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 Canucks puckstopper Roberto Luongo, coming off a shutout against the Edmonton Oilers on Sunday night, will face the Motor City boys at the Garage tonight. (Carmine Marinelli, 24 Hours) |
- THE BUZZ:
The struggling Detroit Red Wings (3-4-2) come into town tonight looking to snap their skid against the Canucks (6-5), who are heading in the opposite direction. (7 p.m. PT/SNET)
- UP AND DOWN:
While the Canucks have won three games in a row, the Red Wings have lost three straight, including two to the Colorado Avalanche. Vancouver is currently four points up on Detroit, who ranks 12th in the West, but the Red Wings have two games in hand.
- FORMER TEAMS: The ex-Vancouver power forward Todd Bertuzzi has four points and is minus-eight in 10 games against the Canucks since his departure. So far this season, he has three points to go with his minus-four. As for ex-Wing Mikael Samuelsson, it will be the first time facing his former team after signing with Vancouver this past offseason. The Swedish winger continues to produce offensively, adding an assist Sunday. Prior to yesterday's games, he was second overall in shots with 46.
- NO 'O' ON WINGS:
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Part of the reason for the Red Wings' early season struggles has to do with their lack of offense, as only one player -Tomas Holmstrom - has more than two goals this season. Forward Henrik Zetterberg has one goal and eight assists, Pavol Datsyuk has no goals and four helpers, while future Hall of Famer D-man Niklas Lidstrom has just three points.
- LAST MEETING:
Both teams picked up two victories last season against each other, with Vancouver winning both in overtime. Lidstrom led the way in points (1-5) for both teams in the season series, while the Red Wings scored seven times on 19 powerplay opportunities.