The Detroit Red Wings and the San Jose Sharks meet Saturday night for the third time this season in a battle for supremacy in the West. A regulation win for Detroit would put them in first, while a point for San Jose would preserve their place in the standings. The series is tied 1-1, with the defending Stanley Cup Champion Red Wings decisively winning the most recent meeting, and the Sharks winning the first. The Sharks will be looking for payback for the 6-0 drubbing they suffered at the hands of the Wings on December 18th.
Since that loss, San Jose is 7-2-2. The extra-time losses were to St. Louis and Minnesota, in a shootout and overtime respectively. The regulation losses, however, both came at the hands of the Calgary Flames, who have been flexing their muscles in the West of late. With the Flames bloodying their noses in a way few teams have this season and visions of "6-0" dancing in their heads, you can bet the Sharks will bring their A-game tonight. They don't see this game as just one out of 82.
The Sharks lost a key part of their defense Thursday night when Rob Blake took a puck off his chin. He is expected to miss two games, including tonight's. They will also be without Brad Lukowich (hernia surgery) and Jeremy Roenick (shoulder).
Evgeni Nabokov has played in a mere 32 of the Sharks 43 games thus far, but it's a safe bet he'll be in there tonight.
The Wings are 10-1-2 since their December 18th meeting with San Jose. The regulation loss was to Nashville, while their extra-time losses were to Colorado and Dallas. The loss to Dallas came in the opener of the road trip the team is currently on, and was the kind of revenge win the Sharks hope to get tonight. Detroit had blown the Stars out the week before.
Detroit is coming off a pair of wins over California's other two NHL teams, starting with a 4-0 decision in LA on Wednesday, and following that up with a 4-3 win in Anaheim the next night.
Chris Osgood will start tonight for Detroit.
Like the Sharks themselves, fans of both teams will find it hard to see this game as just one out of 82. There's no denying that it has a showdown feel, and that its result will be the stuff of discussion well beyond what is usual for regular season games. Here's hoping the game lives up to expectations with some great hockey played on both sides.
