DUCKS (9-2-1) at RED WINGS (7-4-2)
TV: PRIME, FS-Detroit
Last 10: Anaheim 7-2-1; Detroit 6-2-2
The Anaheim Ducks head to Detroit to face the Red Wings for the first time since the retirement of Niklas Lidstrom and for the first time with Viktor Fasth in net.
After losing three of the four meetings last season, a confident Anaheim team is looking forward to continuing their strong play on the road. The Ducks are 2-1 in the first half of their current six-game road trip with their most impressive win coming Tuesday in Chicago. Anaheim rallied to knock off the NHL leading, Blackhawks, 3-2 in the shootout. Tonight
The Ducks have gone 3-0 against the Central Division this far and can keep that streak alive with a 'W' tonight at Joe Louis Arena.
Detroit will have their hands full with the Ducks balanced offensive attack. When Ryan Getzlaf scored the other night in Chicago he became the eighth player on the Ducks roster to score at least four goals.
Fasth will get the start again while Jonas Hiller recovers from an undisclosed 'lower body' injury. The 30-year-old Swede is 6-0-0 with a 1.74 GAA and .933 Sv.%.
Anaheim is 5-1-1 on the road.
***
The Red Wings are playing the final game of a current four-game home stand. They have earned points in all three by going 2-0-1 and currently sit third in the Central with 16 points. The Wings are lead offensively by Henrik Zetterberg (5g 13a) and Pavel Datsyuk (6g 8g) who has scored goals in three consecutive games.
Jimmy Howard will be minding the net for Detroit. The Syracuse, NY native is 6-4-2 with a 2.88 GAA and .901 Sv.%.
Detroit is 5-2-1 at the Joe.
***
Key to the game:
SPECIAL TEAMS!
-Can the Ducks keep the puck out of the net on the penalty kill? The Ducks are 29th in the league (69.6%) in when down a man. How does a team with nine wins in their first 12 games do it without a penalty kill?
- The Wings aren't much better, killing off just 73.3% (26th in NHL) of the time they have been shorthanded.
***
-Detroit is 25th in the NHL WITH the man advantage. Its strange to see the Wings so low, but with a 13.8% success rate it's really no surprise.
Anaheim is is 7th with a 23.1% conversion rate.
***
Follow me on Twitter! @StevePalumboHTW
On Facebook at StevePalumboNHL
Email me at [email protected]