Red Wings at Sharks
THE STORY: The Detroit Red Wings are hopeful their early-season trend comes to an end when they continue their four-game road trip against the San Jose Sharks on Thursday. Detroit began the campaign with five straight wins before enduring a six-game losing streak. It then reeled off four consecutive victories but had that stretch come to an end Tuesday, when it began its trek with a 2-1 loss to the Blues in St. Louis. The Sharks have been idle since being blanked by the Phoenix Coyotes on Saturday. San Jose is concluding a six-game homestand during which it has gone 3-1-1. Overall, it has won eight of its last 11 contests.
TV: 10:30 p.m. ET, FSN (Detroit), CSN California (San Jose)
ABOUT THE RED WINGS (9-6-1): Pavel Datsyuk is making his frustration over his own play this season known. The 33-year old, who averaged over a point per game last campaign, has just two goals and eight assists in 16 contests in 2011-12 and has gone three games without a point. "Awful. I don't have anything," Datsyuk told the Detroit Free Press regarding his performance. "I need more be productive, need more shoot, need more be dangerous. Just go to net, go shoot, go to net, more handle the puck."
ABOUT THE SHARKS (9-5-1): The club will be selling wristbands Thursday to help raise money for the families of the people killed in the plane crash in Russia on Sept. 7. One of San Jose's biggest supporters is Michal Handzus, whose good friend Pavol Demitra was among the 44 victims. The Slovaks played together in St. Louis from 1998-2001 and were members of each other's wedding party. Handzus still has trouble coping with the loss of his comrade. "You always wake up and feel like it didn't really happen - but it did, it hits you," he said. "I thought it would get better, but it didn't. It pops into your head all the time. It's tough, always. I can't describe it. It's going to take a long time to get over."
OVERTIME:
1. Detroit enters with a four-game road losing streak and has dropped four of its last five visits to San Jose.
2. The Sharks have captured eight of their last 11 overall meetings with the Red Wings.