Edmonton @ Red Wings: The LiveBlog

7:35pm:  We are some kind of wedged in here tonight in the Joe Louis Arena press box.  The put two of us in the same spot and I don't know if I have room to write.  We shall do our best, that is all we can do.

The Wings, off to a great start at home 5-1-1 (.786) almost took the early lead just three or so minutes in off some beautiful passing.  Johan Franzen had Oilers goalie Nikolai Khabibulin pulled and beaten, but he slid it right off the post.  The Oilers on the road are, for the record, 2-3-2 (.429).

The Wings did cash in a few minutes later, though.  Valtteri Filppula was left alone in front--or at least alone enough--and Jiri Hudler slipped him a pass from behind the net and Filppula made sure it wound up IN the net.  Goal at 7:22:  DETROIT 1, EDMONTON 0.

7:55pm  These teams met just 6 days ago in Edmonton, the second game of the Wings three-game swing through Western Canada.  The Wings won that game last Friday night, 3-1. Filppula scored in that one, too.  In fact, he had the game-winner, a second period goal that broke a 1-1 tie at the Northlands Coliseum (if that's still the name of the Oilers home rink.  It's tough, as you know, to keep up with who's got naming rights to the various arenas around the league these days.)

8:00pm:  The Wings lead 2-1 at 13:29 as Tomas Holmstrom banged in his own rebound and now he's got 7 points (4-3-7) in his last 9 games.  He had, however, gone 4 games without a goal until now.  If the Wings get the next one, we will look up who the Oilers back-up goalie is, because old Nikolai is taking a beating down there right now.  DETROIT 2, EDMONTON 0.

8:10pm:  Devan Dubnyk.  He's the Oilers back-up.  We had to look because we promised we would if the Wings got the next goal, and they did.  Dan Cleary--who also scored against the Oilers last Friday night--scores at 17:39.  That goal last week snapped a 9-game goal draught by Cleary and he hasn't missed since.  He's scored in each of the Wings last four games, starting with that empty-netter in Edmonton last week.  DETROIT 3, EDMONTON 0.

8:07pm:  The Oilers, who appeared in the Cup Final 8 times and won it all 5 times between 1983-'91 (see also: Gretzky, Messier, Kurri, etc.) have fallen on tough times of late.  And we're not just talking about this season--which sees them dead last in the Eastern Conference--but rather about the last four seasons, none of which has seen Edmonton in the playoffs at all. They almost made the most of it the last time they did qualify, though:  losing the 2006 Stanley Cup Final to Carolina in 7.

8:10pm  The first period is over.  DETROIT 3, EDMONTON 0.

8:34pm  Early in the second period, at 2:18, Cleary does it again.  His second of the night--his 6th of the season--makes it 4-0 Detroit.  No sign of pulling Khabibulin, though.  Which I do not understand, entirely. DETROIT 4, EDMONTON 0.

8:38pm:  Mike Modano becomes the first Red Wing to get a penalty shot here at the JLA in almost 3 years, but Khabibulin denies him.  Strange that the Wings haven't had a penalty shot at home since Filppula had one in December of '07, but that's what the Game Notes say and the Game Notes never lie, ever.  Funnier still, we happened to be talking about the fact that no Wing had had a penalty shot at home in almost 3 years over dinner tonight here in the Media Dining Room before the game.  Actually, we were sitting around listen to George Eichorn of the Detroit Monitor talk about it and, I'm not going to lie to you, it was pretty boring to be honest, but now it's all quite interesting.

8:56pm:  We're watching Taylor Hall, the #1 pick in the NHL Draft last summer from the Windsor Spitfires here tonight.  He's an Oiler now and he's got 3 goals and is (-5) 13 games into his career.  He turns 19 Sunday.  Some of my hockey equipment is, therefore, older than Taylor Hall.  And consider this: in a scant 2 years and 3 days, Taylor Hall be able to enjoy a beer after a game!   UPDATE:  Hall is (-3) tonight through 2 periods against the Wings so (if you are scoring at home) make him (-8) for his career. 

9:00pm: Filppula scores his second of the night, this time on the power play at 17:03, banging in a Franzen rebound out of mid-air.  DETROIT 5, EDMONTON 0 and I would give Khabibulin the rest of the night off, for sure.

9:05pm:  They are going to change the last goal to Franzen.  The replay shows it was his stick that batted it in.

9:06pm:  The second period is over.  I imagine this is the best news the Oilers have had all night.  It's DETROIT 5, EDMONTON 0 after 2.

9:20pm  I was wrong.  They did not change the last Detroit goal to Franzen.  They changed one of the assists on the goal but in all the excitement I didn't catch it.  Here's something else they didn't change:  the Edmonton goalie.  Khabibulin is still in there.  And just as I mention this, they do go ahead and give the goal to Franzen.  As scoring changes go, this one is notable, too, as becomes the 100th goal of Franzen's career.

9:23pm:  0:58 into the 3rd and there goes Jimmy Howard's shutout.  Dustin Penner gets the goal for the Oilers as he collected his own rebound and slammed it by.  DETROIT 5, EDMONTON 1.

9:34pm:  The Stats sheet says the Oilers are (-20) as a team tonight.  Detroit, meanwhile, is (+20).

9:41pm:  There's not too much to say at this point.  The Wings are sitting on the lead, which makes sense, and there's just not too much Edmonton can do about it, at all.  5:43 to go as Anthony Michael Hall, in the stands tonight, is introduced to the crowd via scoreboard big screen.  He was the guy who brought the flare gun to school in "The Breakfast Club" which is still, to this day, a classic and a film beloved by high school students everywhere.  This is the upside of our budding film industry here in Michigan: celebs in the stands.

9:45pm:  Homer, Tomas Holmstrom, fires in yet another rebound at 16:40 and so now its DETROIT 6, EDMONTON 1.  It's his 2nd of the night, so now he and Cleary each have a pair in what is about to be Detroit's 10th win of the year. 

9:51pm:  A meaningless goal for the Oilers with 1:15 to go.  We're not even going to tell you who scored it because it was so meaningless.  DETROIT 6, EDMONTON 2.  (Okay, it was Theo Peckham.  It his first career goal, so I guess it's not so meaningless to him.)

9:53pm:  The final score:  DETROIT 6, EDMONTON 2.  Detroit is, for the moment, in first place in their division and in their conference, but it could all change.  If St. Louis picks up a point against Nashville tonight they will be tied with Detroit.  If the Blues win, they will still be in first place come the morning.  The Blues--off to a shockingly good start this season, are here next Wednesday night.  First for the Wings though, Colorado here on Saturday night.  We'll check in with you then.