Red Wings Begin Homestand Sans Howard

After losing two straight games on the road, the Detroit Red Wings return home for a potentially historic six-game homestand that starts Wednesday night at the Joe Louis Arena against the Edmonton Oilers.

Detroit (35-17-2) has won a franchise-record 17 straight games at home, and is three wins away from tying the NHL record of 20. The Red Wings will have to chase history without their starting goaltender, Jimmy Howard, who is out of action with a broken finger. Detroit is 20-2-1 overall at home this season.

Edmonton (21-27-5) is 4-1-1 over its last six games, including a 5-4 win in the shootout at home over the Red Wings last Saturday as a +137 underdog. Sam Gagner followed up his historic eight-point night against the Blackhawks with two goals and an assist against Detroit, also potting a goal in the shootout.

Whether it is Ty Conklin or Joey MacDonald in net for the Red Wings, they’ll have to find an answer for the red-hot Gagner. Wednesday’s game starts at 7:30 p.m. (ET).

The San Jose Sharks will look to pad their lead in the Pacific Division Wednesday at 10:00 p.m. (ET) when they host the Calgary Flames, who are still fighting for a playoff spot.

San Jose (29-15-6) has won three of its last four games and entered Tuesday’s action with a four-point lead over the Los Angeles Kings for the division lead. Calgary (24-22-7) entered Tuesday three points out of a playoff spot with losses in three of the last four games. San Jose won each of the previous two meetings between these two teams this season in low-scoring fashion, topping the Flames 2-1 in a shootout at home and 1-0 in Calgary.

Out East, the Boston Bruins head to Buffalo to take on the Sabres, who are 3-0-1 in their last four games. Even with the recent string of good games, Buffalo (22-24-6) is still a big long shot to make the playoffs entering Tuesday’s action 11 points out of a playoff spot. While Boston (33-16-2) is still firmly in the No. 2 spot in the Eastern Conference, the Bruins are just 5-5-1 over their last 11 games. A win Wednesday would give the Bruins their first two-game winning streak since January 12. Wednesday night’s game will be televised nationally on the NBC Sports Network at 7:30 p.m. (ET).

Rounding out Wednesday’s four-game card, the Carolina Hurricanes head West to take on the Anaheim Ducks at 10:00 p.m. (ET). Though both teams are likely out of their respective conference’s playoff races with huge holes to climb out of, they’ve still played some strong hockey down the stretch. Anaheim (20-24-8) is 10-2-2 in its last 14 games and Carolina (20-25-9) is 6-2-2 its last 10.

Carolina’s goaltender Cam Ward has given up two goals or less in 11 of his last 12 games with a 1.67 goals against average during that stretch. As a result of Ward’s hot streak, the total has gone ‘under’ in seven of Carolina’s last eight games.