Final
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Streaking Jets hit the road to face Red Wings

Dec 10, 2011 - 4:25 PM (Sports Network) - Winnipeg will try to carry some momentum with it on the road tonight, as the Jets shoot for a fifth straight win when they visit the Detroit Red Wings tonight at Joe Louis Arena.

The Jets just went 4-1-0 on a five-game homestand after losing the opener of that residency against Ottawa. The four-game winning streak is the longest for Winnipeg this year. The last time the club won five in a row was from Nov. 19-30 of last season, when they were still known as the Atlanta Thrashers.

However, the Jets have not fared well on the road this year, posting a 4-7-4 record as the guest compared to a 9-4-0 mark on home ice. Winnipeg has lost six of its last seven away from the MTS Centre.

The Jets closed their homestand on Friday with a 4-2 win over the Carolina Hurricanes. Chris Mason stopped 23 shots and four different players scored goals for Winnipeg.

"I thought the turning point of the game was Mason," Jets head coach Claude Noel said. "I thought he played a really strong, clean game and you can see why I like him."

Dustin Byfuglien, Evander Kane, Tim Stapleton and Bryan Little netted goals for the Jets, while Blake Wheeler added three assists.

Jets center Nik Antropov missed the last four games with a lower body injury, but he could return tonight in the Motor City. Fellow forward Eric Fehr has also missed the last four tilts with a shoulder problem and is questionable for this evening's contest.

The Red Wings ended a two-game slide and won for the eighth time in 10 games with Thursday's lopsided home win over Phoenix. Five different Red Wings found the back of the net during a dominant first period, as Detroit pounded the Coyotes, 5-2, at Joe Louis Arena.

Valtteri Filppula and Jiri Hudler each finished with a goal and an assist, Tomas Holmstrom, Todd Bertuzzi and Darren Helm scored, while Pavel Datsyuk and Henrik Zetterberg ended with two assists apiece for the Red Wings, who have won eight straight games at home and are 11-2-1 as the host this season.

Jimmy Howard made 30 saves to earn the win.

"It was obviously a really good start for us, we got them on their heels early on," Red Wings head coach Mike Babcock said. "I would have liked to see us sustain the game better, but we got good goaltending from Howard in the second and third."

Datsyuk sat out the third period of Thursday's game with a lower body injury, but he is expected to play tonight. The Russian forward is tied with Johan Franzen for the team lead with 26 points.

Detroit has lost the last two meetings against the Atlanta/Winnipeg franchise and the Thrashers rolled to a 5-1 win when the clubs met in Atlanta on Nov. 24 of last season. The Jets franchise has won four of the last six encounters in this series overall, but they have five losses in seven all-time trips to Detroit.