The Mule

Game 3: Buffalo Sabres (0-0-1) @ Detroit Red Wings (2-0-0) 7:00 PM ET, Joe Louis Arena TV: FS-D STREAM Lineup: Johan Franzen - Pavel Datsyuk - Tomas Holmstrom Kris Draper - Justin Abdelkader - Patrick Eaves Tomas Tatar - Kris Newbury - Francis Pare John Vigilante - Francis Lemieux - Jeremy Williams Nicklas Lidstrom - Jakub Kindl Logan Pyett - Brian Rafalski Jonathan Ericsson - Brett Lebda Jimmy Howard Thomas McCollum Last Meeting: Red Wings 3, Sabres 1 Previous Red Wings Game: Red Wings 4, Rangers 3 Goals: Filppula (1), Lebda (1), Abdelkader (1), Williams (1) What to watch for: - The top line of Franzen, Datsyuk, and Holmstrom will make their second appearance together. - Highly-touted prospect Tomas Tatar will make his Red Wings debut tonight. - Defense prospect Jakub Kindl will make his second appearance alongside Nicklas Lidstrom. - Backup goaltender Jimmy Howard will make first start this season. - Expected to make up the third defense pairing, Jonathan Ericsson and Brett Lebda will make their first appearance together in the pre-season.

I'm far from confident in Jimmy, but for the time being, I'm willing to give him the benefit of the doubt. If his play continues to be sub-par after a handful of games in the regular season, then I might start making these kinds of claims, but in the meantime, take a breather. As for the playoff goaltending situation, I'm much more inclined to believe that Holland and company would go with the prospect (Howard, Larsson, McCollum) playing the best at that time, or sign a cheap veteran backup to plug the hole. If Jimmy is playing badly, he won't be between the pipes come playoff time.

Well, this game sure took a turn for the worse in a hurry.

Truth. Huge fan of Exelby, Komisarek, and Orr, all of whom are stirring the pot tonight.

Howard has been very good when he's had to be.

PP!

Miller is keeping the Sabres in this one.

MULE!! Homer and Dats pick up the assists.

To ignite a little friendly discussion between periods, in terms of excitement and enjoyability, if the Wings were to make the Cup again this season, which Eastern Conference team would you want them to face? For me, it has got to be the Leafs. I've said it before, and I'll say it again; if it weren't for our beloved Red Wings, I'd most certainly be a Leafs fan. Sure, I'm biased, being from the area and all, but talk about an exciting hockey team they've put together this season. Naturally, a Wings-Leafs final would be a dream come true for me.

Wow. 8 out of 10 players just dropped the gloves in the Leafs-Flyers game, including a brief bout between Daniel Carcillo and Lee Stempniak. On another note, Garnett Exelby is a player I would love to see in Detroit someday.

Haha. Too bad, he generated two nice scoring chances.

Howard just had to make his first two saves of the game almost 17 minutes into the period.

Tatar is wearing 72, and he looks fantastic so far.

5-on-3 for the Sabres. KILL IT!!

No goal, but lots of nice chances on the power play.

Mike Grier in the box. The coveted free agent just made his first contribution to the Wings.

I'm the last guy in the world who wants to get into the enforcer debate, but I just watched Colton Orr and Riley Cote go at it less than three minutes into the Leafs-Flyers game, and it kind of makes me wish the Wings had a legit heavyweight, if only for the pure entertainment it would provide.

Howard will play the entire game.

LET'S GO RED WINGS!!!

It's working great for me, as well.

Nice story, and great attitude. I've always liked Willy.

Just for the record, I don't really know what I'm doing with these GDTs, and I only plan on doing them for the pre-season, but if there's any other information you'd like to see over the next couple of games, please let me know.

Thomas Vanek, Derek Roy, Jason Pominville, and Tim Connolly will all dress for the Sabres. Also, Ryan Miller is expected to play the entire game.

Amen. When all is said and done, Williams will have been a great signing for this team.

We're icing a fairly strong lineup tonight, so I expect a good effort. Fingers crossed for Tatar, Howard, and Kindl, and here's to hoping Abdelkader can continue his excellent play thus far.