GameDay: vs. Edmonton (23-25-9-1, 56) 7:30 EST

Tonight is the third of four games between these two teams this season. The first game ended in a 4-4 tie on November 1 and the Wings blew the Oilers out 7-1 on November 26 in the second game. The Wings haven't lost two games in a row since they dropped two to Boston on Jan. 7th and 10th and will look to avoid doing so tonight. They are coming off a decisive 5-2 loss to Colorado on Saturday and are 1-1 so far in a five-game homestand. The Avs outplayed the Wings for much of the game and scored the last four goals of the game. The Wings were 4-0-2 leading up to the loss. They are now four games behind Colorado for first place in the Conference. The Oilers are 3-1-1 in their last five games and are coming off a 2-2 tie with Nashville on Sunday. Their last three wins came at home and they are 0-1-1 so far on a four-game road trip. Manny Legace will get the start again and will be backed up by the Griffins' Marc Lamothe. Dave Lewis said Lamothe may get a start sometime later this week. Chris Chelios did not practice yesterday but will play tonight, according to Lewis. He took a shot off his foot during the loss Saturday but finished the game. There's a good chance (50-50) that Mathieu Dandenault will play center tonight, between Darren McCarty and Steve Thomas. Lewis had planned on having Mark Mowers or Jason Williams center that line while putting Dandenault back on defense. When Dandenault informed him that he used to play center (before junior), Lewis decided to give it a try. Dandy has will have played every position other than goalie if Lewis does in fact use him at center tonight. This is an important week for the Wings, who have home games against Edmonton tonight, Phoenix on Wednesday and St. Louis on Friday. After that they will be on a three-game trip to Western Canada. The Oilers, Coyotes and Blues are all fighting to make the playoffs and will give the Wings a tough time. Tonight they will have to contend with the speed and youth of the Oilers. If they play their "A" game, the Wings shouldn't have much trouble. They'll have to show more effort than they did on Saturday, though, because the Oilers aren't going to roll over and die. ESPN Freep News Also: Here is the link to the audio file of Saturday's Hockey Insider. I come on at around 20 minutes into the show, though you should listen to everything leading up to it. When listening, remember that I am not a radio personality and that was only my second time being on the air. I apologize in advance for how bad I sound. Many thanks to Rick Morris for giving me the opportunity to be on his show and for being such a faithful (and vocal) viewer of this site. Thanks for the numerous and extremely generous plugs as well. I really appreciate it, Rick. Rick and Joe run a very good show and I'd recommend it to anyone.