Red Wings at Islanders
After completing a very impressive homestand, the Detroit Red Wings look to bring that success to the road when they begin a four-game trek on Monday afternoon against the New York Islanders. Detroit wrapped up a five-game stretch at Joe Louis Arena with a 4-0-1 record after posting a 6-5 victory over Boston on Sunday that moved it ahead of the Bruins for second place in the Atlantic Division by one point.
Pavel Datsyuk extended his point streak to five games and eclipsed the 900-point plateau for his career (902) by scoring twice and setting up captain Henrik Zetterberg's game-winning goal. New York, which fell into the second wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference by virtue of New Jersey's win on Sunday, hopes to avenge a 4-2 home loss to Detroit on Jan. 25. The Islanders have won three straight at Barclays Center since, averaging six goals per victory. The Red Wings are looking to complete a sweep of the three-game season series, as they also recorded a 5-1 home triumph on Feb. 6.
TV: 1 p.m. ET, NHL Network, Sportsnet, FSN Detroit, MSG Plus (New York)
ABOUT THE RED WINGS (29-18-9): Datsyuk became the sixth Red Wing to enter the 900-point club, joining Gordie Howe, Alex Delvecchio, Sergei Fedorov, Steve Yzerman and Nicklas Lidstrom - all members of the Hall of Fame. He has collected five goals and four assists during his point streak, including both of his two-goal efforts this season. Zetterberg's point streak (three tallies, four assists) is at four games after Sunday's two-goal, one-assist performance.
ABOUT THE ISLANDERS (29-19-6): Like Datsyuk, captain John Tavares and Kyle Okposo both enter Monday's contest with five-game point streaks. After recording a goal and an assist in Saturday's loss to Carolina, Tavares has registered four tallies and five assists during his run while Okposo has scored three goals and set up five others on his streak. Mikhail Grabovski's hot streak apparently is over, as the center has notched just one assist over his last five contests following a four-game point streak that saw him score goals in three consecutive contests.
OVERTIME
1. Tavares has collected six goals and eight asssists over his last nine contests.
2. Detroit G Petr Mrazek needs one victory to pass John Ross Roach for sole possession of 18th place on the franchise list.
3. New York LW Matt Martin is two goals shy of matching his career high after netting his sixth of the season on Saturday.