{coyotes} Red Wings host Coyotes, try to extend point streak

Thursday, 3 December 2015

{coyotes} Red Wings host Coyotes, try to extend point streak

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COYOTES (13-10-1) at RED WINGS (13-8-4)

TV: FS-A, FS-D

DETROIT -- The Detroit Red Wings have points in their past eight games (5-0-3) going into the game against the Arizona Coyotes on Thursday at Joe Louis Arena.

It is the longest such streak for Detroit since the 2009-10 season.

The Red Wings' past five games have gone into overtime. They have also surrendered a third-period lead in the past five games and six of the past eight.

"The League is extremely tight," Detroit coach Jeff Blashill said. "Every single night comes down to a play here and a play there. It's been well-documented we've gone into a lot of overtimes and had leads and things like that. We just got to keep grinding, keep getting better, and when we go into overtime try to win as many of those as we can."

The Coyotes know they can't give the Red Wings much room.

"They've got a lot of skill; skill and speed. They know what to do with the puck," defenseman Michael Stone said. "With that speed, we have to take away their time and space."

The game also features three of the NHL's top rookies: Detroit forward Dylan Larkin and Arizona wings Max Domi and Anthony Duclair.

Larkin has 10 goals and 18 points and is plus-14, tied for second in the League. He was the NHL rookie of the month for November.

Domi, the son of former NHL player Tie Domi, has eight goals and 13 assists in 24 games and Duclair has eight goals and 14 points in 24 games.

"The one thing that has changed is that the young players are getting more opportunities," Coyotes coach Dave Tippett said. "That's the way the League is going, speed and skill, and the other thing is that they're good players."

These are the projected lineups

COYOTES

Tobias Rieder - Martin Hanzal - Anthony Duclair

Max Domi - Antoine Vermette - Mikkel Boedker

Jordan Martinook - Dustin Jeffrey - Steve Downie

Brad Richardson - Boyd Gordon - Kyle Chipchura

Oliver Ekman-Larsson - Michael Stone

Nicklas Grossmann - Connor Murphy

Klas Dahlbeck - Stefan Elliott

Mike Smith

Anders Lindback

Injured: Joe Vitale (fractured orbital bone), Shane Doan (lower body), Zbynek Michalek (illness)

Scratched: Craig Cunningham, John Scott

RED WINGS

Dylan Larkin - Henrik Zetterberg - Justin Abdelkader

Darren Helm - Pavel Datsyuk - Teemu Pulkkinen

Gustav Nyquist - Riley Sheahan - Tomas Tatar

Drew Miller - Luke Glendening - Brad Richards

Niklas Kronwall - Mike Green

Danny DeKeyser - Jonathan Ericsson

Brendan Smith - Alexey Marchenko

Jimmy Howard

Petr Mrazek

Injured: Johan Franzen (concussion), Kyle Quincey (ankle)

Scratched: Joakim Andersson, Tomas Jurco, Jakub Kindl

Status update: Downie returns after missing 10 games with an upper-body injury. Tippett said Doan could return Friday against the Buffalo Sabres. … Detroit's 5-4 shootout win against Buffalo on Tuesday ended with Datsyuk between Helm and Pulkkinen, and Richards on the fourth line. Blashill has kept those units intact for the game Thursday.

Who's hot: Boedker has three goals and an assist in his past two games. … Tatar has four goals and two assists in his past six games.

Team Stats