Wings try to extend point streak to 13 games Friday night
It's been nearly a month since the Detroit Red Wings lost in regulation. That's only happened twice in almost 12 years against the New Jersey Devils.
The Red Wings try to get at least one point for a 13th straight game as they aim for their longest winning streak against the Devils on Friday night.
Detroit is 8-0-4 since a 3-1 loss at Boston on Nov. 14 had it middling with an 8-8-1 record.
The Red Wings (16-8-5) have since turned into contenders in the Atlantic Division, sitting four points back of first-place Montreal.
"It doesn't really matter right now," center Henrik Zetterberg said. "It's a long way to go. We know we're playing well. If we're playing like this we're going to get our points and then we'll be there in the end."
Detroit beat the Canadiens 3-2 on Thursday after Justin Abdelkader and Darren Helm scored 1:11 apart in the third period.
"We're playing better," Zetterberg said. "Still, it's not perfect."
It's still impressive enough considering Detroit hasn't strung together 13 games in a row with at least a point since a stretch that bridged two seasons in 2007. The Red Wings last did it in a single season with a 20-game run March 9-April 17, 2006.
Abdelkader has five goals in the last five games after scoring once over the previous 22.
This is the seventh set of games on back-to-back days for the Red Wings and they've split each of them between Petr Mrazek and Jimmy Howard. Mrazek had 23 saves Thursday, increasing the likelihood that Howard gets the call.
Howard is 4-0-1 with a 2.31 goals-against average over his last five starts, and he won both of his meetings with New Jersey last season behind a 1.50 GAA.
The Red Wings have an 11-2-1 record over the last 14 matchups with the Devils (14-10-4), winning four straight. Both teams have failed to put together a winning streak longer than that in the all-time series that dates to 1974-75 when the Devils were the Kansas City Scouts.
Things have already been made tougher for New Jersey with Travis Zajac (upper-body injury) ruled out for a fourth straight game. Now, they'll be without Adam Henrique, who has a team-high 13 goals.
The left wing suffered a lower-body injury in a collision with Toronto goaltender Garret Sparks in the second period of Tuesday's 3-2 shootout loss.
"We love those guys, but we're going to have to deal with being without them," left wing Mike Cammalleri told the team's official website.
Cammalleri, the team leader with 30 points, was pointless against the Maple Leafs after scoring four goals and assisting on three others over the three previous games. He has 12 points in the past nine home games, and he scored twice there before missing his shootout attempt in a 5-4 loss to Detroit on Nov. 28, 2014.
Lee Stempniak continues to be a big surprise for New Jersey. The rugged right wing is in position to extend his point streak to five games for the first time since Oct. 16-24, 2013, with Calgary.
He has a goal in each of the last two games and four in his last seven against the Red Wings.
