Crossing the NHL’s Atlantic Division: Week 15

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Detroit Red Wings

By John Evans, Staff Writer at Octopus Thrower

To the dismay of some and the relief of others, the Winter Classic madness is finally over and the Red Wings get to go back to being a normal team. Jimmy Howard returned from injury against the Nashville Predators and looked pretty human in the 6-4 loss. He started in the Winter Classic, where he looked OK in the shootout loss against the Leafs. Then he looked incredible against the Dallas Stars, as did most of the team. Yes, The Red Wings defeated the Stars 5-1 despite being outshot 45-27 (!!!), so Jimmy Howard may be returning to form. The Wings are going to need his best with the schedule they have ahead of them.

The game against the Stars was significant for two reasons. Firstly, a possible “Goal of the Year” candidate from Tomas Tatar in which he seems to use telekinetic powers to make the Stars defenders collide with each other. (You really must see it.) Secondly, it was Alexey Marchenko’s first NHL game and our editor did a pretty good write-up on the young Russian defenseman.

Coming up this week, the Wings kick off their California trip with a date with the San Jose Sharks tonight, followed by the Los Angeles Kings on Saturday and the Anaheim Ducks on Sunday. Logically of course, they wrap up their road trip in Madison Square Garden against the New York Rangers because that sort of travel schedule just makes sense. IF the Wings can hang with those California teams it’ll prove they’re one of the better Eastern Conference teams. If not, well…How about those Philadelphia Flyers?