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Two days!? Yawn. Is it game time yet?

This, apparently, passes for hot in Alberta.

Before we get to the Oilers pre-game, TPL would like to congratulate prospects Brian Lashoff and Max Nicastro, who have been selected to be on the preliminary roster for the United States World Junior Championship team. Here’s hoping that one — or both — make the team, as it would be a huge honor.

NOW WHERE WERE WE?
The Wings and Oilers met a few days before Halloween, losing 6-5 in a shootout. The Red Wings got goals from Ericsson (3), Bertuzzi (2), Zetterberg (2), Helm (1), and Eaves (1). Jimmy Howard played in his third game in a row (he replaced Osgood seven minutes into the game before), an opportunity he’ll have again vs. the Oilers.

WHAT’S HAPPENED SINCE THEN
After the Edmonton game, Detroit won six of their next seven. Then, they lost five of their next six. They’re currently riding a two-game winning streak. Talk about streaky…

OH, HI AGAIN
Edmonton, despite all of its recent success and its reputation as a popular landing spot for all the top free agents every summer, has no former Red Wings. The last time a once-Red Wing played for the Oilers was 2003-04, when Adam Oates played his final season in the NHL.

MEMBA ME?!
Two former Oilers on the current Red Wing roster: Dan(ny) Cleary and Kirk Maltby. Maltby was acquired in a 1996 trade that saw competent defenseman Dan McGillis go the other way.

BEST NAME NOMINEE
Jeff Drouin-Deslauriers. It never ends.

BRAD MAY ALERT
The Oilers have a kid named Ryan O’Marra. You may remember him from this hit (although, the kid from the Czech Republic doesn’t…):

My favorite part of the video is where the commentator goes “aahhhh…BANG!”

DID YOU KNOW…
…the last game between these two squads was the last time Justin Abdelkader was a healthy scratch? Unlike Brad May, Patrick Eaves, Kirk Maltby, and Drew Miller, Gator has played in each of the last 15 games.

THEIR LAST GAMES
–Detroit defeated the Dallas Turcos 4-1 on Monday.
–Edmonton got whooped 7-3 by the Canucks on Saturday. They should be well-rested.

RECORDS
–Detroit Red Wings :: 13-9-4 (4th in Central, 10th in West) :: 8-4-2 at home.
–Edmonton Oilers :: 10-13-4 (4th in Northwest, 14th in West) :: 2-8-2 on the road.

EXPECTED LINEUP
Uh oh. Patrick Eaves will not play his second game in a row, due to a sore left ankle, but the bigger news seems to be that Brian Rafalski is iffy. He left practice, per Khan, and Jakub Kindl will be recalled if Rafalski cannot, in fact, go. In other news, Ville Leino is back on the top line instead of Bertuzzi, similar to the Dallas game. The rest looks familiar:

Leino — Datsyuk — Holmstrom
Bertuzzi — Zetterberg — Cleary
Draper — Helm — Miller
May — Abdelkader — Maltby

Lidstrom — Ericsson
Stuart — Lebda
Meech — Kindl?

Howard (starting)
Osgood

Injured
Andreas “Post-Concussion Syndrome” Lilja
Johan “Torn Left ACL” Franzen
Valtteri “Broken Right Wrist” Filppula
Jason “Broken Right Fibula” Williams
Niklas “Sprained Left MCL” Kronwall
Patrick “Sore Left Ankle” Eaves
Brian “Stiff Old-Man Back” Rafalski

QUICK THOUGHTS
1. Jeez, man… enough with the injuries. Rafalski makes seven. But, if he can’t go, I’m excited to see what Kindl can do. It seems like a wise time to get him some games, considering he’s on a one-way next season and there is every indication that he’ll be a Red Wing full time in less than a year. Keep your eye on #46.
2. Can Bertuzzi continue his steak of games in which he sucks slightly less than he had been? If he scores again, I will go an entire week without a single ill-spoken word about him. You have my word.
3. In an attempt to continue my good juju predicting goal-droughts ending, here goes Thursday’s baseless claim: Ville Leino scores in this one.
4. Regardless of the bile you feel rising up when hearing “Puck Daddy,” vote for the Red Wings as the team of the decade – which pits the ’02 Cup-winning team against the best teams from all the other sports.
5. Follow Natalie from the Scrappy Octopus on Twitter. Her blog is fantastic, and the tweets are guaranteed to be, as well (especially if we continue talking about Mila Kunis). Countdown to her having more followers than I have in 3…2…

WHAT WE LEARNED vs. the Stars
If Marty Turco was cloned and played for the other 28 teams, too, we’d go 82-0 every season.

OILER WE COVET (aka The JJ Special)
Andrew Cogliano. There aren’t enough of my people on the Red Wings. Come to think of it, there are a bunch of Italians on the Oilers: Cogliano, Stortini, Pisani.

14 thoughts on “Two days!? Yawn. Is it game time yet?”

  1. Aww, I have my own thing named after me.

    I would take Pisani, except he has ulcerative colitis and I'm not smart enough to know if you can get that from sharing a toilet seat or not. Also, in the commercials he does for livingwithuc.com, he looks like a killer robot.

  2. He really does look uncomfortable in those UC commercials, doesn't he?

    And I feel bad for him because he said to say "…and my dreams…" and he sounds so sad.

    But, we're failing to see the real important point to take from this: my streak of picking your favorite has ended. I'm disappointed in myself.

  3. The streak had to end some time. I'm just glad it wasn't because you picked Sean Avery before the Rangers game.

    For the record, I think I'm going to go with Enver Lisin as my Rangers picked, just because for the first few months he was in the league, I thought that whole thing was just his last name.

    Also because upon getting him in Detroit, I would immediately start calling him Enver "The Last Inosaur" Lisin. I have no idea how many Red Wings fans would get that, but it makes me laugh and that's usually all I'm trying to do.

  4. Enver Lisin would show me a world I never saw before.

    Creatin' history through a rock'n'roll spotlight, and whatnot…

  5. I never thought about it, but you're right: The Oilers do qualify as Little Italy. Now I want some baked ziti.

    And man…getting shoutouts on Twitter AND on TPL all in one day?! This is just too much fabulousness. Oh, and the only reason I have ANY followers either place is because I bribe people unabashedly with promises of inappropriate vices and whatnot. At some point, I'm going to have to deliver, in which case, the interest will fall off a cliff and die, never to return. I don't have enough $ for hookers after all. (Don't worry about the Levi Johnston thing, though; I've got that covered. There's always money for that.)

  6. Mila Kunis? Why? We all know that out of the girls in Sarah Marshall, Kirsten Bell is the hotter one, and the Wings fan

  7. Andy, I'm not going to argue with you. I think Kristen Bell's ADORABLE, and the fact that she's a Wing fan is an unbelievable perk (I hope she reads TPL…except for all the stuff about hating Chris Osgood…).

    Generally, I prefer brunettes to blonds, but an exception would be made for Bell. The Mila Kunis chatter was in regards to a magazine spread made public yesterday…yowza.

  8. Ziti? Done. I even have the homemade marinara sauce on lock.

    Kristen Bell is awesome, and I love the fact that she makes a point of talking about Detroit in every interview ever.

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