Less than 24 hours after the Edmonton Oilers ended their three-game winless streak, the Detroit Red Wings look to halt their four-game victory drought when they host the Western Conference co-leaders on Sunday. Detroit has gone 0-3-1 over its last four contests, earning its lone point at Philadelphia before surrendering four goals in the third period Friday en route to a 5-3 home setback against Winnipeg.
Captain Henrik Zetterberg appears to be heating up for the Red Wings, as he has tallied in each of his last two games while also adding an assist to climb within two points of team co-leaders Gustav Nyquist and defenseman Mike Green (nine). Edmonton's winless streak came to an end Saturday when it defeated the New York Islanders in a shootout to improve to 1-1-1 on its five-game road trip. Milan Lucic forged a 3-3 tie in the second period and Mark Letestu scored the lone goal in the bonus format as the Oilers remained even with Chicago atop the West with 17 points. Saturday's win came at a price, however, as rookie Jesse Puljujarvi and Zack Kassian went down in the first period with undisclosed injuries.
TV: 5 p.m. ET, Sportsnet West (Edmonton), FSN Detroit
ABOUT THE OILERS (8-3-1): Jonas Gustavsson could make his first start as a member of the Oilers on Sunday as Cam Talbot made his 12th in a row to begin the season in the win over New York. The 32-year-old Swedish goaltender, who made a relief appearance on Oct. 16 against Buffalo and stopped the only shot he faced, spent parts of three seasons with the Red Wings between 2012-15 and went 71-64-22 with seven shutouts in 172 career games with Toronto, Detroit and Boston prior to signing with Edmonton. Defenseman Dillon Simpson was recalled from Bakersfield of the American Hockey League before Saturday's game but has yet to make his NHL debut as he was a healthy scratch.
ABOUT THE RED WINGS (6-5-1): Goalie Jimmy Howard hopes to continue his success against Edmonton, as he is 13-1-2 with a 1.96 goals-against average versus the club, but understands this is a different Oilers team than the ones he's faced in the past. "They're extremely fast and they transition really well from defense to offense," Howard told Detroit's website. "They get through that neutral zone and they get on top of you. We're just going to have to take away their time and space." Defenseman Niklas Kronwall made his season debut against Winnipeg on Friday after missing the first 11 games with knee issues and skipped Saturday's practice but is expected to play versus Edmonton.
OVERTIME
1. Nyquist is mired in a six-game goal-scoring drought and has recorded just two assists in the last seven contests.
2. Edmonton D Matthew Benning notched a pair of assists Saturday after being kept off the scoresheet in his first two NHL games.
3. Detroit Cs Darren Helm and Dylan Larkin are tied with LW Thomas Vanek for the team lead in goals with four, and the former tops the club with a plus-8 rating while the latter brings up the rear at minus-8.
