Blackhawks at Red Wings
THE STORY: The Detroit Red Wings haven't been shy about amassing victories this season. Unfortunately for Mike Babcock's club, the injuries are also starting to mount. Detroit heads into Sunday's home contest against the fellow Original Six rival Chicago Blackhawks with several pronounced question marks as veteran Todd Bertuzzi (groin) and All-Star Pavel Datsyuk (knee) are nursing injuries. Captain Nicklas Lidstrom has already been ruled out with a bone bruise in his ankle.
TV: 4 p.m. ET, NHLN, WGN
ABOUT THE BLACKHAWKS (35-24-7): Coach Joel Quenneville's club won't shed a tear for Detroit's plight. After all, Chicago has seen captain Jonathan Toews miss six straight games with concussion-like symptoms and D Niklas Hjalmarsson miss four consecutive contests with the same ailment. Both have already been ruled out for Sunday's tilt. Despite the missing man power, Chicago turned to former Red Wing Marian Hossa as it posted its third win in 16 road contests with a solid 2-1 triumph over the Ottawa Senators on Friday. Hossa, who has three tallies in his last two contests, secured a goal and three assists in four games versus Detroit this season.
ABOUT THE RED WINGS (43-19-3): Valtteri Filppula collected two goals and an assist and D Niklas Kronwall recorded his second straight three-point performance in the team's 6-0 throttling of the Minnesota Wild on Friday. G Jimmy Howard secured his sixth shutout of the season in the rout to notch his first victory since returning from a broken right index finger. The All-Star netminder has struggled with the Blackhawks, however, dropping five of his last seven matches.
OVERTIME:
1. While the rest of the league can tell a different tale, Chicago hasn't had much difficulty at Joe Louis Arena. The Blackhawks have collected 11 of a possible 12 points (5-0-1) in their last six visits.
2. Detroit C Henrik Zetterberg also recorded three points versus the Wild and has collected eight (two goals, six assists) over his past three contests. The veteran Swede has been held off the scoresheet in three of the four meetings versus Chicago this season.