Rangers at Red Wings
Fresh off completing a successful six-game road trip, the Detroit Red Wings face a stern challenge from the red-hot New York Rangers when the Original Six rivals meet at Joe Louis Arena on Wednesday. Tomas Tatar scored to snap a tie in the third period as Detroit posted a 4-3 victory over Nashville on Saturday to win its second straight and finish 4-1-1 on its trek. Tatar also scored with 7.7 seconds remaining in the third in an eventual 4-3 overtime loss to New York on Nov. 5.
Tatar also set up Darren Helm's go-ahead goal in the Red Wings' 3-2 victory over the Rangers on Dec. 6. Rick Nash scored in both meetings and added his team-leading 38th goal to seal New York's 4-1 triumph over the Predators on Monday. The Rangers improved to 9-1-1 in their last 11 and begin their five-game road trip residing one point behind the first-place New York Islanders in the Metropolitan Division, albeit with three contests in hand.
TV: 8 p.m. ET, NBCSN, RSN
ABOUT THE RANGERS (39-17-6): Mats Zuccarello notched two assists as he wasted little time paying dividends after agreeing to terms on a four-year, $18 million contract extension on Monday. The 27-year-old Norwegian missed practice on Tuesday with a maintenance day but is expected to be in the lineup versus Detroit. Derick Brassard also set up two goals against Nashville and scored 1:50 into overtime in the first meeting with the Red Wings.
ABOUT THE RED WINGS (35-15-11): Detroit will have two new cogs in its lineup after acquiring forward Erik Cole from Dallas on Sunday and defenseman Marek Zidlicky from New Jersey one day later. "I'm excited about the guys; as long as they're competitive, everything will work out fine," coach Mike Babcock said. The Red Wings also are hoping to have Henrik Zetterberg back in the lineup as the captain has missed four contests since taking a shot to the head from Jamie Benn of the Stars on Feb. 21.
OVERTIME
1. New York G Cam Talbot owns a 9-2-2 record since taking over for the injured Henrik Lundqvist (vascular injury).
2. Red Wings G Jimmy Howard is just 3-2-1 lifetime versus the Rangers despite recording a slim 1.98 goals-against average.
3. New York's James Sheppard. who skated with fourth-liners C Dominic Moore and RW Jesper Fast in Tuesday's practice, is expected to make his debut with his new team after being acquired from San Jose on Sunday.