Penguins at Red Wings
The Detroit Red Wings attempt to extend their home winning streak to four games when they host the Pittsburgh Penguins on Thursday. Detroit is coming off a 3-2 triumph over visiting Toronto on Tuesday which gave it at least one point in nine straight contests at Joe Louis Arena (7-0-2). Gustav Nyquist scored twice and Jimmy Howard made 31 saves as the Red Wings climbed within one point of Columbus for the second wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference.
Pittsburgh rebounded from a pair of weekend losses to Philadelphia with a 5-1 victory over Dallas on Tuesday. Captain Sidney Crosby increased his league-leading point total to 91 with two goals and an assist while Lee Stempniak netted a tally and set up two others as the Penguins maintained their 15-point lead over the Flyers in the Metropolitan Division. Pittsburgh posted a 4-1 win at Detroit on Dec. 14, with Crosby scoring two goals and Evgeni Malkin added one and a pair of assists.
TV: 7:30 p.m. ET, NHLN, ROOT (Pittsburgh), FSN (Detroit)
ABOUT THE PENGUINS (45-19-4): Crosby owns a 17-point lead over both Anaheim captain Ryan Getzlaf and Toronto's Phil Kessel in his quest for the second Art Ross Trophy of his career. The 26-year-old also has a league-high 58 assists - two more than San Jose captain Joe Thornton - and is fifth with 33 goals - his most since netting a career-best 51 in 2009-10. Marc-Andre Fleury looks to recover from a lost weekend against the Flyers during which he was tagged with one loss and pulled from the second after allowing three goals on 15 shots in the opening period.
ABOUT THE RED WINGS (31-24-13): Jonathan Ericsson is expected to be sidelined four to six weeks after undergoing surgery on the fractured middle finger on his left hand Wednesday. The defenseman, who already has missed 20 games with shoulder and rib injuries this season, got hurt Tuesday against Toronto. Ericsson has recorded one goal and 10 assists in 48 contests.
OVERTIME
1. The Penguins assigned C Jayson Megna to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton of the American Hockey League on Wednesday. The 24-year-old registered five goals and three assists in 26 games earlier this season, his first in the NHL.
2. The Red Wings are 12-1-2 when Nyquist scores a goal. The 24-year-old Swede leads the team with 19 tallies, 14 of which have come in his last 20 games.
3. Detroit recalled D Adam Almquist from Grand Rapids of the AHL. The 23-year-old Swede made his NHL debut earlier this campaign, scoring a goal in two games.