Abel to Yzerman

Abel to Yzerman

Detroit/Pittsburgh Notes

10/23/2014 at 9:51am EDT

from Ansar Khan of Mlive,

Detroit Red Wings coach Mike Babcock saw one similarity in all the goals scored in Tuesday's 2-1 overtime loss to the Montreal Canadiens.

"The goalies were bumped on all four," Babcock said. "One (by Pavel Datsyuk) was called back. Abby (Justin Abdelkader) drove on the first one and P.K. (Subban) bumped his goalie. (David) Desharnais went to the net and bumped Kronner (Niklas Kronwall) into our goalie. (Alex) Galchenyuk bumped (Kyle) Quincey into our goalie (on the tying goal).

"There might be something to it."

If you can get away with bumping a defenseman into his own goalie, great. But Babcock's message was that his team needs to be more physical at the net to score more, at even strength and on the power play.

The Red Wings (3-1-2), who host the Pittsburgh Penguins on Thursday (7:30, Fox Sports Detroit), ranked 26th in the NHL in goals per game (2.00) heading into Wednesday's games (Penguins lost 5-3 at home to the Flyers). One big reason is a power play that's converted just 8.3 percent of its chances (2-for-24).

continued

Tonight's game notes are below...

DETROIT RED WINGS

THE MATCHUP
- Tonight is the 143rd all-time meeting between DET and PIT
- Tonight marks the 1st of 3 meetings this season between DET and PIT, only meeting in DET
- DET’s all-time record vs. PIT: 63-59-16-4
- DET’s all-time home record vs. PIT: 43-14-12-2
- DET was 1-1-1 vs. PIT in 2013-14 and were outscored by PIT 12-9
- Daniel Alfredsson (2-3-5 ), Gustav Nyquist (1-2-3) and Niklas Kronwall (1-2-3) were DET’s top scorers vs. PIT in 2013-14; Evgeni Malkin (3-2-5) and Jussi Jokinen (1-4-5) both picked p 5 points vs. DET
- Jimmy Howard is 3-0-1 with a 2.33 GAA and .930 SV% in 5 games vs. PIT
- Gustav Nyquist has 3 points (1-2-3) in 3 games vs. PIT
- Riley Sheahan has 2 points (1-1-2) in 2 games vs. PIT
- Henrik Zetterberg has 12 points (7-5-12) in 11 games vs. PIT
- PIT’s top all-time scorers vs. DET: Christian Ehrhoff (5-10-15 in 30 GP), Chris Kunitz (6-8-14 in 23 GP) and Evgeni Malkin (5-5-10 in 7 GP)
- Red Wings assistant coach Tony Granato served in the same role with PIT from 2009-14
- PIT head coach Mike Johnston joined the organization from WHL Portland, where former DET assistant/video coach Keith McKittrick is now serving as an assistant coach. Johnston coached Dominic Turgeon, DET’s 3rd round pick in the 2014 Draft
- PIT F Chris Kunitz recorded 175 points (99-76-175) in 152 games with Ferris State from 1999-03

THIS DATE IN RED WINGS HISTORY
Oct. 23, 1930 – Former Red Wings player and head coach Larry Wilson was born on this date in Kincardine, Ontario. Wilson skated in just 21 games with the club as a player from 1949-53, but his professional career spanned over 1,200 games in the NHL, AHL, IHL and WHL, in addition to a 12-season head coaching career, including 36 games in Detroit during the 1976-77 season.

A WINNING TRADITION IN HOCKEYTOWN
Since the start of the 1997-98 season, the Red Wings have won more games (864) than any other team in the NHL. Detroit’s 750 regular season victories and 114 playoff wins are both tops in the NHL over that span.

SELLOUT STREAK CONTINUES AT THE JOE
Detroit’s home sellout streak improved to 148 games after Saturday’s game vs. TOR. The current streak began on Dec. 19, 2010 when Detroit hosted the Dallas Stars at Joe Louis Arena.

PITTSBURGH PENGUINS

TONIGHT’S GAME
-The Penguins begin a stretch that will see them play seven of their next 10 games on the road when they visit the Detroit Red Wings (TV: ROOT SPORTS; Radio: 105.9 the X) at Joe Louis Arena.
-This is only the Penguins second road game of the year. Pittsburgh defeated Toronto, 5-2, on Oct. 11.
-Pittsburgh went 2-0-1 last year against the Red Wings and it is 4-1-1 in its last six games against Detroit.
-The Penguins are 3-1-1 in their past five visits to Joe Louis Arena.
-The final two games of the season series between the Penguins and Red Wings advanced to overtime last year.
-Tonight the Penguins conclude their first set of back-to-back games. Pittsburgh will play 17 sets of back-to-backs in ’14-15. Last year, the Penguins had an overall record of 20-11-3 in back-to backs; including 9-6-2 the first night and 11-5-1 in the second game.

PENGUINS vs. RED WINGS:
Pittsburgh’s All-Time Record vs. Red Wings: 63-62-17
In Detroit: 16-42-13
OT Record vs. Red Wings: 5-3-6
Shootout Record vs. Red Wings: 3-0
2013-14 Results: The Penguins went 2-0-1

POSSIBLE DEBUT
With the Penguins playing the second game of back-to-back contests, goaltender Thomas Greiss will look to make his regular-season debut with Pittsburgh. An offseason free-agent signee from Arizona, Greiss posted a career-high 10 wins in 25 appearances with the Coyotes last season.

Should he start tonight, this will be Greiss’ first regular-season action since April 13 against Dallas when he stopped 16 of 17 shots to earn the Coyotes the win.

During the preseason, Greiss played 89 minutes in two appearances, stopping 34 of 36 shots (.944 SVP).

Greiss has never faced the Detroit Red Wings.

The Pens' website with a scouting report on the Wings.

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