Tonight’s game has lost some it’s luster however because of injuries to both teams. Detroit has a laundry list of injuries including Pavel Datsyuk, Jimmy Howard and Tomas Holstrom all of of which who will not play tonight. For Pittsburgh, Sidney Crosby is expected to sit out as he is still recovering from a concussion that he suffered a couple weeks ago during the Winter Classic against the Washington Capitals.
Tonight also marks the first game where Wings defenseman Nicklas Lidstrom will be taking the ice not only as the Wings captain but also the captain of one of the teams at this year’s All Star Game.
Ansar Khan of Mlive.com got a few comments from Lidstrom concerning picking his team and his thoughts on being named Captain along with Carolina’s Eric Staal.
“I don’t see it as pressure, it’s a fun thing to do,” Lidstrom said following Tuesday’s morning skate at the Consol Energy Center. “I’m going to have a couple of guys (alternate captains) helping out. We’re all going to make the decision together.”
“I don’t think you can go wrong with any of the players. They’re all great players, all-stars, so I don’t feel any pressure. It’s more exciting and fun, especially for fans to see something like that.’’
Lidstrom said he’s spoken to Red Wings general manager Ken Holland about the process.
“Try to get some pointers from him,” Lidstrom said. “He should be a good guy to ask questions.’’
Rival Sidney Crosby also gave his two cents on Lidstrom being named as a team captain…
“He’s one of the best, if not the best,” Penguins captain Sidney Crosby said. “Pretty easy fit for captain, and obviously having another amazing season.’’
Crosby said there was no official vote amongst the all-stars on who should be captain.
“I don’t think there was an actual vote, I think there was more conversations with guys,” Crosby said. “He was at the top of the list, for sure.’’
Here are tonight’s anticipated lineups according to Khan…
Franzen-Zetterberg-Eaves
Hudler-Filppula-Bertuzzi
Draper-Helm-Miller
Tatar-Abdelkader-Mursak
Lidstrom-Kronwall
Ericsson-Rafalski
Salei-Kindl
MacDonald (starting)
McCollum
Jimmy Howard (bruised knee) skated this morning and said he’s still aiming to return Thursday in St. Louis.
Here is the Penguins’ anticipated lineup:
Chris Kunitz-Evgeni Malkin-Pascal Dupuis
Matt Cooke-Jordan Staal-Tyler Kennedy
Michael Rupp-Maxime Talbot-Chris Conner
Craig Adams-Mark Letestu-Arron Asham
Brooks Orpik-Kris Letang
Paul Martin-Zbynek Michalek
Alex Goligoski-Deryk Engelland
Marc-Andre Fleury (starting)
Brent Johnson
Source: Mlive.com
