Jeff Riger: Bring On The Best In The West!
Can you smell it? Spring is in the air, the snow is all gone and the drive to Joe Louis Arena feels that of a playoff aura. There are just 9 games left in the regular season and the next contest could be a preview of the Western Conference finals as the Vancouver Canucks come to town on Wednesday night. Detroit has lost a couple in a row while the Canucks are 8 and 2 in their last 10. "They play really well defensively, they play a good system" said Nick Lidstrom about Vancouver, "They have the best power play in the league and penalty killing is tops as well so it will be a good test for us."
Detroit trying to rebound after what could have been the most exciting game of the season as the Wings fell behind 4-nothing to the Penguins on Monday night only to come back and tie it at 4 before losing in a shootout. Jimmy Howard was pulled from the game after allowing the 4 goals on 15 shots, saying "it happens, you know the season is long. You just have to let it go and push forward because the season is not a sprint, it's a marathon." The Wings will be without Pavel Datsyuk, Todd Bertuzzi and Johan Franzen once again as all three are suffering from lingering injuries. Jiri Hudler and Chris Osgood are questionable. Mike Babcock was asked if it were the playoffs could all his injured players play. "Oh yeah they would be playing!"
Watch the videos below previewing Vancouver and the playoffs and then listen to the Canucks and Wings on Wednesday night at 7:10pm on "the Ticket"
