Avalanche at Red Wings
The Detroit Red Wings look to halt their five-game slide when they continue their four-game homestand against the Colorado Avalanche on Sunday. Detroit fell to 0-2-3 since posting a third straight victory on Dec. 7 when it dropped a 2-1 decision to the New York Islanders on Friday. Captain Henrik Zetterberg scored the lone goal for the Red Wings, who have been held to two or fewer in each game during their skid.
Colorado extended its point streak to four games with a 5-1 triumph at Buffalo on Saturday. Alex Tanguay scored two goals and set up another while defenseman Erik Johnson and John Mitchell each recorded one of each as the Avalanche improved to 1-0-1 on their three-game road trip. Detroit and Colorado split the two meetings last season, with each club winning on the road.
TV: 6 p.m. ET, Altitude (Colorado), FSN Detroit
ABOUT THE AVALANCHE (11-13-8): Calvin Pickard made his fifth consecutive start Saturday and is expected to extend the streak in Detroit. The 22-year-old rookie came within 6:33 of his first career shutout as Buffalo's Johan Larsson scored his first NHL goal. "I've been close a couple times, especially the last two games," Pickard told the team's website. "It would have been nice, but they earned the goal."
ABOUT THE RED WINGS (17-8-8): Detroit will be without Jimmy Howard on Sunday due to a lower-body injury he suffered in the loss to the Islanders. Petr Mrazek will start against Colorado after making 22 saves in relief versus New York. Veteran right wing Johan Franzen returned to the lineup Friday after missing a game with an illness but saw his goal-scoring drought reach 13 contests.
OVERTIME
1. Colorado LW Patrick Bordeleau made his season debut Saturday after missing the team's first 31 games due to back surgery.
2. Detroit recalled G Tom McCollum from Grand Rapids and assigned D Xavier Ouellet to the American Hockey League club.
3. The Avalanche have not posted consecutive wins since topping Carolina and Arizona on Nov. 22 and 25, respectively.