Red Wings at Wild
Pavel Datsyuk expects to make his return to the lineup as the sputtering Detroit Red Wings look to snap a three-game skid when they visit the Minnesota Wild on Saturday. While Datsyuk declared himself "good to go" after missing two consecutive contests and seven of the last nine with a lower-body injury, coach Mike Babcock stopped short of officially inserting the 36-year-old Russian back into the lineup.
"Pavel will be a game-time decision, or a (Saturday)-morning decision," Babcock said. "We played him on a line (at practice on Friday) like he was playing, but we don't know how it'll react, so we'll decide tomorrow morning." Detroit certainly could use the jolt as it fell for the ninth time in 12 games (3-7-2) with a 3-2 setback to Boston on Thursday. The Red Wings are even in points with the Bruins but have a game in hand as they cling to third place in the Atlantic Division. Minnesota also dropped a 3-2 decision to the New York Rangers on Thursday but holds a five-point edge over Los Angeles in the race for the top wild-card spot in the Western Conference.
TV: 7 p.m. ET, City, FSN Plus Detroit, FSN North (Minnesota)
ABOUT THE RED WINGS (40-24-13): Jimmy Howard will make his first start since celebrating his 31st birthday on March 26, and looks to improve upon a 5-6-3 record with a 3.07 goals-against average and .895 save percentage since Feb. 1. Howard has dominated Minnesota in his career, upping his mark to 10-3-3 despite yielding four goals on 25 shots in a 5-4 shootout win on Jan. 20. Datsyuk netted the shootout winner and Henrik Zetterberg notched three assists in that contest, but the captain has been held off the scoresheet in eight of his last nine games.
ABOUT THE WILD (44-26-7): By all accounts, Devan Dubnyk has been nothing short of spectacular since being acquired from Arizona in January for a third-round draft pick - although he endured a rough encounter in the first meeting. Dubnyk permitted four goals on 10 shots before being driven from that contest but will make his 36th consecutive start for the Wild on Saturday. Defenseman Nate Prosser is expected to return to the lineup after missing eight games with a sprained knee.
OVERTIME
1. Minnesota LW Thomas Vanek has scored eight goals and set up four others in his last 12 games and collected a tally and an assist in the first meeting with Detroit.
2. The Red Wings have allowed four power-play goals in their last three games.
3. Wild LW Zach Parise scored twice in the last encounter versus Detroit. He has recorded seven goals and three assists in 11 meetings.