I guess the big news is that Osgood is getting his first start in 12 games.  I know a lot of people have jumped on him for whining, but if you read the articles by the beat writers as they filed, he explains himself at least a little better…

Khan:

“At the start of the year Howie didn’t play for about a month and then I didn’t play for a month. To me that’s not a good way of doing things, to let one guy get stagnant,” Osgood said. “You have to have both guys going, especially with the amount of games we have, especially coming back after the Olympic break we have a ton of games in March. So we have to have two guys in case something happens.’’

McCosky:

“I am just going to play,” said Osgood, who has played 31 minutes in the last 12 games dating to Dec. 20, but was to start Tuesday against the Capitals. “I’m not going to think about how I wish I would’ve played earlier. Howie has played great, but you don’t want to not be playing for that long a time.”

St. James:

“I think when I’ve played, I’ve played good, but I haven’t played for 12 games,” he said. “That’s not my decision, I can’t do anything about that. All I can do is practice. I don’t really think about it too much any more – I just practice and when I play, I play. Do I want to be sitting out 12 games? No, that’s way too long. But that’s not my choice. Howie and I don’t have those decisions to make – we just go out and play and try and play well and Howie was playing well, obviously. But you have to have both guys (going), and that’s important going down the stretch here. I’ll be ready for the playoffs – that’s so far away still.”

Anyway, it’s still not really an excuse for him–I’d rather him shut his mouth and just prove it all with his level of play.  He can run his yap all he wants when he stands on his head and steals a game.  And sorry, Oz, but the playoffs aren’t even guaranteed at this point.  I do, however, think he has a valid point that it’s questionable to be letting a guy get stagnant, and that it is important to have both your goaltenders in some sort of a groove.

That aside, the Wings are coming off that insane 3-4 shootout loss against the Blackhawks, and the Capitals beat the Flyers on Sunday 5-3.  So far this season the Western Conference has beat up the Leastern Conference (with the odd exception of Buffalo), and it sure would be nice to see that trend continue.

Maybe it’s the challenge of playing against countryman Alex Ovechkin, but Pavel Datsyuk always seems to get up for these games.  He is 4-10-14 in 8 games against Washington, and I recall him having an incredible defensive game back in October.  On the other hand, Ovechkin is 4-2-6 in 4 games against Detroit.  Can Pavel start a scoring streak tonight?

Verizon Center is notorious for some of the worst ice in the league.

Who I’m looking at to have a good game: Osgood, for obvious reasons, and Ville Leino, who is finally coming down from the press box.

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