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Coyotes versus Red Wings
Joe Lewis Arena – Detroit, Michigan
Puck Drops at 5:30PM Arizona Time
TV: FSN AZ – RADIO: XTRA 910

Last five games:
Red Wings: 3-0-2
Coyotes: 4 – 0 – 1
Last ten games:
Red Wings: 6-3-1
Coyotes: 6 – 2 – 2

Point Leaders
Red Wings Zetterberg(32), Datsyuk(30), Bertuzzi(24)
Coyotes Doan(26),Upshall(24), Lombardi(24)
Goal Leaders
Red Wings Holmstron(13), Bertuzzi(12), Zetterberg(10)
Coyotes Upshall(14), Vrbata(12), Doan(10)
Assists Leaders
Red Wings Zetterberg(22), Datsyuk(21), Lidstrom(16)
Coyotes Lombardi(18),Doan(16), Jovanovski(14)

The Coyotes and Red Wings will square off at the Job this evening.  The Wings are still mired in a near catastrophic injury bug on their roster that has sent them plummeting down the standings.  They don’t have the tools to be the wrecking machine they have been in the past few seasons (at the moment) but they still can get the Ugly win.

One of the bright spots on the Red Wings roster has been Todd Bertuzzi who has seemed to find a good place on the roster that, for the first time since playing in Vancouver, actually fits his skill set.  For years he’s been toiling from team to team in what seemed to be a square peg in a round hole syndrome when it came to his skillset and other teams systems.

The Coyotes are coming off a mediocre performance against a tired Sharks roster and look to get back to their winning ways.  The Coyotes have been showing some signs of brilliance in their overall game but it seems they are not quite ‘there’ yet when it comes to clicking on all cylinders.

Things to watch for:

Coyotes Faceoffs – They have horrid in the faceoff circle as of late and this can be considered one of if not their main weakness in their game.

Todd Bertuzzi – He has provided much of the Wings offense in the Month of December with 8 goals and 4 assists in 14 games.  He’s been a surprise to many of the Wings fans at a time where the Wings have had to deal with an INSANE amount of injuries.

Keys to the Game:

Don’t take this team for granted – In their last matchup a kid named Newbury played in his first NHL game and burned the Coyotes for their first goal of the game.  They may have a depleted roster but they still can burn you if you’re not careful.

Winning Face0ffs – Winning Faceoffs = Puck Possesion.  Possessing the puck = Good.

Discipline – Don’t give the Wings anything tonight!

Officials:
Referees #27 Eric Furlatt; #38 Francois St. Laurent
Linesmen #55 Shane Heyer; #80 Thor Nelson

Injuries/Scratches:

Coyotes: Jim Vandermeer, Daniel Winnik, Vernon Fiddler, Kurt Sauer

Red Wings: Lilja, Franzen, Williams, Kronwall, Cleary, Ericsson, Zetterberg