Predators at Red Wings
THE STORY: The Detroit Red Wings felt they measured up quite nicely against the reigning Stanley Cup champion Boston Bruins during Friday's nationally televised battle. Coach Mike Babcock's club will look to ride the momentum of its 3-2 shootout victory into Saturday's home contest against the Central Division rival Nashville Predators. With the chance to win their season-high fifth straight overall and sixth consecutive in Hockeytown, the Red Wings would be wise to look to Pavel Datsyuk. The 33-year-old Russian extended his point streak to five games with a goal against the Bruins. After initially declaring that he had been "awful" this season, Datsyuk has rebounded with a flourish. He has four goals and five assists during his five-game stretch and will look to feast on Nashville. Datsyuk has collected 54 points in 52 career games versus the Predators. For its part, Nashville has seen its fortunes change after posting a 7-1-2 mark. The Music City residents are 0-2-1 in their last three and will look to avoid matching a season-high four-game losing skid.
TV: 7 p.m. ET, FSTN, FSD
ABOUT THE PREDATORS (10-7-4): Pekka Rinne has yielded 10 goals during his three-game losing skid, but the 28-year-old Finn has certainly gotten healthy against the Red Wings in his career. Rinne has posted an impressive 8-2-3 mark versus Detroit. Defenseman Ryan Suter has collected two goals and four assists in his last four contests. With five goals, Suter has already surpassed last season's total (four) and is just three shy of his career high.
ABOUT THE RED WINGS (13-7-1): Jimmy Howard ended the Bruins' 10-game winning streak after turning aside a season-high 41 shots on Friday afternoon. Now, he'll look to turn the tide on another streak. The Predators have defeated the Red Wings in four of the last five meetings. Howard has started 14 consecutive contests for the Red Wings. Valtteri Filppula has scored in back-to-back games after tallying just three times in his previous 18.
OVERTIME:
1. Nashville LW Jordin Tootoo has strung together back-to-back multi-point games. Prior to this recent surge, Tootoo's last tally was April 5.
2. "He's been a big part of (the Red Wings' streak); he's skating really well and he's making moves," Detroit captain Nicklas Lidstrom said of Datsyuk. "It's like we've seen in the past, where he's making passes or beating a guy and going to the net. He's playing real well at both ends of the ice."