Red Wings at Blackhawks
THE STORY: The Chicago Blackhawks have shown their fans a good time en route to posting an impressive 13-3-3 mark at the United Center this season. On Wednesday, however, the Windy City faithful left with its tail between its legs after Jonathan Quick and the Los Angeles Kings blanked the Blackhawks 2-0. Joel Quenneville's club will look to rebound on Friday when Chicago hosts the Original Six rival Detroit Red Wings. The Blackhawks saw their five-game home winning streak come to an end after Quick was sensational in recording his league-leading fifth shutout of the season. "Give him credit, he's a good goaltender," captain Jonathan Toews said of Quick. "He made some pretty good stops out there. But you'd have to say he had a horseshoe you-know-where on a few of those plays." Detroit's Jimmy Howard is also riding a lucky streak en route to an NHL-best 22 victories this season, although he is only 3-4-1 in his career against Chicago. The Red Wings will vie for their third straight win and hope to pull within a point of the Central Division-leading Blackhawks when the teams meet in their first contest of the season.
TV: 8:30 p.m. ET, FS Detroit Plus, CS Chicago
ABOUT THE RED WINGS (23-12-1): With veteran right wing Tomas Holmstrom nursing a groin injury, Detroit called up promising wing Gustav Nyquist from Grand Rapids of the American Hockey League on Thursday. Nyquist has recorded 30 points in as many games with the Griffins this season. Holmstrom expects to be sidelined for 7-to-10 days. "It's getting better," Holmstrom told the Detroit Free Press on Thursday. "It's tough, though. When I do any sort of motion, I get this pain, a sharp kind of pain."
ABOUT THE BLACKHAWKS (23-10-4): Although Quick got the headlines, Chicago goalender Corey Crawford also played well in the loss. He turned aside 36 of 38 shots on Wednesday, but has yielded just four goals in his last three games. Crawford has enjoyed success versus the Red Wings, posting a 4-2-0 mark with a 2.01 goals against average. Although Friday's contest is their first of the season, the rivals will square off twice more over the next 15 days.
OVERTIME:
1. Detroit left wing Pavel Datsyuk collected his 10th multi-point game in the last five weeks with a goal and an assist in Detroit's 3-2 victory over the St. Louis Blues on Tuesday. The 31-year-old Russian has collected 10 goals and 17 assists in his last 19 games.
2. Chicago agitator Daniel Carcillo is expected to return after a six-game absence with an upper body injury.