Joey MacDonald will make his second consecutive start for the injured Jimmy Howard when the Wings take on the St. Louis Blues tonight at 7:30PM ET from the Joe Louis Arena.
According to Ansar Khan of Mlive.com Howard did skate this morning and is now aiming for a Saturday return in Nashville. Thomas McCollum who backed up MacDonald Monday against Chicago will do the same tonight.
“Pretty much I can do everything (on the ice),” Howard said. “It’s getting better. Still a little stiff, some soreness in there.”
Pavel Datsyuk will also be out for the Wings tonight as he misses his sixth straight game because of a lower body injury. Datsyuk like Howard looks to return Saturday.
“I’m more comfortable, stronger,” Datsyuk said. “Time has helped me a lot.”
Asked if he’s quicker on the ice, he said, “Still not skate like Homer, fast.”
Forward Kris Draper and defenseman Ruslan Salei will be the healthy scratches tonight.
Here is the anticipated lineup according to Khan…
Hudler-Zetterberg-Cleary
Franzen-Filppula-Bertuzzi
Holmstrom-Modano-Abdelkader
Miller-Helm-Eaves
Lidstrom-Stuart
Ericsson-Kronwall
Kindl-Rafalski
MacDonald (starting)
McCollum
and for St. Louis…
Andy McDonald-David Backes-Matt D’Agostini
Vladimir Sobotka-Patrik Berglund-Chris Stewart
Chris Porter-Adam Cracknell-B.J. Crombeen
Ryan Reaves-Phil McRae-Cam Janssen
Carlo Colaiacovo-Alex Pietrangelo
Nikita Nikitin-Roman Polak
Kevin Shattenkirk-Ian Cole
Jaroslav Halak
Ty Conklin
T.J. Oshie will miss the second game of his two-game team suspension for missing practice because he overslept.
Defenseman Position Battle
Jakub Kindl and Ruslan Salei continue to fight for the available sixth spot on the Red Wings blue line.
Salei will be a healthy scratch for the second time in three games as Kindl will be paired with Brian Rafalski against St. Louis.
“I want someone to take the job. I don’t want to rotate them,” coach Mike Babcock said. “So it’s up for grabs. One of them better grab it.”
Khan writes that when asked what he would like to see from each player, head coach Mike Babcock said, “I’ve already talked to them about that. They know, let’s just see. It’s a situation where we want to win each and every night. We want to give ourselves the best chance to be successful in the playoffs. They’re both different type players. So bring what you bring.”
Source: Mlive.com
