1* free play on the Vancouver Canucks...
The Detroit Red Wings will play their first game of hockey since a 3-1 win against the Devils on New Years Eve as they're coming to Vancouver to take on the Canucks tonight. The hosts will come into this contest looking to redeem themselves after a sloppy loss to the Kings on New Years Day, and I think this should be a good spot to back the home team.

Here are my keys to the game:

1. Situational/Motivational - The Nucks looked destined to take down two out of three games versus California based opposition within a five day span as they were leading the Kings by one goal with only two minutes to go Thursday. The Kings found the net twice within a minute though, and left shocked Canucks players and fans wondering what happened. Vancouver will be back in front of its home crowd to make amens tonight, and I expect its to be 110% motivated to not slip up again.

2. Road Woes - The Red Wings open a both physically and psychologically demanding six game road trip tonight, and have dropped all of their last five on the road versus a team with a winning home record.

3. X-Factor - Radim Vrbata is leading the Nucks with his 15 goals and has found the net in back-to-back games heading into this match-up.

Selection: This is a play on the Vancouver Canucks (Free)