• Preview
• Recap
• Bleachers
• Game Tracker

Red Wings wrap road trip against Predators

Feb 28, 2015 - 1:44 PM (SportsNetwork.com) - The Detroit Red Wings aim to put a positive ending on a six-game road trip when they visit the Nashville Predators for Saturday's meeting at Bridgestone Arena.

The Red Wings have gained at least a point in four of the first five tilts on this swing, posting a 3-1-1 mark thus far. Detroit did lose two straight in Anaheim and Los Angeles before getting back on track with Thursday's 3-2 win at San Jose.

Detroit trailed the Sharks 2-1 after 40 minutes, but Pavel Datsyuk and Luke Glendening scored in the latter stages of the third period to give the Wings the regulation victory in Silicon Valley.

Datsyuk notched his 22nd marker of the season, beating Sharks goaltender Antti Niemi with a backhander from the slot with 6:28 remaining in the third.

Glendening put Detroit in front with 1:15 left when he scored off Gustav Nyquist's pass from behind the net. Glendening made a spin move before roofing a backhand shot past Niemi.

Teemu Pulkkinen also scored for the Red Wings, while Jimmy Howard made 20 saves. Howard only needed to make two saves in the third to secure the victory.

"I thought we just kept on playing," Red Wings coach Mike Babcock said. "I liked that the guys found a way here."

Detroit captain Henrik Zetterberg missed a third straight game with concussion-like symptoms and is expected to sit out again this afternoon.

The Red Wings, who are third in the Atlantic Division and three points behind Tampa Bay, own a solid 17-10-4 road record.

Nashville, the NHL's leader with 89 points, is hoping to rebound from a loss today after dropping Thursday's 4-2 home decision against Minnesota. It was only the club's second regulation loss in the last 11 games (8-2-1).

Nino Niederreiter scored the tie-breaking goal midway through the game and added an empty-netter with 1:39 remaining to help the Wild down the Preds.

Mike Fisher had a goal and an assist for Nashville, while Pekka Rinne made 26 saves in a rare home loss. The Predators had won six straight at Bridgestone Arena and entered a league-best 26-3-1 as the host before falling to Minnesota.

"We need to be hungrier and execute better," Fisher said.

Today's contest marks the end of a three-game homestand for the Preds, who have beaten Detroit in three of the last four meetings at Bridgestone Arena. However, the Red Wings have won four of the last six encounters overall.

Howard is likely to start today against Rinne. The Red Wings netminder is 9-7-1 with a 2.34 goals against average in his career against Nashville, while Rinne owns a 12-7-3 mark and a 2.39 GAA in this matchup.