As expected, Red Wings goaltender Jonas Gustavsson will get his first start in nearly three months tonight (10:30 on FOX Sports Detroit), but he'll be doing it with a couple of key teammates out of the lineup -- and against the hottest team in the NHL, the defending Stanley Cup champion Los Angeles Kings.
As is typical in back-to-back games, Jimmy Howard, who played in Monday's 4-3 shootout loss at Anaheim, will get the night off. He's played in six straight games since returning from a groin injury that kept him out more than a month and started the last five, compiling a 1-1-2 record.
Gustavsson played the final half of the third period Saturday night in Dallas and earned the victory when his teammates overcame two two-goal deficits to win in overtime. He's started just three games this season, but not since dislocating his shoulder in an overtime loss to the New York Rangers on Nov. 5. He's 2-1-1 with a 2.18 goals-against average and a .910 save percentage.
Meantime, captain Henrik Zetterberg will miss his second straight game after suffering headaches since he was punched repeatedly by Dallas forward Jamie Benn on Feb. 21. Zetterberg didn't play in the third period of that game.
Defenseman Kyle Quincey will miss his third game and could be out until Saturday, when the Wings conclude a six-game road trip, at Nashville. Quincey and Dan Dekeyser have been Detroit's most trusted defensive pairing this season. Jakub Kindl will play in Quincey's place.
With Zetterberg out, coach Mike Babcock has had to juggle his lines, providing some opportunity for other forwards. Notably, Riley Sheahan is centering the second line flanked by Gustav Nyquist and Justin Abdelkader. And the unit acquitted itself nicely Monday, producing the goal that forced overtime after the Wings had squandered a 2-0 third-period lead.
Luke Glendening centered Drew Miller and Tomas Jurco, and Stephen Weiss centered Daniel Cleary and Teemu Pulkkinen. Cleary played barely 5 1/2 minutes against the Ducks, and it won't be surprising to see Joakim Andersson in his place against Los Angeles.
Detroit's top line of Pavel Datsyuk and wingers Darren Helm and Tomas Tatar carried the load again Monday night. Datsyuk scored Detroit's first two goals, giving him six in his past four games and 14 points in his last 10.
The Kings have looked in danger all season of missing the playoffs. But just as they did last season, they're getting hot at the right time. They've won seven straight to forge an eight-place tie in the West with Calgary and San Jose for the second wild-card spot.
Goaltender Jonathan Quick has returned to form as well, allowing just five goals in his last four games.
Last season, the Kings used a similar late-season push to earn the eighth seed in the Western Conference and then went on to win the Stanley Cup.
Puck drops early in Wings-Bruins game rescheduled for national TV
The Red Wings are starting to get some love from the national media for their improbable season that's taken the NHL by surprise.
Starting time for their March 8 game at Boston has been changed to 12:30 p.m. to accommodate NBC's Sunday afternoon Game of the Week telecast. The opening face-off had been scheduled for 7:30 p.m. at TD Garden.
With 24 games remaining heading into Tuesday night's game at Los Angeles, the Wings are sitting comfortably in third place in the Atlantic Division, 10 points ahead of fourth-place Boston. Detroit is on pace for a 109-point season after many predicted its streak of 23 straight Stanley Cup playoff appearances would come to an end this season.
The Wings have earned five of possible six points in the first three games of this arduous, six-game road trip through the West. It continues Thursday at San Jose and concludes Saturday at NHL-leading Nashville.
After concluding the trip, the Wings return home to play the New York Rangers on March 4 and Calgary two nights later before heading to Boston for the nationally televised matinee against the Bruins.
