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Red Wings hope to continue home dominance of Flyers

Mar 17, 2009 - 8:41 AM By Alan Ferguson Stats Writer

Philadelphia (37-21-10) at Detroit (46-15-9), 7:30 pm EDT

DETROIT (AP) -- The Detroit Red Wings made NHL history in their last game.

The Philadelphia Flyers' last victory in Detroit seems like ancient history.

The Red Wings seek to extend a run of home dominance in this series that lasts more than two decades and try to stay atop the Western Conference Tuesday night by taking advantage of an inconsistent Flyers' offense.

With Sunday's 5-0 victory in Columbus, Detroit reached 100 points for a league-record ninth consecutive season and clinched a 17th straight postseason berth.

Chris Osgood stopped 23 shots for his second shutout in four starts and his second straight win since allowing seven goals in an 8-2 home loss to the Blue Jackets eight days earlier.

"Anytime you're embarrassed it is (motivation)," Red Wings coach Mike Babcock said. "They're big boys, they're smart. They were up for the game. They suffered humiliation, just like anybody else. We needed to respond here today."

Should he start Tuesday, Osgood would enter with a 90:52 shutout streak and try to keep the Red Wings ahead of San Jose in the West. Detroit is currently one point in front of the Sharks, who play at Phoenix later Tuesday night.

"It seems like every (year) we end up in the same spot," said Osgood, who is 8-5-0 with a 2.74 GAA in 13 career games against Philadelphia. "We've got a good core, a good group of guys. We know how to fight through adversity. We know how to deal with the pressures of playing in Detroit. We always know in the end that we're going to be there and give ourselves a good chance to win in the end."

The Flyers haven't won in Detroit since November 4, 1988, going 0-13-0 with two ties in their last 15 trips to Joe Louis Arena - the NHL's longest active road winless streak by one team against an opponent. This is the Flyers' first trip to Detroit since January 12, 2006.

"I know we don't come in here very often, but hopefully (it's) a little motivation to try to get a win against a very good Detroit team," Flyers coach John Stevens told the team's official Web site.

Philadelphia is currently trying to hang on to fourth place in the East, leading Pittsburgh by two points. The Flyers have split their eight games in March, scoring four or more goals in each of the wins and one or fewer in each defeat.

They couldn't convert a home-and-home sweep of the New York Rangers after Saturday's 4-2 home victory, falling 4-1 on Sunday at Madison Square Garden.

Simon Gagne and Mike Richards are both currently riding seven-game point streaks, but Jeff Carter, who has a team-leading 38 goals, has scored only twice in the last nine contests.

The Flyers are trying to avoid losing consecutive games for the first time this month, and their first consecutive regulation losses since January 31 and February 4. After Antero Niittymaki struggled in Sunday's loss, the Flyers will likely turn to Martin Biron, who is 3-1-0 with a 1.76 GAA in his last four starts.