Red Wings at Avalanche
THE STORY: The Detroit Red Wings vowed to be a tougher team mentally following their last loss. Seven consecutive victories later, Detroit continues to drive its opponents crazy. The raging Red Wings roll into Colorado for a game with the Avalanche on Sunday clicking on all aspects of their game. Colorado is also playing well – the Avalanche are riding their first two-game winning streak since starting the season 5-1-0 on Oct. 17. Both victories came at home, where they are 6-9-0 and have won three of their last four to improve to 4-3-0 on their season-high eight-game homestand following their 3-2 shootout victory over St. Louis on Friday. Detroit has outscored its foes 28-12 in its last seven games, including 15-6 in four road contests. The Red Wings have outscored opponents 10-1 in the first period during their winning streak.
TV: 8 p.m. ET, FS Detroit, Altitude (Colorado)
ABOUT THE RED WINGS (16-7-1): Jimmy Howard is seeing the puck well these days and has become a workhorse. He leads the NHL with 15 wins, and his goals-against average (1.83) and save percentage (.931) are well above his career standards of 2.44 and .918. Howard is expected to make his 18th consecutive start Sunday. The defense has been quite offensive with 21 of the team’s 71 goals, which leads the league by a whopping margin. Left wing Valtteri Filppula has five goals and two assists in his last five games.
ABOUT THE AVALANCHE (12-13-1): Coach Joe Sacco moved Milan Hejduk to a line centered by Ryan O’Reilly two games ago, and it has paid off for both players. O’Reilly tied Friday’s game in the third period and won it in the shootout, and has two goals and five points since the move. Hejduk has scored in each game. Another key factor is goaltender Semyon Varlamov, who has won three of his last four games (1.72 goals-against average) after losing seven straight.
OVERTIME:
1. Detroit has been a streaky bunch, opening the season with five victories followed by six losses, four wins, two losses and seven wins.
2. The Red Wings won both meetings this season, including 3-0 in Denver on Oct. 8 in the Avalanche’s opener. Detroit has won 19 of its last 26 in Colorado.