Bodog Beat

Will you have your money on the Red Wings? (AP Images)

The Detroit Red Wings might not be perched in their usual spot atop the Western Conference standings heading out of the Christmas break, but that doesn’t mean they’re not still one of the league’s powerhouse teams. The Red Wings sit at 23-6-4 on the season, good for 50 points and the No. 2 spot in the West heading into their Friday night road matchup against the Nashville Predators.

The Preds (at 16-14-3) trail the Red Wings by 15 points in the Central Division standings, and they need to start to string some wins together to get themselves back into the first eight spots in the West standings. Nashville has a middling 5-4-1 mark over their past 10 games, and they were blanked 3-0 by the Florida Panthers and former goaltender Tomas Vokoun in their last game on Tuesday night.

Detroit starting goaltender Chris Osgood has been out with a groin injury, and he’s been watching Ty Conklin play for the past few games. Nashville starting goaltender Dan Ellis has been losing playing time to Pekka Rinne, who is now 7-2-0 with a 2.28 goals-against average through 11 starts on the season. Get your NHL betting with Bodog now.