Monday night in Colorado, Detroit Red Wings goalie Chris Osgood will have his third opportunity to pick up career win No. 400. Osgood first went for his 400th win back on Dec. 19 against the Dallas Stars and was denied the milestone by losing in overtime. His second shot at 400 wins came this past Thursday against the St. Louis Blues. Osgood gave up four goals in the first two periods, putting the Red Wings in a hole. Detroit battled back and nearly pulled off the comeback, but the team came up just short in a 4-3 loss.
Now playing the Colorado Avalanche tonight at Pepsi Center, Osgood will look to win his 400th career game as the Red Wings look to win their second straight on this road trip. The Red Wings were victorious in Minnesota last night, beating the Wild, 4-1. Earlier on the road trip was the loss to the Blues, meaning the Red Wings currently have a 1-1 record on this road trip so far. After playing at Colorado tonight, the Red Wings will head to Dallas to play the Stars on Wednesday night. Detroit is 0-2 against the Stars so far this season, so they will look to close out the trip with their first win against Dallas this season.
Tonight's game against the Avalanche will be the Red Wings' first without both Pavel Datsyuk and Dan Cleary. Datsyuk broke his hand last week and Cleary suffered a broken ankle last night. Losing their leader in points (Datsyuk) and goals (Cleary) won't be an easy obstacle to overcome, but if the Red Wings are going to remain atop the Western Conference standings, they will have to get by without two of their top players.