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Red Wings roll into Colorado

Dec 27, 2007 - 1:45 PM Detroit (27-7-3) at Colorado (21-13-2) 9:00 pm EST

DENVER (Ticker) - Even without two of their top scorers, the Detroit Red Wings still look like the best team in the NHL.

The Red Wings, who have played their past two games without Henrik Zetterberg and Tomas Holmstrom, will look for their third consecutive victory when they visit the Colorado Avalanche on Thursday.

Pavel Datsyuk, who usual centers the line of Zetterberg and Holmstrom, has not appeared to miss his linemates much. The 29-year-old Russian has registered a goal and three assists to help lead his club to convincing back-to-back victories over the Minnesota Wild and St. Louis Blues.

In its previous two contests, Detroit has outshot its opponents by an impressive 78-39 margin and outscored them, 9-1.

All of this without Zetterberg and Holmstrom, who have combined for 42 goals and 81 points this season. Zetterberg has been hampered by back spasms, while Holmstrom continues to sit out with a knee injury suffered in last Thursday's loss to the Blues.

As two of the elite teams in the Western Conference over the past 12 seasons, the Avalanche and the Red Wings have formed an intense rivalry that has included multiple meetings in the conference finals, questionable hits and numerous altercations.

Colorado's best chances of winning are in the hands of a couple of players who are relatively new to the rivalry. Second-year center Paul Stastny leads the team with 15 tallies and 43 points, while prize-offseason acquisition Ryan Smith has registered 11 goals and 17 assists.