via Jon Lane of NHL.com,
TV: CSN-CA, FS-D
Season series: Luke Glendening's goal with 1:15 remaining in regulation gave the Detroit Red Wings a 3-2 win against the San Jose Sharks at SAP Center four weeks ago. Red Wings goalie Jimmy Howard made 20 saves for his fourth victory in 14 career games against the Sharks.
Sharks team scope: San Jose began a seven-game road trip four points out of the second wild card spot into the Stanley Cup Playoffs from the Western Conference. The Sharks arrive in Detroit 1-3-0 on the trip, trailing the Winnipeg Jets by 10 points for the second wild card with nine games left and in danger of missing the playoffs for the first time in 11 seasons. "We're finding out about players," coach Todd McLellan told the San Jose Mercury News after practice Wednesday. "They're going to expose their character level in the next nine games. How important is it individually and collectively to maintain a very high standard?" Goalie Antti Niemi allowed four goals in a 5-2 loss to the Ottawa Senators on Monday and has a 3.39 goals-against average in his past five games, four of them losses. Forward Joe Pavelski has five goals and nine points in his past 10 games against the Red Wings.
Red Wings team scope: Defenseman Niklas Kronwall (lower body) is day-to-day, and forward Pavel Datsyuk (lower body) might play against the Sharks. "We'll see how [Kronwall] feels [Thursday]. I think there's a chance he could play tomorrow night, but we have to see how he feels," general manager Ken Holland told the Detroit Free Press. "... He felt some tenderness, and we decided, going into last night's game with 10 games to go, the last thing we need to do is do something to aggravate it for an extended period of time." Holland added, "We'll see how [Datsyuk] feels after the morning skate tomorrow. But Pav's close." Forward Erik Cole (upper body) will miss the next three games.The Red Wings' scheduled practice Wednesday was cancelled after a 5-4 overtime loss to the Arizona Coyotes on Tuesday at Joe Louis Arena. Detroit (90 points) is 3-6-1 in its past 10 games, hasn't won consecutive games since a three-game winning streak from Feb. 28-March 4, and is trying to hold off the Senators (85) for third place in the Atlantic Division. "Every point you can get down the stretch is important," forward Henrik Zetterberg told the Red Wings website. "We're going to have a day off here [Wednesday] and come back refreshed on Thursday."
TEAM STATS
|
GP |
RECORD |
HOME |
ROAD |
L10 |
G/GP |
GA/GP |
PP% |
PK% |
PIM/GP |
S/GP |
SA/GP |
FO% |
|---|
 |
73 |
35-30-8 |
17-16-5 |
18-14-3 |
5-5-0 |
2.71 |
2.75 |
21.8 |
79.1 |
9.3 |
31.2 |
29.9 |
51.6 |
 |
72 |
39-21-12 |
20-7-8 |
19-14-4 |
3-6-1 |
2.85 |
2.58 |
24.9 |
81.0 |
8.8 |
29.9 |
28.3 |
52.1 |
DETROIT RED WINGS
THE MATCHUP
- Tonight marks the 86th all-time meeting between DET and SJ
- Tonight is the 2nd of 2 meetings this season between DET and SJ, only meeting in DET
- DET’s all-time record vs. SJ: 52-25-4-4
- DET’s all-time home record vs. SJ: 30-7-1-3
- DET won the 1st meeting of the season series 3-2 on 2/26 in SJ (Datsyuk, Pulkkinen, Glendening scored for DET; Marleau, Irwin scored for SJ)
- Brendan Smith made his NHL debut vs. SJ on 11/17/11
- Pavel Datsyuk has 33 points (9-24-33) in 42 games vs. SJ
- Datsyuk made his NHL debut on 10/4/01 vs. SJ
- Henrik Zetterberg has 36 points (17-19-36) in 39 games vs. SJ
- Zetterberg made his NHL debut and recorded his 1st point (assist) on 10/10/02 vs. SJ
- Niklas Kronwall has 14 points (3-11-14) in 29 games vs. SJ
- SJ’s all-time top career scorers vs. DET: Patrick Marleau (22-24-46 in 61 GP), Joe Thornton (13-26-39 in 41 GP) and Joe Pavelski (10-9-19 in 27 GP)
- SJ F Matt Nieto played for the US NTDP in Ann Arbor from 2008-10
- SJ F Mike Brown played for the US NTDP in Ann Arbor from 2001-03 and recorded 21 points (11-10-21) in 77 games with the Michigan Wolverines from 2003-05 - SJ F John Scott had 18 points (7-11-18) and 352 penalty minutes in 126 games for the Michigan Tech Huskies from 2002-06
- SJ F Barclay Goodrow was a member of Detroit’s roster at the 2013 NHL Prospect Tournament in Traverse City, Mich., last September
- SJ head coach Todd McLellan served as an assistant coach in DET from 2005-08
- SJ assistant coach Jay Woodcroft served as a video coach in DET from 2005-08
BALANCED ATTACK
Justin Abdelkader’s overtime-winner on 3/22 vs. STL marked his 20th goal of the season, doubling his previous career high goal total of 10 and giving Detroit five 20-goal scorers, most in the NHL. Only five teams have four or more 20-goal scorers:
DETROIT: Tatar (26), Datsyuk (23), Nyquist (22), Cole (21), Abdelkader (20)
CHICAGO: Kane (27), Toews (23), Hossa (21), Saad (21)
NASHVILLE: Smith (23), Neal (22), Forsberg (21), Wilson (20)
ST. LOUIS: Tarasenko (35), Backes (25), Schwartz (24), Steen (23)
TAMPA BAY: Stamkos (40), Kucherov (26), Johnson (25), Callahan (21)
Teams with 3: ANA, CGY, CBJ, LA, MTL, PHI, PIT, WPG
Teams with 2: BOS, COL, DAL, EDM, MIN, NYI, NYR, OTT, SJ, TOR
Teams with 1: ARI, FLA, NJ, VAN, WSH
Teams with 0: BUF, CAR
Last season, only Gustav Nyquist (28) reached the 20-goal plateau for Detroit. The last time Detroit had five 20-goal scorers was in 2008-09 with Hossa (40), Franzen (34), Datsyuk (32), Zetterberg (31) and Hudler (23). The last time the team had more than five was 2005-06, when Shanahan (40), Zetterberg (39), Holmstrom (29), Datsyuk (28), Samuelsson (23), Schneider (21), Williams (21) and Lang (20) all reached the mark.
Per the Elias Sports Bureau, Abdelkader (Muskegon) is the third Michigan player to score 20 goals for Detroit, joining Southfield’s
Jimmy Carson (1989-90 through 1992-93) and Lansing’s Kevin Miller (1991-92).
THIS DATE IN RED WINGS HISTORY
March 26, 1997 – “Fight Night at the Joe” breaks out between DET and COL, highlighted by a fight between Darren McCarty and Claude Lemieux 10 months after the latter delivered a hit to Kris Draper that broke his jaw, nose and cheekbone. The teams combined for 148 penalty minutes, and McCarty lifted DET to a 6-5 victory with a goal just 39 seconds into overtime.
SAN JOSE SHARKS
TONIGHT’S OPPONENT: DETROIT RED WINGS
All-Time Series…The Sharks are 29-47-4-5 all-time vs. Detroit and are 11-3-1 against the Red Wings in the last 15 games … Logan Couture has 12 points in 14 games vs. Detroit (6-6-12). April 6, 2002 at HP Pavilion: In a 6-3 victory, Patrick Marleau recorded the Sharks first hat trick against the Red Wings (and first of his career)…Feb. 10, 2003 at Detroit: Brett Hull scored his 700th NHL goal Feb. 11, 2004 at Detroit: Mike Ricci played in his 1,000th NHL game…Feb. 28, 2006 at HP Pavilion: The Sharks scored a franchise record five power play goals in a 5-1 win...Oct. 19, 2006 at HP Pavilion: San Jose tied a franchise record set the previous season vs. Detroit with five power play goals and three in one period (first) in a 5-1 win. In that same game, Vesa Toskala earned his 11th consecutive victory, extending the longest streak in Sharks history as well as securing the second longest unbeaten streak in team history…Jan. 4, 2007 at HP Pavilion: Patrick Marleau became the team’s all-time scoring leader, surpassing Owen Nolan’s 451 points, with a four-point game (a goal and three assists)…Oct. 30, 2008 at HP Pavilion: Rookie Jamie McGinn scored his first NHL goal and recorded his first NHL assist in a 4-2 victory…Nov. 5 2009 at Detroit: Rookie Logan Couture scored his first NHL goal in a 2-1 shootout loss … Nov. 30, 2010 at HP Pavilion: Joe Thornton recorded his 500th point in a Sharks uniform (assist) in a 5-3 loss. Henrik Zetterberg had four points … Dec. 6, 2010 at Detroit: Logan Couture had two goals and Dan Boyle became just the second Sharks player to record a plus-4 rating in a game against Detroit in the Sharks 5-2 win. It was the most goals the Sharks have ever scored at Joe Louis Arena in a single regular season game … Feb. 22, 2011 at Detroit: In a 4-3 Sharks win, Devin Setoguchi had two goals and Joe Thornton had a goal (No. 300th of his career) and two assists. Nov. 17, 2011 at HP Pavilion: Marc-Edouard Vlasic set career highs for points in a game (1+3=4) and plus/minus (+5) as the Sharks defeated the Red Wings, 5-2… Mar. 28, 2013 at HP Pavilion: Joe Pavelski and Brent Burns scored in the Sharks 2-0 shutout victory. Antti Niemi set a franchise record by becoming the first goaltender to record shutouts on consecutive days (3/27 vs. Anaheim), Pavelski extended his goal scoring streak to three games, and both teams combined for one penalty and two PIM’s to set a franchise record for fewest combined penalties and penalty minutes in a home game. The Sharks were held without a power-play opportunity for only the fourth time in franchise history… 2014-15: Feb. 26, 2015 at SAP Center: Matt Irwin gave the Sharks the lead in the first period with a shot that got through from the point and Patrick Marleau responded to Detroit’s power play goal with one of his own, but the Red Wings rallied late to sneak a 3-2 victory over the Shark.
TIES TO DETROIT
- Sharks Head Coach Todd McLellan and Assistant Coach Jay Woodcroft won a Stanley Cup with Detroit in 2008.
- Logan Couture scored his first NHL goal at Detroit on Nov. 5, 2009 against Chris Osgood and his hockey idol is former Red Wings Captain Steve Yzerman.
- Joe Thornton scored his 300th NHL goal on Feb. 22, 2011 at Detroit.
- Equipment Manager Mike Aldrich worked his 1,000th NHL game at Detroit on Nov. 5, 2009. Aldrich was born and raised in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula and worked for Michigan Tech University
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