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Red Wings look to continue winning ways against Avalanche

Feb 1, 2008 - 2:07 PM Colorado (27-20-4) at Detroit (38-10-4) 7:30 pm EST

DETROIT (Ticker) - For many years, when the Colorado Avalanche met the Detroit Red Wings, Western Conference supremacy was at stake. However, these are different times.

The Red Wings look for their 11th victory in 13 games against the Avalanche when the teams meet Friday.

Colorado beat Detroit in the teams' first playoff meeting in 1996, going on to claim the Stanley Cup. Detroit returned the favor with series wins in the 1997 and 2002 Western Conference finals en route to winning a pair of championships.

Since the 2002 Stanley Cup playoffs, the Red Wings have rolled to 13 wins in 18 meetings against the Avalanche, including a 10-1-1 mark over the last 12 games.

Detroit, which has won five straight, recorded its latest victory in Wednesday's 3-2 triumph against the Phoenix Coyotes. Leading-scorer Henrik Zetterberg returned from a two-game absence to score his 29th goal of the season while Pavel Datsyuk assisted on all three goals.

The Red Wings will put their league-best 20-4-2 home record on the line against the Avalanche, who have gone just 9-12-3 away from home.

However, Colorado has won three straight on the road, including a 6-3 victory against the Chicago Blackhawks on Wednesday.

Marek Svatos had two goals and an assist for Colorado, which is dealing with a number of injuries to key players. Joe Sakic (hernia) and Ryan Smyth (broken ankle) are likely out another month while leading-scorer Paul Stastny (appendectomy) will likely miss another two weeks.