Devils at Red Wings
Even when they are struggling, the Detroit Red Wings are finding ways to pick up points as they prepare to wind up a four-game homestand against the New Jersey Devils on Tuesday night. The Red Wings halted a three-game winless drought with a 4-2 victory over the Calgary Flames on Sunday and have earned at least one point in 15 of their last 16 games (9-1-6).
Sunday's victory was the 800th at Joe Louis Arena for Detroit, which will play nine of its next 10 on the road after returning from the Christmas break. "You want to make your road easier than harder, but you want to win every game," Red Wings coach Jeff Blashill said. "I feel real confident that we can go on the road and win." The Devils are looking to halt a three-game skid of their own (0-2-1) and snap out of an offensive funk that has seen them produce five goals in the past five games. New Jersey halted a four-game losing streak (0-3-1) in the series with a 3-2 overtime victory over the Red Wings on Dec. 11.
TV: 7:30 p.m. ET, MSG-Plus (New Jersey), FSN-Plus Detroit
ABOUT THE DEVILS (16-13-5): New Jersey wound up short-handed in its 2-1 shootout loss at Boston on Sunday after forwards Jacob Josefson and Sergey Kalinin each had to leave the game with knee injuries, but both players were back at practice Monday and are expected to play. In addition, Patrik Elias was listed as a healthy scratch, although the 39-year-old said his absence was more a result of coach John Hynes giving his balky knee additional rest. "At my age, with some of the issues I've been having, it's fine to give me a night off," Elias said. "Especially when we played five games in eight nights."
ABOUT THE RED WINGS (17-9-7): Detroit received power-play tallies from Gustav Nyquist and Tomas Tatar in the earlier meeting with the Devils but was unable to protect the two-goal cushion in the third period before eventually falling in overtime. Rookie Dylan Larkin scored his 12th goal versus Calgary to move into a tie for the team lead with Nyquist, who also tallied against the Flames to give him four goals in his last eight contests. Defenseman Jonathan Ericsson sat out Sunday's game because of a lower-body injury and reported no improvement at Monday's practice, so he's expected to sit out Tuesday.
OVERTIME
1. Detroit has won 12 of the past 13 at home versus New Jersey, including three in a row.
2. Devils G Cory Schneider is coming off a season-high 38-save effort, but he is 2-5-1 with a 3.22 goals-against average versus Detroit.
3. The Red Wings are 0-for-8 on the power play in the past three games.