Red Wings 2 - 4 Avalanche
Final
  for this game

Detroit puts streak to test against Avs

Dec 4, 2011 - 3:38 PM (Sports Network) - The odds of the Red Wings extending their season-high winning streak to eight games tonight at Colorado are in their favor.

Detroit has beaten the Avalanche twice already this season and will try to make it three wins in a row in this series at the Pepsi Center. It recorded a 3-0 win on Oct. 8 in the Rocky Mountains, then posted a 5-2 victory in the Motor City on Nov. 8. Johan Franzen recorded a hat trick in that one for the Red Wings, who have won six of the past eight meetings with the Avs.

Franzen has 10 goals in his last nine games against Colorado.

The Red Wings, who have won 11 of its last 15 trips to the Pepsi Center, prevailed for the seventh consecutive time with Friday's 4-1 triumph at Buffalo in the opener of a three-game road trip. Pavel Datsyuk had a goal and an assist, while Jakub Kindl, Valtteri Filppula and Franzen also scored for Detroit, which last won seven in a row from March 20-April 1, 2010.

"We did an excellent job from the start," said Red Wings goaltender Jimmy Howard, who stopped 27-of-28 shots. "When we get to the neutral zone and get on top of the other team and find loose pucks, that's whet we're at our best."

Detroit has won four in a row on the road and is 6-5-0 away from Joe Louis Arena this season. It is averaging four goals per game during the current winning streak and hasn't registered eight straight victories since Jan. 17- Feb. 5, 2008. The Red Wings will close out the swing in St. Louis on Tuesday and is in the midst of playing 10 of its 15 December games on the road.

The Red Wings are two points behind idle Chicago (35 pts) for the top spot in the Central Division and sit two points ahead of the Blues for second place. They have won 11 of their last 13 games overall and have outscored the opposition by a 10-1 difference in the first period during the winning streak.

Howard has made 17 straight starts and leads the league with 15 wins, but is expected to rest Sunday in favor of Ty Conklin. Datsyuk has registered points in seven of his last eight games and Filppula owns five goals and two assists during his current five-game points streak.

The Avalanche will conclude a season-long, eight-game homestand this evening and are 4-3-0 on the residency so far. They have won two in a row and handed St. Louis a 3-2 shootout loss the last time out on Friday.

Ryan O'Reilly scored the only goal of the shootout and also posted the game- tying goal in the third period to go along with an assist. Milan Hejduk scored and has five points in his last four games for the Avs, who are 6-9-0 at home and 10 points off the lead in the Northwest Division.

"We're really glad to get the win. They're a great team but tonight we played really well in our own end and then got some pucks on the net," said O'Reilly. "We got to keep doing the little things right and we'll be all right."

Semyon Varlamov stopped 35 shots in a winning cause.

After Sunday's game, the Avalanche will hit the road for three contests up north against Vancouver, Calgary and Edmonton before returning to Denver to kick off a home-and-home set with San Jose.






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