NHL detroit Red Wings

Every Friday, FanHouse sifts through the rubble and picks the best NHL fight, with the help of HockeyFights.com.

It's no secret what we're looking for in a good fight. It needs to have intensity, some good back-and-forth action, and there is some longevity needed. If two guys trade a flurry of punches for seven seconds, it's not nearly as impressive as a high-quality 30-second fight.

This week's top fight has a little bit of everything.

There are a number of compelling stories in the NHL's Western Conference. Not only are the Colorado Avalanche off to a ridiculous start, but the Los Angeles Kings are playing great, San Jose is lurking, and Anaheim is still plagued by bad penalties and not enough offense.

FanHouse's Susan Slusser joins us from her West Coast perch this week, as we examine these issues and talk about her beloved Red Wings' slow start. Listen after the jump.

Newsmakers in the NHL: During the regular season it's our Weekday look at the previous night's action and some of the storylines taking place around the league. Have a tip or something you want linked? Send it in to nhlfanhouse@gmail.com.

Red Wings 5, Kings 2: Four Stanley Cups, six Norris Trophies, a Conn Smythe Trophy, 10 All-Star games, and now ... 1,000 career points. With his assist on Henrik Zetterberg's goal at the 3:24 mark of the third period (his second assist of the game), Nicklas Lidstrom recorded the 1,000th point of his remarkable career, joining fellow rearguards Paul Coffey, Ray Bourque, Al MacInnis, Phil Housley, Brian Leetch, Larry Murphy, and Denis Potvin as the only defensemen to reach such a mark. As for the rest of the Wings, they pulled out a 5-2 win against the Los Angeles Kings, and did so in shorthanded fashion, playing without the services of not only injured forward Johan Franzen, but also Pavel Datsyuk.

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Niklas Kronwall and Erik Johnson, defensemen for the Red Wings and Blues respectively, both enjoyed opening the season in Sweden. Like many of Detroit's players, Kronwall is from there, while Johnson was happy St. Louis took both games and that he's healthy after missing most of a year.

Since returning to the U.S., however, the Red Wings and Blues have been less than sharp. And Detroit wasn't any great shakes in Sweden, either, dropping both games despite holding leads in each.

The two teams, both expected to be contenders, are at the bottom of the Central Division going into play Thursday night.

Newsmakers in the NHL: During the regular season it's our Weekday look at the previous night's action and some of the storylines taking place around the league. Have a tip or something you want linked? Send it in to nhlfanhouse@gmail.com.

Sabres 6, Red Wings 2: The Sabres scored four goals in seven minutes during the second period of their 6-2 win against the Red Wings on Tuesday, chasing Detroit goaltender Chris Osgood after he surrendered five goals on just 22 shots. Leading the way for Buffalo was Thomas Vanek with two goals, including what turned out to be a costly score when he was injured falling into the boards after poking in a rebound. He left the game and did not return with an "upper body injury" that appears to be fairly serious.

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Newsmakers in the NHL: During the regular season it's our Weekday look at the previous night's action and some of the storylines taking place around the league. Have a tip or something you want linked? Send it in to nhlfanhouse@gmail.com.

After all 30 teams hit the ice on Saturday, there were zero games on the schedule for Sunday. So, let's rewind back to some of the bigger performances and stories of the weekend, starting with Colorado Avalanche goaltender Craig Anderson. Not much is expected from the Avalanche this year, as most preseason predictions -- including yours truly -- have them pegged as the No. 13, 14, or 15 team in the Western Conference.

You wouldn't know it by watching their first two games, as first-year head coach Joe Sacco and his group have stormed out of the gate with a 2-0 mark, knocking off Western Conference powers San Jose and Vancouver. Leading the way is Goaltender Craig Anderson.

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Newsmakers in the NHL: During the regular season it's our daily look at the previous night's action. During the offseason, it's our occasional link dump that looks at some of the storylines and moves taking place around the league. Have a tip or something you want linked? Send it in to nhlfanhouse@gmail.com.

The Jiri Hudler saga came to an end on Wednesday when the IIHF approved his two-year, $10 million pact with Moscow Dynamo of the KHL. The IIHF ruled that even though Hudler's agent filed for salary arbitration in the NHL, it was invalid because Hudler himself never signed the filing notice opening the door for him to take his game to Russia. This, of course, led to George James Malik of Mlive's Snapshots blog going somewhat biblical on the ruling.

Newsmakers in the NHL: During the regular season it's our daily look at the previous night's action. During the offseason, it's our link dump that looks at some of the storylines and moves taking place around the league three times per week. Have a tip or something you want linked? Send it in to nhlfanhouse@gmail.com.

Todd Bertuzzi played eight games with the Detroit Red Wings during the 2006-07 season, scoring two goals (and three playoff goals) after being acquired from the Florida Panthers for former second-round pick Shawn Matthias, and a second-round pick in the 2007 entry draft.

After spending the past two seasons with Anaheim and Calgary, Bertuzzi returned to the Motor City this week on a one-year deal, sending the blogosphere in motion with a variety of reactions.

FanHouse's Adam Gretz takes a look at his top 50 players in the NHL. No. 4 is Detroit Red Wings forward Pavel Datsyuk.

The Detroit player development system strikes again. When discussing the best players in the league the names Ovechkin, Crosby and Malkin are usually the ones that get mentioned. I consider Detroit's Pavel Datsyuk to be part of that group, and there's not much of a gap between him at No. 4 and the No. 3 player on my list.

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FanHouse's Adam Gretz takes a look at his top 50 players in the NHL. No. 7 is Detroit Red Wings defenseman Nicklas Lidstrom.

At 39, I still have Lidstrom as the best defenseman in the NHL, and in my opinion, the debate shouldn't be where does he rank among the current defensemen, but where does he rank all-time? Everybody is fighting for second behind Bobby Orr, but who is next? Lidstrom? Ray Bourque? Somebody else?

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