Lehtonen in net tonight

Or so it appears from the morning skate.

Kari Lehtonen should get the start. It makes some amount of sense in that this is a more regular schedule (there is no morning skate in Detroit on Sunday and the local start time is 5 p.m.) and it includes one less plane trip than tomorrow. Plus, this will allow Lehtonen to be fresh for Tuesday's game against Montreal.

Look for Andrew Raycroft in that big tilt.

Also, Krys Barch and Matt Niskanen are in tonight against the Blue Jackets and Brian Sutherby and Mark Fistric are out.

Steve Ott and Brad Richards took the option not to skate. Expect that more as the schedule and travel continue to weigh on the team.

PR Guru Graham Clark came up with this gem on Richards:

In the first game of back-to-back games this season (five games), Brad Richards has four goals, three assists, 20 shots on goal and is plus-6. So he's got to be the first star tonight, right?