Red Wings team scope: Detroit defeated the Vancouver Canucks 5-3 on Sunday with Datsyuk scoring two goals for the second time in his past three games since returning from a groin injury Nov. 26. Goalie Jimmy Howard made 30 saves and bested Olympic teammate Ryan Miller for his third straight victory. The Red Wings are on a four-game win streak and enter Tuesday ranked 4th in the NHL in goals per game and penalty-kill percentage. Detroit will be without forward Justin Abdelkader, according to MLive.com, after he injured his shoulder against the Canucks. Forward Johan Franzen skated in place of Abdelkader on the top line with Datsyuk and Henrik Zetterberg. Coach Mike Babcock called Abdelkader's injury "a big loss," according to the Detroit Free Press. "He's an important player for us and he's a guy who works hard every day, in my opinion, and brings it most every day," Babcock said. Abdelkader has seven goals and eight assists in 24 games this season.

DETROIT RED WINGS

THE MATCHUP

- Tonight is the 29th all-time meeting between DET and FLA
- Tonight marks the 1st of 4 meetings this season between DET and FLA, 1st of 2 in DET
- DET’s all-time record vs. FLA: 16-3-5-4
- DET’s all-time home record vs. FLA: 6-2-3-2
- DET was 2-1-2 vs. FLA in 2013-14, picking up 5 of 6 points on the road (2-0-1) but losing twice at home (0-1-1)
- Jimmy Howard is 2-0-1 with a 1.26 GAA and .949 SV% vs. FLA
- Pavel Datsyuk has 17 points (6-11-17) in 13 games vs. FLA
- Stephen Weiss was drafted in the 1st round (4th overall) by FLA in 2001 and is the franchise’s all-time leader in games played (654) and assists (249)
- FLA’s all-time top scorers vs. DET: Brad Boyes (10-11-21 in 31 GP), Brian Campbell (2-14-16 in 29 GP) and Jussi Jokinen (3-11-14 in 16 GP)
- FLA F Tomas Kopecky had 32 points (12-20-32) in 183 games with DET from 2005-09
- FLA F Tomas Fleischmann was drafted in the 2nd round (63rd overall) by DET in 2002 and was traded by DET to WSH with two draft picks for Robert Lang in February 2004
- FLA F Vincent Trocheck is a Little Caesars alumnus and spent his junior career with the OHL’s Saginaw Spirit (2009-13) and Plymouth Whalers (2012-13), totaling 299 points (120-179-299) in 264 games between the teams
- FLA G Al Montoya was 86-29-8 in 123 games with the University of Michigan from 2002-05
- FLA head coach Gerard Gallant is tied for 15th in Red Wings history with 467 points (207-260-467) in 563 games with the team from 1984-93

RED RISING

The Red Wings are looking to win 5 straight games for the first time since a 6-game winning streak during the 2011-12 season (2/8/12- 2/19/12). The team has won 6 of its last 7 overall to improve to 14-5-5 this season. Notable recent accomplishments include:
- DET is 3 points off the NHL lead of 36 points (MTL/TB)
- DET is tied with PIT and NSH for the fewest regulation losses in the league (5)
- DET has scored 5 goals in 3 straight games, marking the 1st time they’ve scored 5+ goals in 3 consecutive games since February 2009 (6-5 SOL vs. COL on 2/15, 6-2 W vs. NSH on 2/18, 5-2 W vs. ANA on 2/20)
- The last time DET scored 5+ goals in 4 consecutive games was 2002-03, doing so in 5 straight games to kick off an 8-game winning streak (6-2 W vs. EDM on 2/20, 5-1 W at WSH on 2/22, 5-4 W vs. LA on 2/24, 7-2 W vs. TOR on 2/27 and 5-2 W vs. PHX on 3/2)
- DET has scored a PPG in 4 straight games (6-for-17, 35.3%) and in 7 of its last 8 (10-for-35, 28.6%)
- DET has scored 2 PPGs in a game on 8 occasions this season, including 3 of its last 4
- Tomas Jurco is on a career-best 4-game point streak (1-3-4)
- Henrik Zetterberg is on a 4-game point streak (1-5-6)
- Stephen Weiss has 5 points (3-2-5) in his last 4 games
- Tomas Tatar has 13 points (8-5-13) in his last 15 games
- Riley Sheahan has 7 points (4-3-7) in his last 8 games

RECENT/UPCOMING MILESTONES

- Weiss scored twice on 11/24 vs. OTT to reach 400 NHL points and added another on 11/26 vs. PHI to hit 150 career goals
- Franzen is tied with Shawn Burr for 22nd in DET history with 362 points after passing Kris Draper (361) on 11/28 at NJ
- Kronwall passed Mickey Redmond for 28th in DET history with his 311th career point on 11/30 vs. VAN
- DeKeyser played in his 100th NHL game on 11/30 vs. VAN

THIS DATE IN RED WINGS HISTORY

December 2, 1981 – Detroit acquires Danny Gare, Jim Schoenfeld and Derek Smith in a trade with Buffalo for Mike Foligno, Dale McCourt and Brent Peterson.
December 2, 1995 – The Red Wings defeat Montreal 11-1 at the Montreal Forum, marking Detroit’s most lopsided victory ever over the Canadiens. It marked Patrick Roy’s final game in a Canadiens’ uniform.

2014-15 REGULAR SEASON INDIVIDUAL STATS

Most Goals: 2, nine times (MR: Datsyuk, Nov. 30 vs. VAN)
Most Assists: 4, Zetterberg, Oct. 17 at TOR
Most Points: 4, Zetterberg, Oct. 17 at TOR
Most SOG: 7, Datsyuk, Oct. 31 vs. LA
Most PIM: 5, twice (MR: Quincey, Nov. 26 vs. PHI)
Most TOI: 27:25, Kronwall, Nov. 5 at NYR
Most Hits: 7, Abdelkader, Oct. 23 vs. PIT
Most Blocked Shots: 5, Kronwall, Oct. 15 vs. BOS
Most Saves: 37, Howard, Oct. 15 vs. BOS
Longest Goal Streak: 4, Datsyuk (Oct. 25-Nov. 2) and Nyquist (Oct. 9-17)
Longest Assist Streak: 3, Helm (Nov. 24-pres.), DeKeyser (Nov. 16-20), Datsyuk (Oct. 29-Nov. 2) and Abdelkader (Oct. 29-Nov. 2)
Longest Point Streak: 6, Tatar (Nov. 14-24), Datsyuk (Oct. 21-Nov. 2)

ON THE FARM

The Grand Rapids Griffins enjoyed their biggest win of the season with a 6-1 win against the Adirondack Flames on Saturday. Teemu Pulkkinen led the charge with three assists and now leads the AHL with 23 points (9-14-23) in 18 games. Mitch Callahan (7, 8) scored twice for Grand Rapids, while Landon Ferraro (4), Jeff Hoggan (2), Andreas Athanasiou (4) and Nick Jensen (3) also tallied for the Griffins. Jared Coreau earned his first AHL victory with 35 saves. Next Game: 12/2 at Toronto Marlies

FLORIDA PANTHERS

MILESTONE WATCH

F Brad Boyes is seven goals shy of his 200th career goal.
D Brian Campbell has played 245 consecutive games dating back to Mar. 23, 2011.
D Dylan Olsen is seven games shy of his 100th career games.
G Roberto Luongo is currently tied with Roy Worters (1925-37) for 13th among all-time NHL goaltenders with 67 shutouts.
G Roberto Luongo is five wins shy from tying Mike Vernon (1982-2002) for 12th among all-time NHL goaltenders with 385 wins.
G Roberto Luongo is currently tied with Sean Burke for 12th among all-time NHL goaltenders with 820 games played.
G Al Montoya is one game shy of his 100th career game.

AGAINST THE RED WINGS

Tonight's game marks the 29th meeting between the two teams with Florida posting a 7-13-5-3 record against the Red Wings. The Panthers own a 4-5-3-1 road record against Detroit. This is the first of four meetings between the two teams. Florida and Detroit will meet again in Detroit on Dec. 12 and in South Florida on Jan. 27 and Mar. 19.
2014-15 SERIES vs. DETROIT: 0-0-0 (0-0-0 on Road)
2013-14 SERIES vs. DETROIT: 3-2-0 (2-0-0 on Road)
ALL-TIME RECORD vs. DETROIT: 7-13-5-3 (4-5-3-1 on Road)
LAST GAME: 2/6/14 (3-1 L)
NEXT GAME: 12/12/14 at DET
CURRENT STREAKS: Florida has won their last two games played in Detroit (Jan. 26 2014: 5-4 SOW, Dec. 7 2013: 2-1 W)

FLORIDA-DETROIT CONNECTIONS

Florida F Tomas Fleischmann was drafted by Detroit in the 2002 NHL Draft in the second round (63rd overall). Florida F Tomas Kopecky was drafted by Detroit in the 2000 NHL Draft in the second round (38th overall) and recorded 32 points (12-20-32) in 183 games. He won a Stanley Cup with Detroit in 2008. Florida Head Coach Gerard Gallant spent the majority of his career with the Red
Wings. Gallant played 563 games for Detroit (1984-93) and recorded 467 points (207-260–467). Gallant recorded four 70-plus point seasons, including his most successful year in 1988-1989 when he registered a career high 93 points (39-54–93) and was selected as a NHL Second Team All-Star. Detroit F Stephen Weiss was drafted by Florida in the first round (fourth overall) of the 2001 NHL Draft. Weiss' 654 games (2001-13) as a Panther ranks as the most games by any player in a Panthers uniform. Weiss recorded 394 points (145-249–394) during his time as a Panther, ranking him second all-time in scoring among Florida players and first all-time in assists.

HOMEWARD BOUND

The Cats wrap up a two-game road trip tonight as they face the Detroit Red Wings, before heading home for a two-game homestand where they will face the Columbus Blue Jackets (Dec. 4) and the Buffalo Sabres (Dec. 6).

CLIPPING THE WINGS

The Cats swept the road portion of their season series against Detroit in 2013-14, defeating them 2-1 on Dec. 7, 2013 with a gamewinning goal from F Jonathan Huberdeau and in a 5-4 win on Jan. 26, 2014 where F Nick Bjugstad won the game for the Cats in the shootout.

BATTLING THE EAST

15 of the next 16 games for Florida will be against Eastern Conference teams, with the St. Louis Blues (Dec. 8) as the only Western team on the schedule. The Panthers will play five of their next eight games on the road.

NUMBERS GAME

Florida owns a 7-1-4 record when scoring the first goal and a 5-1-1 record leading after the first period. The Cats also own a 7-2-6 record in one-goal games and a 5-1-3 mark in games where F Jussi Jokinen records a point.