Red Wings at Devils
The Detroit Red Wings have been able to withstand the loss of leading goal scorer Pavel Datsyuk but they unraveled in the first game with captain Henrik Zetterberg joining him on the sideline. The Red Wings will try to recover from a third-period collapse in a loss to Philadelphia when they visit the New Jersey Devils on Friday night. Detroit had its four-game winning streak snapped in unceremonious fashion when the Flyers scored five unanswered goals in a 6-3 decision on Wednesday.
The Devils coughed up a pair of one-goal leads in the final four minutes Wednesday, including the tying tally with 37 seconds to play in a 4-3 shootout defeat against Montreal. The setback dropped New Jersey to 2-4-1 over its last seven and the team knows it must get things together entering a back-to-back versus Detroit and the New York Rangers. “Everything is so close. You win two or three games and you’re in the playoffs," future Hall-of-Famer Jaromir Jagr said. "You lose two or three games and you’re out of the playoffs.”
TV: 7 p.m. ET, RSD, FSN Detroit, MSG Plus (New Jersey)
ABOUT THE RED WINGS (14-8-7): Wednesday's game marked the first time since 2006 that Detroit played without both Zetterberg (back) and Datsyuk (concussion), who have combined for 23 goals and 53 points. The third member of the team's No. 1 line, Todd Bertuzzi, is set to return to the lineup Friday after missing six games with an upper-body injury, but forward Darren Helm will be sidelined for at least the next two games due to a shoulder injury. The Red Wings also have concerns over goaltender Jimmy Howard, who has one win in his last nine starts (1-4-4).
ABOUT THE DEVILS (11-12-6): Reid Boucher had a solid NHL debut after being called up from Albany of the American Hockey League earlier Wednesday, picking up an assist and scoring New Jersey's lone goal in the shootout. The Devils fell to 0-5 in the bonus format this season and Boucher's goal marked the only time the team has scored in 17 attempts. "We can’t manage to score those goals. It’s definitely frustrating," forward Michael Ryder said. "If you look at it, come playoff time there are no shootouts. But you’d like to get those extra points during the season.”
OVERTIME
1. Detroit allowed Philadelphia to score on all three power-play chances.
2. The Devils own the league's second-best penalty kill (87.2 percent) while the Red Wings dropped to 11th (84.5) after Wednesday's contest.
3. Red Wings LW Tomas Tatar scored twice Wednesday for his first career multiple-goal game.