Red Wings 3 - 2 Oilers
Final
  for this game

Surging Red Wings visit struggling Oilers

Dec 19, 2011 - 3:55 PM (Sports Network) - Tonight's matchup for the Detroit Red Wings seems to be a favorable one, as they take on the Edmonton Oilers in the opener of a four- game road trip at Rexall Place.

The Red Wings won the first meeting with Edmonton by a 3-0 score on Nov. 11 thanks to Jimmy Howard's 24 saves for his third shutout of the season and eighth of his career. The netminder backstopped Detroit to its sixth straight win and 10th in 13 attempts against the Oilers.

Detroit has won four of five and 11 of its last 14 games overall, including Saturday's 8-2 pounding of the Los Angeles Kings at Joe Louis Arena. Cory Emmerton scored twice and added an assist, while Drew Miller had two goals and Niklas Kronwall, Henrik Zetterberg, Pavel Datsyuk and Brad Stuart each lit the lamp for Detroit, which extended its home winning steak to 10 games. It is the Red Wings' first 10-game home win streak since the 2006-2007 season.

"I think it's huge to get the contribution from everyone," Miller said on the team's website. "There's going to be nights where our big guys aren't scoring all the time. You count on your third- and fourth-line guys to chip in and come up big for the team."

Howard made 27 saves in a winning effort. The Red Wings will also visit Vancouver, Calgary and Nashville on the trek and are 7-8-0 away from the Joe this season. They are five points off of the Central Division lead.

Edmonton enters this matchup with Detroit on a sour note, having lost three straight and eight of 10 games (2-7-1). The Oilers came up winless during a recent three-game road trip and dropped a 3-2 decision Saturday at San Jose.

Jordan Eberle and Ryan Jones each scored in defeat. Eberle owns five goals and five assists in his last 10 games.

"I thought we attacked better. We had more time in the offensive zone," Oilers head coach Tom Renney said. "We played hard. That's as important as anything at this point in time."

Nikolai Khabibulin stopped 34 shots in the loss for the Oilers, who will also host Minnesota on this quick homestand and are 9-5-2 at home this season. The Oilers haven't lost four in a row since Nov. 10-17 this season.






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