St. Louis Blues set to host Detroit Red Wings – NHL Preview
Both Detroit Red Wings and St. Louis Blues have qualified for the National Hockey League (NHL) playoffs this season and carry potential of winning the Stanley Cup, but it is essential for both of them to stay in top form and carry a winning momentum into
the postseason.
At present, both teams are slightly struggling with their respective forms and are hoping to win their rest of the games in the regular season to get back to winning ways.
Blues and Red Wings are going to face each other on Wednesday, April 04, 2012, at Scottrade Center, Saint Louis, Missouri.
Here is a look at both teams.
Red Wings
They are ranked at fifth spot in the Western Conference with 99 points after 79 games.
In their last game, Red Wings defeated Florida Panthers to snap their two-game skid. During their last three games, Red Wings were seen struggling on their offence.
Against Panthers, they were a little sloppy on offence again, but eventually managed to win the game. Red Wings gave away a goal in the first period and provided the equaliser in the final, forcing the game to overtime.
No team was able to score in the overtime and Red Wings scored twice in shootout while Panthers could only get one scoring move as the former won the game.
Red Wings’ goaltender, Jimmy Howard, said after the game:
"At this point in the year it's any way you can get them. I think we needed to play a tight one like this to be able to come out on top. I think it's huge for our confidence. They struck first, but we stuck to it and continued to push and tied it up and
found a way to win in the shootout.''
Blues
They are ranked at second spot in the Western Conference with 106 points after 79 games and are currently on a two-game losing streak with the defeats coming against Chicago Blackhawks (4-3 after shootout) and the lowly Columbus Blue Jackets (5-2).
After facing a humiliating defeat against the Blue Jackets who are already eliminated from the playoff contention, Blues’ forward, Andy McDonald, said:
"Obviously, if we want to be a good team we can't play like that. We just got really worked up about the officiating, about how things were going, and we weren't able to reign it in.”
Predictions
Blues have a slight edge.
The sum of goals scored by both teams might be less than six.
If Red Wings win, the winning margin will be less than two goals.
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