via Matt Kalman at NHL.com,

RED WINGS (19-8-9) at BRUINS (18-15-3)

TV: FS-D, NESN, NBCSN, TVA SPORTS

Season series: The Boston Bruins and Detroit Red Wings have split their prior two meetings, with Detroit winning 2-1 on Oct. 9 and Boston winning 3-2 in a shootout Oct. 22. Both games were played in Detroit. Red Wings forward Gustav Nyquist had two goals in the two games.

Red Wings team scope: After going winless for a six-game stretch (0-2-4) the Red Wings will look for their third straight win. It would appear that the more the Red Wings avoid the shootout, the better off they are. All four losses in that six-game stretch came in the shootout and they are 1-7 in shootouts this season. Goaltender Jimmy Howard returned to the lineup in a 3-2 overtime win against the Ottawa Senators on Saturday after an injury absence, making 31 saves. Nyquist scored the game-winning goal against Ottawa and had three assists in the Red Wings’ 6-3 win against the Buffalo Sabres on Dec. 23.

Bruins team scope: The Bruins are in the unusual position of being outside the Eastern Conference playoff picture at this time of the year. They had their two-game winning streak snapped by the Columbus Blue Jackets in a 6-2 loss on Saturday. Just when it seemed like the Bruins were getting healthy, they didn’t have forwards Patrice Bergeron or Milan Lucic for practice on Sunday. According to coach Claude Julien both players are day-to-day and their availability won’t be determined until Monday. The Bruins’ offense continues to struggle, as they rank 21st in the NHL with 2.53 goals per game.

	GP	RECORD	HOME	ROAD	L10	G/GP	GA/GP	PP%	PK%	PIM/GP	S/GP	SA/GP	FO%
	36	19-8-9	12-4-6	7-4-3	4-2-4	2.83	2.28	24.3	88.4	8.6	30.8	27.2	54.9
	36	18-15-3	11-6-2	7-9-1	4-4-2	2.53	2.64	16.5	79.3	10.2	30.1	29.5	53.1

DETROIT RED WINGS

- Tonight is the 586th all-time meeting between DET and BOS
- Tonight marks the 3rd of 5 meetings this season between DET and BOS, 1st of 2 meetings in BOS
- DET’s all-time record vs. BOS: 253-235-95-2
- DET’s all-time road record at BOS: 94-155-43-1
- DET has taken 3 of 4 points vs. BOS this season, winning 2-1 on 10/9 and losing 3-2 in a shootout on 10/15, both games at JLA
- DET has won 8 of its last 10 regular-season games vs. BOS, dating back to the 2009-10 season
- Jimmy Howard is 5-1-1 with a 1.95 GAA and a .937 SV% in 7 games vs. BOS
- Pavel Datsyuk has 11 points (3-8-11) in 13 games vs. BOS
- Gustav Nyquist has 5 points (4-1-5) in 4 games vs. BOS
- Tomas Tatar has 5 points (3-2-5) in 5 games vs. BOS
- Henrik Zetterberg has 14 points (6-8-14) in 14 games vs. BOS
- Johan Franzen has 9 points (0-9-9) in 11 games vs. BOS
- Today marks the 9th regular-season NHL meeting between the Smith brothers: Brendan (DET) is 5-2-1 vs. Reilly (BOS)
- BOS F Gregory Campbell had 67 points (19-48-67) in 130 GP with the Plymouth Whalers from 2000-02
- BOS D Torey Krug is form Livonia, MI and had 83 points (26-57-83) in 114 GP with the Michigan State Spartans from 2009-12
- BOS F Chris Kelly spent the 2001-02 season in MI, recording 6 points (3-3-6) in 31 GP with the Grand Rapids Griffins and 3 points (1-2-3) in 4 GP with the UHL’s Muskegon Fury
- BOS assistant coach Doug Houda had 31 points (5-26-31) in 172 GP with the Red Wings from 1985-91 and 1998-99
- BOS goaltending coach Bob Essensa was 4-7-2 with a 2.62 GAA in 13 games with the Red Wings in 1993-94

POTENT POWER PLAY

The Red Wings rank 3rd in the NHL on the man advantage at 24.3%, after starting the season with just two goals in its first eight games (2-for-30, 6.7%). DET is now 1st with 33 PPG (3 ahead of 2nd place STL) and also lead the NHL (2nd, CHI – 134) in PP opportunities at 136. DET has also scored two power play goals in one game on 10 occasions this season, including a season-high 4 PPG game on 12/23 vs. BUF.

LEAGUE LEADERS

Datsyuk: T24th with 13 goals, 4th with 57.9 faceoff %, T11th with 19.1 shooting %
Franzen: T13th with 3 GWG
Glendening: T17th with a 55.5 faceoff %
Howard: T11th with 14 wins, 5th with a 2.05 GAA, 11th with a .922 SV%, T10th with 2 SOs
Kronwall: 26th with 23:49 TOI
Nyquist: T11th with 15 goals, T3rd with 8 PPG, T13th with 3 GWG
Tatar: T17th with 14 goals, T2nd with 4 GWG
Zetterberg: T8th with 24 assists, T18th with 32 points, T14th with 114 shots, 28th with a 53.6 faceoff %
TEAM: 4th with 2.28 goals against per game, 3rd on the power play at 24.3%, 2nd on the penalty kill at 88.4%, 11th with 30.8 shots for per game, 2nd with 27.2 shots against per game

RECENT/UPCOMING MILESTONES

- Datsyuk passed Red Kelly (846) for 13th in DET history in games played on 12/21 vs. COL
- Franzen passed Marcel Dionne (366) for 21st in DET history in points on 12/23 vs. BUF
- Babcock’s win on 12/23 vs. BUF gives him sole possession of 17th in NHL history at 502 wins, breaking a tie with Pat Burns
- Zetterberg had 2 points on 12/23 vs. BUF to give him his 749th and 750th NHL points
- Helm’s next goal will be his 50th in the NHL

THIS DATE IN RED WINGS HISTORY

December 29, 1995 – Red Wings coach Scotty Bowman becomes the NHL’s all-time leader in games coached (1,607), passing Al Arbour.

2014-15 REGULAR SEASON INDIVIDUAL STATS

Most Goals: 2, 12 times (MR: Tatar, Dec. 23 vs. BUF)
Most Assists: 4, Zetterberg, Oct. 17 at TOR
Most Points: 4, Zetterberg, Oct. 17 at TOR
Most SOG: 11, Zetterberg, Dec. 2 vs. FLA
Most PIM: 9, Smith, Dec. 13 at TOR
Most TOI: 27:25, Kronwall, Nov. 5 at NYR
Most Hits: 7, Abdelkader, Oct. 23 vs. PIT
Most Blocked Shots: 5, twice (MR: DeKeyser, Dec. 27 at OTT)
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, Weiss (Dec. 2-6); Zetterberg (Nov. 28-Dec. 2), Franzen (Nov. 28-Dec. 2), Helm (Nov. 24-28), 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

After enjoying a 7-1 win over Toronto last week, the Grand Rapids Griffins’ offense continued to roll with an AHL-high nine goals scored during Saturday’s 9-2 home win over the Iowa Wild. Teemu Pulkkinen led the way with four points (1-3-4) and now ranks 3rd in the AHL in points with 34 (16-18-34). The Griffins had eight different goal scorers, including Andy Miele (10), Landon Ferraro (10), Pulkkinen (16), Mitch Callahan (10), Tomas Nosek (2, 3), Marek Tvrdon (1), Nathan Paetsch (3) and Colin Campbell (2). The Griffins are 15-11-3-0 this season. Next Game: 12/30 at Chicago Wolves.

BOSTON BRUINS

TONIGHT’S GAME

- The Bruins host the Red Wings tonight in the 3rd of 5 games between these teams this season and the 1st of 2 games of this season’s series at TD Garden … The Bruins are 18-15-3 overall this season with an 11-6-2 mark on home ice … They are 7-5-1 vs. Atlantic Division opponents and are 11-8-2 vs. Eastern Conference foes thus far.
- The Bruins play game 5 tonight of a stretch that sees them play 5 of 6 games on home ice after playing 7 of their previous 9 on the road … They are opening a 3-game home stand tonight, as they will host Toronto on Wednesday and Ottawa on Saturday.
- The Bruins are 4-5-3 in December so far and a loss tonight would give them their 1st month with a losing record since February, 2012 when they went 5-7-1 … They have had a winning record in 12 and a .500 mark in 3 of their 15 months of play since that time.

INJURIES / ABSENCES

- Adam McQuaid: Broken right thumb suffered 11/18 vs St. Louis; Out approx. 6-8 wks from time of injury
- Simon Gagne: Is away from the team on a personal leave of absence

MILESTONES APPROACHING

- Loui Eriksson is playing his 599th NHL game tonight.

BOSTON vs. DETROIT, LIFETIME SERIES

- The Bruins and Red Wings are meeting for the 586th time in their franchise histories with the Bruins having a 237-250-95-3 record and 1,756-1,752 scoring edge in those games.
- The Bruins are 156-92-43-2 in their 293 games of this lifetime series in Boston with a 1,021-778 scoring advantage in those contests.
- The Bruins are 2-7-1 in their last 10 games vs. the Red Wings including a 2-1 loss on 10/9 and 3-2 shootout win on 10/15 in the 1st 2 games of this season’s series with both games played in Detroit … They are now 8-8-3 in their last 19 games overall vs. the Red Wings and are 4-3-2 in their last 9 games vs. Detroit on home ice.
- Fun Fact: Boston’s Claude Julien (8 seasons) and Detroit’s Mike Babcock (10 seasons) are the longest-tenured active coaches with their teams.

FUN FACTS

- The Bruins currently have 25 players on their roster (including McQuaid on IR and Gagne on personal leave) … 9 were drafted by the team, 11 were acquired in trade and 5 were signed as free agents.
- The Bruins play 10 matinees this season (local start time 4:00 pm or earlier) (1-1-1 record).
- The Bruins play 16 sets of back-to-back games this season (3-2-1 in 1st game; 1-5-0 in 2nd game).
- They play 19 sets of 3-games-in-4-nights this season (4-3-1 in 1st game, 2-6-0 in 2nd game, 2-5-1 in 3rd game).
- The Bruins will wear their 3rd uniform system in 15 games this season (4-1-2 record).
- The Bruins are playing a 14-game December schedule (6 hm/8 rd, 4-5-3) … They will play a 12-game January (6 hm/6 rd), 12-game February (5 hm/7 rd), 15-game March (8 hm/7 rd) and conclude with a 5-game April slate (1 hm/4 rd) … They went 6-6-0 in October and 7-3-1 in November.