Red Wings at Coyotes
THE STORY: The Detroit Red Wings wrap up their five-game road trip Monday against the Phoenix Coyotes at Jobing.com Arena, where they've had plenty of success in recent years. Detroit, which is 2-1-1 on its trek, has posted a 21-6-3 record in its last 30 visits to Phoenix. The league-leading Red Wings have won four of six on the road and nine of 11 overall. Phoenix is concluding a six-game homestand during which it is 2-2-1. The Coyotes have won only five of their last 18 contests and have dropped six straight against Central Division opponents.
TV: 8 p.m. ET, NBCSN, TSN2
ABOUT THE RED WINGS (35-16-2): All-Star Jimmy Howard will miss more time than the two games Detroit originally predicted after the goaltender broke his right index finger against Vancouver on Thursday. Howard reportedly was told by doctors he'd be out 4-to-6 weeks, but he believes he could be back in two. Ty Conklin did little to instill confidence in coach Mike Babcock with his performance against Edmonton on Saturday. Conklin was pulled after allowing three goals on nine shots in 20 minutes. "I didn't perform, obviously," Conklin said. "Certainly it's disappointing. I wanted to play well. You always want to play well, and I didn't." Todd Bertuzzi scored two goals Saturday, including the 300th of his career.
ABOUT THE COYOTES (23-21-8): Phoenix has earned only 26 points at home this season (11-10-4), the second-lowest total in the league. Only the Columbus Blue Jackets (8-13-3, 19 points) have been worse. Radim Vrbata scored his team-leading 24th goal in Saturday's victory over San Jose, leaving him three shy of matching his career high set during his first stint with the Coyotes in 2007-08. Ray Whitney is 29 points away from 1,000 for his career.
OVERTIME:
1. The Red Wings have won 13 of their last 16 contests against Pacific Division teams.
2. Phoenix has lost all three meetings with Detroit this season, the last two in shootouts. The Coyotes have scored two goals in each game.
3. Detroit has struggled on the power play, going only 6 for 65 over its last 22 matches.