GAME OF THE WEEK

By HELENE ELLIOTT

Dec. 23, 2003 12 AM PT

MINNESOTA at DETROIT, FRIDAY

One of the NHL’s best defenses will try to stop one of the top offenses. The Wild’s two-goalie system has given Dwayne Roloson (1.87, .932) and Manny Fernandez (2.22, .924) nearly equal time, and they’ve thrived. The offense has gotten a lift from Sergei Zholtok, who missed some time early this season because of an irregular heartbeat but has recovered and has scored a goal in each of his last three games. Pavel Datsyuk, Brett Hull and Brendan Shanahan lead the Red Wings’ fearsome offense. But they’ll have to deal with their three-goalie problem again soon, when Dominik Hasek returns from a groin pull.

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Helene Elliott

Helene Elliott was with the Los Angeles Times’ Sports department from 1989 to 2024, first as a staff writer and then, starting in 2006, as a columnist. She became the first female journalist to be honored with a plaque in the Hall of Fame of a major professional sport as the 2005 winner of the Hockey Hall of Fame’s Elmer Ferguson Award, awarded to writers “who have brought honor to journalism and to hockey.” A native of Brooklyn, N.Y., and graduate of Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism, she has covered 18 Olympics.

GAME OF THE WEEK

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