If things continue their trend, then the Detroit Red Wings will get a win on Thursday night when they take on the Calgary Flames at home. The trend is the fact that Detroit won their first five games, looking like one of the hottest teams in the NHL, but have since then lost their last five, looking like a fish out of water. So if the trend of win five, lose five continues, then the Flames are in for some trouble when they travel to the Joe Louis Arena on Thursday.
Detroit is struggling mightily offensively, scoring just five goals in their last five games, all losses, which is a stark contrast to their 3.6 goals per game average over their first five games. They've gone as far as to send Fabian Brunnstrom down to Grand Rapids in favor of Gustav Nyquist for their last game against the Minnesota Wild, but that experiment failed and Nyquist has since been sent down.
Though he's not likely to give the Wings any spark offensively, defenseman Mike Commodore is set to make his Red Wings debut on Thursday. He's been out since Sept. 28, when he suffered a sprained MCL against the Blackhawks in preseason action. Commodore was brought in this offseason on a one-year deal to assist Detroit's blue line, and according to Ansar Khan, he'll be paired with Jonathan Ericsson when the Flames come to town.
Calgary has been hit-or-miss this year, but they are staying competitive within the division. The same can't be said for their last outing the, the finale of a six-game homestand in which the Vancouver Canucks torched them for a 5-1 win. They set out on a three-game road trip looking to gain some ground in the Northwest Division. Their goal in that 5-1 win didn't come until there was under a minute left in the game, and they were thoroughly outplayed from start to finish.
This is the first of four meetings between these two teams this season. Detroit has taken 13 of the last 20 meetings between the two teams, and the Red Wings swept the season series last season. The game is set for 7:30 p.m.eastern on Thursday at the Joe Louis Arena, and can be seen on, as usual, Fox Sports Detroit.