Wings Look to Avoid Another Wild Night

The second half of a home at home series between Minnesota and the Detroit Red Wings is set to pan out Tuesday night at the Joe. The Wild brought the mighty Wings back down to earth Sunday night at the Xcel Energy Center, stuffing four pucks into the net in route to shutting out the Red Wings. Back in Motown, Detroit will be looking for a chance to break down Minnesota’s conservative defensive style.

After the convincing win against Detroit Sunday night, the Wild found themselves locked into a playoff spot for the first time in their three-year history. Backed by the solid play of goaltenders Manny Fernandez and Dwayne Roloson, nobody will be looking past the Wild in this year’s quest for the cup. Minnesota has picked up two-points against the Dallas Stars twice this month, and they were also able to get the better of the New Jersey Devils. If the playoffs were to start today, the Wild would be in position to take on Vancouver.

Detroit would like to rebound from Sunday’s loss against the Wild in a big way. Having their six game winning streak snapped caused them to once again be dead even with the Dallas Stars for first place in the West. Vancouver is also breathing down the Red Wings neck, as they find themselves only one point behind both clubs. Curtis Joseph will likely get the start in net after Manny Legace was only able to deny 17 of a possible 20 shots on Sunday. Steve Yzerman will also be back in the lineup.

-Player To Watch-
Minnesota- #30 Dwayne Roloson. Dwayne’s 33 save performance against Detroit Sunday night was no fluke, just look at the numbers he has put up this season. If he gets the start, look for him to attempt to shut it down once again.

Detroit- #19 Steve Yzerman. After getting that first goal out of the way, will the floodgates open?

-Out or in Doubt-
Minnesota- Bill Muckalt RW (Shoulder/Out), Brad Bombardir D (Back Spasms/Out), Cliff Ronning C (Flu/Questionable), Rickard Wallin C (Hand/Out)

Detroit- Jiri Fischer D (Knee/Out), Thomas Holmstrom LW (Flu/Questionable)

-Between da Pipes-
Minnesota-#35 Manny Fernandez (18-11-2, 2.37 GAA, .920 SV%, 1 SO), #30 Dwayne Roloson (21-14-8, 1.89 GAA, .931 SV%, 4 SO)

Detroit- #31 Curtis Joseph (30-17-6, 2.58 GAA, .910 SV%, 3 SO), #34 Manny Legace (13-5-3, 2.06 GAA, .929 SV%, 0 SO)

-Most Points This Season vs. Opposition-
Minnesota- C Wes Walz with 5 points (2 goals, 3 assists) vs. Detroit

Detroit- Six players tied with 2 points vs. Minnesota

The game will be televised at 7:30 p.m. Eastern Time locally on UPN50.