still adored (and he should).
Hudler hasn’t said anything. All he did was try to improve his financial situation because the Red Wings were limited by the salary cap in how much they could spend on him. If the arbitrator rules that he’s still a Wing and he returns to Detroit, I don’t think a single fan would have any issue with him at all.

Congrats Pens Fans

Hello everyone,


I'm very sorry for the delay but I was away for a couple months and had no way to continue this blog. However, I'll start it up strong again and continue all next season. Now on to the hard part.....The Wings lost in 7 and I have to pay my respect to a well fought series by the Penguins and captain Sid Crosby. You guys played much better than the wings in the finals, although I still feel that the Wings should have won (however they played completley dreadful!) Anyway, congrats to the Pittsburgh Penguins and their fans. The wings will be waiting for you again in the finals next year, but they will be on the winning side, just like in 2008.

(You have no idea how much I hate this picture......)

HEY HEY HOCKEYTOWN!!!!

Game 5, Kopecky Out

Helllo everyone, I'm VERY sorry for the long delay, but I will pick things back up right where I left off. Wings-Ducks Round 2, Game 5, Today. After Babcock rearanged the lines in game 4, you should expect to see some more sparks fly today, especially from the Datsyuk-Zetterberg-Holmstrom line. Datsyuk is nominated for the Hart trophy (league mvp) so I can see him breaking out of his slump and having a big game soon.

Brian Rafalski and Kris Draper (Upper-body injury) both will not play today, but are expected to be back in Anaheim on Tuesday. ALSO, Justin Abdelkader will take Thomas Kopeckys spot on the 4th line after kopecky was embaressed in a fight on Thursday.

Game is at 5pm in Joe Louis Arena today, May 10 (Mothers Day!) Why its not being nationally televised don't ask me.

LETS GO WINGS!