Henrik Zetterberg	Pavel Datsyuk	Justin Abdelkader
Gustav Nyquist	Johan Franzen	Drew Miller
Daniel Cleary	Valtteri Filppula	Damien Brunner
Cory Emmerton	Joakim Andersson	Patrick Eaves
Niklas Kronwall	Jonathan Ericsson
Kyle Quincey	Brendan Smith
Danny Dekeyser	Jakub Kindl
Jimmy Howard

Howard

"It's really close...hopefully by the end of the weekend...Pretty much all the little stuff (is left)." - Jimmy Howard on potentially signing a contract extension

"I wanted to be here. I get along great with everyone here. I believe in this organization and I think we're going to get the job done." - Jimmy Howard

Howard

.

Babcock

"Howie has worked hard and the organization has confidence in him. It's important for us. We need good goaltending. Just how much parity there is, we need him each and every night and he's been excellent for us." - Mike Babcock

Damien Brunner will return to the lineup tonight after battling a lower-body injury, which has resulted in some line shuffling for tonight.

Brunner

Babcock

"We put Mule in (at center). We’re trying to get Filppula to help us out too, so we moved him to the (third line) and maybe they can generate some offense there with Brunner back." - Mike Babcock

Brendan Smith will be back in the lineup tonight after being a healthy scratch Sunday.

Smith

White

Ian White will be a healthy scratch tonight.

 

Compete Hard - Detroit worked hard against St. Louis. They need to be at that same level to beat the Sharks, who have been one of the hottest teams in the NHL of late.

Score Goals - The Red Wings have played well defensively lately, but they've had a tough time scoring. Detroit needs to find ways to score tonight; get people to the front of the net, get second and third opportunities, and connect on the Power Play.

Need Solid Goalkeeping - Jimmy Howard has been very good for the Wings. He needs to continue his fine play again tonight against a potent Sharks offense.

On April 11, 1936

Led by captain Doug Young, the Red Wings capture their first Stanley Cup title, defeating Toronto, 3-1, in a four-game series.

After a tough 1-0 loss to St. Louis on Sunday, Detroit looks to get back on track Thursday night when they host the San Jose Sharks, who have had their share of struggles on the road.

"You always want to play well at home," center Valtteri Filppula told the team's official website. "Definitely would be a good start to get a home win and then go on the road and hopefully get some confidence."

The Red Wings begin a four-game trip Friday against Chicago before finishing up with three of their last four at home.

"It's been a tough month," defenseman Niklas Kronwall said. "Hopefully we can kind of reset everything and come back more energized because we're coming down to the wire here and it's going to be so tight all the way through."

Welcome to the Detroit Red Wings Game Day Blog, where you can get behind-the-scenes information, thoughts from players and staff, and up-to-date news on anything and everything Red Wings on game day.

You can watch tonight's 7:30 PM game on Fox Sports Detroit, or tune in on 97.1 The Ticket or AM1270.

Stars of the Game powered by Ram Trucks are...

1. Brian Elliott (28 SV, SO)

2. Jimmy Howard (24 SV, .960 SV%)

3. Chris Porter (1 Goal)

The Wings had their chances, but Blues goalie Brian Elliott played spectacular, making save after save down the stretch as the Blues hung out to a 1-0 lead from the second period until the end.

Thanks for tuning in to our Game Day Blog...tune in Thursday when the San Jose Sharks come to town!

Mikael Samuelsson	Darren Helm	Todd Bertuzzi	Damien Brunner
Samuelsson (Upper-Body Injury)	Helm (Back)	Bertuzzi (Back)	Brunner (Lower-Body Injury)
Brian Lashoff	Brendan Smith	Carlo Colaiacovo
Lashoff (Healthy Scratch)	Smith (Healthy Scratch)	Colaiacovo (Healthy Scratch)

Justin Abdelkader	Pavel Datsyuk	Johan Franzen
Valtteri Filppula	Henrik Zetterberg	Daniel Cleary
Gustav Nyquist	Joakim Andersson	Patrick Eaves
Drew Miller	Cory Emmerton	Jordin Tootoo
Niklas Kronwall	Jonathan Ericsson
Kyle Quincey	Jakub Kindl
Danny Dekeyser	Ian White
Jimmy Howard