Red Wings at Oilers
The Detroit Red Wings look to notch their first victory on a six-game road trip when they visit the rejuvenated Edmonton Oilers on Tuesday night. Detroit dropped the opener of their two-week journey at Vancouver 4-1 on Saturday and has registered only three victories in the last 11 games (3-4-4) while dropping five points out of first place in the Atlantic Division. Edmonton can extend its point streak (2-0-2) to a season-high five games after beating the New York Islanders 5-2 on Sunday.
The Red Wings gave up two power-play tallies and were 0-of-3 with the man advantage against Vancouver, but allowed only 15 shots on goal at even strength. “We played a pretty solid road game,” goalie Jimmy Howard told the Detroit News. “If we keep playing like that, we’ll be fine.” The Oilers reach the midway point of the campaign Tuesday and own the least victories – four fewer than last season at this time -- in the league despite their recent success.
TV: 9:30 p.m. ET, FSN Detroit-Plus, SNET-West (Edmonton)
ABOUT THE RED WINGS (20-10-9): Howard has been a staple for the Red Wings since early December, allowing two or fewer goals in nine of his last 10 games - 17 overall in that span. “”He gives us a chance to win every night, you can’t wish for anything more than that,” captain Henrik Zetterberg told the Detroit News. “… It’s too bad we can’t score goals for him.” Zetterberg tops the Red Wings with 33 points, veteran center Pavel Datsyuk (28) is next and Tomas Tatar took over the team lead with his 16th goal Saturday.
ABOUT THE OILERS (9-22-9): Ben Scrivens played in all four games during the streak, allowing nine goals combined - five of them at even strength. The Oilers have played with more energy of late despite several changes on the roster and third-leading scorer Jordan Eberle (23 points) told reporters, “We’re starting to create a bit of a team identity and we’re starting to get results.” Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and Taylor Hall top the team with 24 points each and Derek Roy notched his first goal Sunday in four games since being acquired from Nashville.
OVERTIME
1. The Red Wings have won six consecutive games against the Oilers, allowing a total of six goals in the process.
2. Edmonton LW Rob Klinkhammer had an assist and a plus-2 rating in his debut with the team Sunday.
3. Detroit RW Gustav Nyquist recorded seven points in the last five contests after a three-game drought.