Stars-Red Wings Preview

 

VIDEO PLAYLIST

• Red Wings Skate Past Stars, 4-1

Regular Season Matchup
	W-L-OT	HOME	ROAD	DIV	CONF
DAL	26-21-12	18-6-5	8-15-7	6-5-3	21-15-10
DET	27-21-11	15-8-4	12-13-7	6-6-3	21-16-8
· Complete Standings

Team Stat Comparison
165	Goals	149
177	Goals Against	153
44	Power Play Goals	40
44	Power Play Goals Allowed	37
5	Shorthanded Goals	4
6	Shorthanded Goals Allowed	1
617	Penalty Minutes	553
10	Average Penalty Minutes	9

Goalie Breakdown
	GOALIE	GP	W	TGA	GAA	SO	SV	SV%
	Marty Turco	41	17	110	2.73	3	1123	.911
	Alex Auld	21	9	59	3.00	0	499	.894
	Jimmy Howard	41	20	94	2.33	1	1176	.926
	Chris Osgood	21	7	57	2.94	1	467	.891

Team Stat Leaders
G	James Neal 24	Pavel Datsyuk 16
A	Brad Richards 48	Pavel Datsyuk 31
PTS	Brad Richards 65	Pavel Datsyuk 47
PIM	Steve Ott 100	Todd Bertuzzi 66
SOG	Brad Richards 207	Henrik Zetterberg 204

Nearly two weeks ago, a home loss to the Dallas Stars sent the Detroit Red Wings' offense into a funk.

After breaking out of that slump with a comeback win in their previous game, the Red Wings will next try to avoid their longest home losing streak in 24 seasons Monday night against the Stars.

Last season, the Red Wings scored a league-best 295 goals while making their second straight Stanley Cup finals appearance and had 11 players with 10 or more scores.

Detroit lost leading goal scorer Marian Hossa and Mikael Samuelsson to free agency, and Jiri Hudler left for Russia. Johan Franzen, Valtteri Filppula, Jason Williams and Niklas Kronwall have also been sidelined with injuries this season.

With those losses, the Red Wings (12-9-4) have struggled to find the net consistently this season, but they did enter their previous matchup with the Stars on Nov. 18 having outscored their opponents 19-6 during a three-game win streak.

Henrik Zetterberg, however, had the team's lone tally in a 3-1 defeat, and Detroit scored five times during a 1-4-1 stretch, including its longest scoreless streak in nearly 33 years.

The Red Wings ended that drought in Saturday night's 4-3 shootout win in St. Louis.

The Blues scored twice in the first 17:22 and didn't relinquish the lead until 2:27 into the third period. They took another one-goal lead later in the final frame, but Zetterberg netted the tying score with 56.7 seconds left and Todd Bertuzzi ended a three-game slide in the shootout.

"Overall, we found a way to do it," coach Mike Babcock said. "Obviously, things haven't gone well for us here of late, but we've played real well."

Babcock's club will now try to stop an 0-3-1 skid at home. The Red Wings haven't lost five in a row at Joe Louis Arena since dropping six straight Feb. 8-March 3, 1986.

Dallas, meanwhile, has thrived during a brutal stretch that began with its previous win over Detroit.

The Stars (12-7-7) will play for the eighth time in 13 nights Monday, but are 4-2-1 so far during that span, including Saturday night's 4-3 overtime win against visiting Tampa Bay.

The Stars failed to hold on to a two-goal lead late in the third period, but Tom Wandell gave his team the victory 2:12 into the extra period.

"It wasn't the best shot, but it went in," Wandell said after scoring his first career overtime goal. "It was a big win. We came back strong."

Loui Eriksson is on a season-high six-game goal drought, but he has a team-best three goals as Dallas has won four of its last five meetings over Detroit.

The Red Wings' Pavel Datsyuk has a team-best six points in those games, but he has just one assist in his last four contests overall. Datsyuk, a Hart Trophy finalist in 2008-09, scored a career-best 32 goals and had his second straight 97-point campaign.

After giving backup goaltender Jimmy Howard the start in St. Louis, the Red Wings could turn back to Chris Osgood on Monday. However, Osgood, who sat on the bench during the previous meeting, has given up eight goals in his past two games against Dallas.

Stars backup Alex Auld earned the victory Nov. 18, but starter Marty Turco is 4-2-0 versus the Red Wings since Feb. 17, 2008, after winning once in his first 15 matchups.