Tonight at 10:30 p.m. ET, the Detroit Red Wings (6-4-2, 14 points) go head-to-head with the Vancouver Canucks (9-4-1, 19 points) in the first of two encounters this season live from Rogers Centre in Vancouver. The game can be live streamed here. Detroit fans can hear all of the hard-hitting action on 97.1 The Ticket while Vancouver fans can do the same on 1040 AM TEAM Radio.
Detroit enters play in fifth place in the Atlantic Division, four points shy of the division-leading Toronto Maple Leafs while the Canucks come into the game in third place in the Pacific Division, two points shy of the first place San Jose Sharks. The Canucks look to close out October with a fifth straight victory while the Red Wings kick-off a four-game road trip trying to avoid a fifth straight loss.
The Canucks have won six of their last eight and have been led by its top line of Henrik Sedin (three goals, 14 assists and 17 points), Daniel Sedin (5-9-14) and Ryan Kesler (8-3-11) thus far this season. Henrik Sedin is first in the league in assists and fourth in points. The line was in full swing Monday in the team's most recent victory over the Washington Capitals.
"They had the puck a lot," coach John Tortorella said via NHL.com. "[Kesler] did a lot of forechecking for them and winning battles. Danny's goal was just puck possession, and I haven't seen a goal like that in quite a while."
The Red Wings come into the game struggling but Henrik Zetterberg and Pavel Datsyuk both lead the team with 12 points. Zetterberg has six goals and six assists while Datsyuk has lit the lamp five times and added seven helpers. Daniel Alfredsson isn't far behind with 10 points off of two goals and eight assists, but the team struggled Saturday night in an overtime loss to the New York Rangers where Jimmy Howard made 47 saves.
"Something has to be done about it," Howard told NHL.com after the game. "It's just believing in each other and not trying to do too much, let guys do their jobs. It's frustrating. We lost with 12 seconds left in overtime. Once again we didn't really play 60 minutes and lost."
Howard is 3-4-2 so far this year with a 2.62 goals-against average and a .915 save percentage. Roberto Luongo has started 11 of the Canucks 15 games and has boasted a 7-3-1 record to go along with a 2.50 GAA and a .908 save percentage.
The Red Wings will look to kick off their road trip by ending their current funk while the Canucks hope to keep on rolling when the lights come on at Rogers Centre tonight in Vancouver.
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