Anne-Marie Sorvin – USA TODAY Sports
A Detroit Red Wings team that is in serious danger of missing the playoffs desperately needs to complete a season sweep of the Vancouver Canucks when the two teams meet tonight. With five games remaining in the regular season, this game falls short of being a “must-win,” but it’s about as close as they come. The Red Wings currently sit tenth in the Western Conference standings, with the the same number of points as the Dallas Stars (ninth, +2 ROW tiebreaker) and two fewer points than the Columbus Blue Jackets (eighth). Detroit has dropped four of its last five contests, and must try and right the ship against a Vancouver team that has lost three of its last four games.
A Red Wings offense that has been less than impressive most of the season has feasted against the Canucks this season, winning the previous two meetings by a combined 13-5 score. The Red Wings took the first meeting of the season by an 8-3 score, with Canucks’ goaltender Roberto Luongo in net for all eight goals. When the two teams met again almost a month later, the Red Wings once again rocked Luongo, this time en route to a 5-2 win. Cory Schneider will get the start for the Canucks tonight, and it will be interesting to see if the Red Wings success continues while facing a netminder they haven’t seen this season. Jimmy Howard will start for Detroit, and likely won’t have another night off the rest of the season.
If the Red Wings’ offense can continue its dominance of the Canucks, it will help the team make a huge step towards getting back into the playoff picture. If the Canucks prevail, this may be the game the Red Wings look back at as the point where their season was lost.
Jonathan Katje is an NHL senior writer for Rant Sports. You can follow him on Twitter or add him to your circles on Google Plus.
