Stars 2 - 5 Red Wings
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Red Wings welcome Stars to Motown

Nov 12, 2011 - 4:13 PM (Sports Network) - The Detroit Red Wings will aim for a fourth consecutive victory tonight when they cap a lengthy homestand at Joe Louis Arena against the Dallas Stars.

The Red Wings are 3-1-1 on a six-game residency, improving their record this season in the Motor City to 6-2-1. Detroit, which notched a 3-0 win Friday against Edmonton, appears to be back on track after a six-game slide that lasted from Oct. 22-Nov. 3.

Meanwhile, Dallas will try to bounce back tonight after having a four-game winning streak halted Friday in Pittsburgh. The 3-1 setback to the Penguins was just the fourth loss of the season for the Pacific Division-leading Stars, who are now 11-4-0 on the year.

The Stars hope their recent success against the Red Wings can get them back in the win column tonight. Dallas won three of four meetings with the Red Wings last year and has taken five of six, eight of 10 and nine of the last 12 encounters between the clubs. The teams have split the last eight matchups in the Motor City.

The Red Wings have won three in a row by a combined margin of 13-2, and goaltender Jimmy Howard has been largely responsible for that. Howard stopped 24 shots to record his third shutout of the season and lead the streaking Red Wings in the 3-0 victory over the Oilers.

Howard has two blankings in his last three starts. He posted a shutout in last Saturday's victory against Anaheim, then allowed two goals in Tuesday's defeat of Colorado. He is 7-3-1 with a 1.63 goals-against average this season.

Howard, in his third season as Detroit's full-time goaltender, matched a career high Friday with his third shutout. He also posted three in the 2009-10 season, but needed 61 starts to do so.

"Jimmy has been playing great all year," Red Wings defenseman Niklas Kronwall said. "Even when we were slumping, he was playing great and giving us a chance to win those games."

It's uncertain if the red-hot Howard will start on back-to-back nights this evening or if Ty Conklin will get his first start since Oct. 25.

Kronwall, Drew Miller and Valtteri Filppula all scored in Friday's win over Edmonton. Todd Bertuzzi missed his third straight game with a sinus infection and will sit out tonight's game as well.

The Stars were burned by a former teammate on Friday as James Neal, who was traded to Pittsburgh in February, scored twice to lift the Penguins to a 3-1 win over visiting Dallas.

Neal was dealt along with defenseman Matt Niskanen to Pittsburgh in exchange for blueliner Alex Goligoski on Feb. 23. Goligoski has two goals and four assists this season, but he suffered a thumb injury in the first period of Friday's game and went back to Dallas for x-rays.

Eric Nystrom scored the lone goal on Friday for the Stars, while Kari Lehtonen was tagged for all three goals on 32 shots. Andrew Raycroft, who has started just two games this season and none since Oct. 22, could get the call in net tonight for Dallas.

The Stars, who are completing a four-game road trip tonight, are 5-3-0 as the visiting team this season.






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