Red Wings at Bruins
THE STORY: NBC will not be lacking for storylines when the Boston Bruins host the Detroit Red Wings on Friday afternoon in the inaugural Thanksgiving Showdown. The matchup will feature two Original Six franchises, the reigning Stanley Cup champions vs. Hockeytown and, to add a bit more luster, a 10-game winning streak by the home team. The surging Bruins have shown they can win with any style during the streak – piling up 46 goals, receiving three shutouts from Tim Thomas and registering four consecutive one-goal victories, including the last three away from home. The Red Wings arrive in town riding a three-game winning streak and have beaten Boston three straight times, including a 6-1 thumping at TD Garden in February. Detroit opened the season with five consecutive victories, promptly lost six in a row and has rebounded to take seven of its last nine.
TV: 1 p.m. ET, NBC, TSN
ABOUT THE RED WINGS (12-7-1): Detroit had dropped five straight away from home before winning both ends of a back-to-back at Los Angeles and Anaheim last weekend. The Red Wings got strong efforts from their veteran stars in Wednesday’s 5-3 win over Calgary. Tomas Holmstrom scored twice on the power play – his first two-goal game in over a year – and Pavel Datsyuk continued his recent hot stretch with a goal and two assists to extend his points streak to four games.
ABOUT THE BRUINS (13-7-0): Boston erased a pair of two-goal deficits to outlast the Buffalo Sabres in a shootout Wednesday, matching its longest winning streak since Dec. 12, 2008-Jan. 1, 2009. During their torrid stretch, the Bruins have outscored the opposition 36-8 in the second and third periods. After stumbling to a 3-7 start to the season, Boston has a league-best goal differential of plus-27. Although his two-game shutout streak was snapped, Thomas has won seven in a row.
OVERTIME:
1. Red Wings D Nicklas Lidstrom will play in his 1,515th game Friday, surpassing former teammate Steve Yzerman for 13th all-time.
2. Boston’s current winning streak is the longest by a defending Stanley Cup champion since New Jersey won 13 in a row during the 2000-01 season.
PREDICTION: Red Wings 3, Bruins 2.