Coyotes at Red Wings
Coming off a much-needed victory to strengthen their hold on third place in the Atlantic Division, the Detroit Red Wings continue their four-game homestand against the woeful Arizona Coyotes on Tuesday night. The Red Wings squeezed out a 2-1 overtime win over Central Division-leading St. Louis on Sunday afternoon to stop a slide that had seen them drop six of their previous eight games. "You get sick and tired of losing, especially when you're not used to it," coach Mike Babcock said.
Detroit holds a four-point lead over Ottawa with one game in hand and appears to have a plum matchup against the reeling Coyotes, who have dropped eight games in a row and 18 of their last 19. Arizona has managed a combined seven goals during the eight-game skid and has not won in regulation since Feb. 3 - a span of 22 games. The Western Conference-worst Coyotes are opening a three-game road trip, which may be a welcome respite given their 1-7-1 record at home this month.
TV: 7:30 p.m. ET, FSN Arizona, FSN Detroit
ABOUT THE COYOTES (21-44-8): Rookie Tobias Rieder needs one short-handed tally to tie the franchise mark of four in a season. "If teams are on the power play, they try not to defend as hard as they usually do so I try to take advantage of it," said Rieder, who netted his third short-handed tally Saturday versus Pittsburgh. "If I see a chance, I try to create something from that and if not, I try to play well in my own zone." Oliver Ekman-Larsson became the first defenseman to score 20 goals for the Coyotes since the franchise moved to Arizona in 1996.
ABOUT THE RED WINGS (39-21-11): Detroit has been limited to two goals or fewer and will likely be without two-way standout Pavel Datsyuk, who is expected to miss his fourth consecutive game due to a lower-body injury. "I feel OK," Datsyuk said at Monday's practice. "I hope I play tomorrow but I don't think so. I have small chance. I skate tomorrow and we see." Left wing Justin Abdelkader, who had the game-winning tally in the victory over St. Louis, has scored seven times in the last 10 games to reach 20 goals on the season - double his previous career best.
OVERTIME
1. Detroit has scored at least one power-play goal in 11 of the past 12 games.
2. Coyotes G Mike Smith has lost 15 of his last 16 starts but has yielded two goals or fewer in six of his last seven.
3. Abdelkader has only one assist in 16 games against Arizona.