Penguins at Red Wings
The Detroit Red Wings are struggling to get their offense in gear, but they'll receive little sympathy from the Pittsburgh Penguins. Both clubs look to solve their problem at the other's expense on Thursday, when they meet at Joe Louis Arena.
"You've just got to keep believing in yourself, and once you get that chance, you've got to really bear down and capitalize on it," Detroit captain Henrik Zetterberg told MLive.com on Wednesday. Veteran Pavel Datsyuk has scored in back-to-back contests, but the rest of the Red Wings failed to make a dent in those losses and the team as a whole has netted just 18 goals during a 2-4-2 stretch. Pittsburgh can echo a familiar refrain as it has mustered just 16 tallies during a 2-5-2 run. Captain Sidney Crosby has started to find his scoring touch, recording two goals and five assists in his last five games after securing one of each in Wednesday's 3-2 shootout loss to Toronto.
TV: 6 p.m. ET, Sportsnet, ROOT (Pittsburgh), FSN Detroit
ABOUT THE PENGUINS (17-15-4): With rookie Matt Murray facing the Maple Leafs, Jeff Zatkoff likely will have the chance to snap his five-start winless streak (0-4-1) on Thursday. The 28-year-old Zatkoff has sandwiched strong outings around a disastrous one versus Boston on Dec. 18. Zatkoff's time may be limited due to Murray's strong play, in addition to franchise goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury beginning to practice after missing seven games due to a concussion.
ABOUT THE RED WINGS (18-12-7): Jimmy Howard was relieved in the second period of back-to-back contests, yielding seven goals on 20 shots in total - including all four in a 4-1 loss to Winnipeg on Tuesday. While the veteran proclaimed his most recent performance as "unacceptable", Petr Mrazek stopped all 11 shots he faced in relief versus the Jets and is expected to receive the start on Thursday. The 23-year-old owns a 6-3-3 record at home this season and has split a pair of career decisions versus Pittsburgh.
OVERTIME
1. Detroit embarks on a season-high, six-game road trip after this contest.
2. Pittsburgh has successfully killed all 11 of its penalties in the last four games.
3. The Red Wings have scored four power-play goals in the last four contests and yielded as many in their last five.