Blues At Red Wings Game Preview: Tough Road Game Awaits

Every point counts this time of the season, we all know that. The Blues know that. Unfortunately, the Red Wings do not suffer from some weird collective amnesia; they know these games matter, too.

They've been getting points when they need them. Pavel Datsyuk got them the win on Friday night in Colorado, as he so often does. As of late, the teams are evenly matched up -- both are 6-4-0 in their last ten games. On the season between the two, the Blues are 2-2 against the Wings, winning the last matchup in overtime waaay back on February 13th.

At least that feels like forever ago, because after meeting up four times in about a month, the Wings and Blues haven't seen each other since then. The scheduler this year, cramped schedule notwithstanding, needs to be shot. There's a fan fatigue this season. Frankly, I don't feel much vitriol here at all today.

Let's see... David Backes has a goal in his last two games, Jake Allen needs one more win to reach ten, and newcomer Jay Bouwmeester already has three assists in his first two games as a Blue. The Red Wings will have new signee Danny Dekeyser in the line-up. Detroit won the Dekeyser derby last week by signing the undrafted player, and Wings coach Mike Babcock had this to say about Dekyser's debut Friday night:

"I liked him," Babcock said. "He's going to be a good player in the League for a long time."

Well, not exactly "touched by the wand of God," but from Babcock I suppose that's still pretty good praise.

T.J. Oshie should still be out for tonight's game, but if Chris Porter and Adam Cracknell keep trying as hard as they do, that shouldn't be a problem. For the Wings, there's no Todd Bertuzzi, which is good because he's a pain in the ass for the Blues to play against. Also, no Darren Helm, Damien Brunner, or Mikael Samuelsson.

Which means Carlo Colaiacovo will actually be playing tonight. Consider me gobsmacked. Good job, Carlo!