Playing the second outing of their current back-to-back stretch, the Detroit Red Wings (4th in Atlantic Division) will travel to Saint Paul, where the local Minnesota Wild (4th in Central) just beat Edmonton to extend their win run to two fixtures.
The Detroit Red Wings (13-9-6) were beaten for the third consecutive time (0-2-1) after starting their current back-to-back stretch with a 1-0 defeat to the Carolina Hurricanes at Little Caesars Arena last night. The Wings matched the visitors in shots (27-27), but killed just one of their two penalties and failed to score on three power-play opportunities, registering zero shots in two of them, eventually being blanked for the first time this season. Even worse, captain Dylan Larkin, who leads Detroit with 27 points (10 goals, 17 assists), did not play in the third period because of an undisclosed injury. The Red Wings are 2-4-2 in their last eight contests.
Goalie Ville Husso (11-5-4 on the season with a 2.48 GAA and a .918 save percentage) made 26 saves yesterday, but is set to vacate the crease for Alex Nedeljkovic ahead of ton ight’s trip to Minnesota. Nedeljkovic, who has posted a 2-4-2 total for the rolling year with a 4.09 GAA and a .880 save percentage, is 0-1-1 against the Wild in previous encounters with a 5.50 GAA and a .828 save percentage. The Red Wings, meanwhile, are netting the 10th lowest amount of snipes per game this season (2.96), while allowing the 16th lowest quantity on the defensive end (3.04). They are 22nd in power play (20.8%) and 16th in penalty kill (78.8%).