The Detroit Red Wings will host the Toronto Maple Leafs on Friday night at Little Caesars Arena.
In their second meeting of the season against the Maple Leafs, the Red Wings will look to end their three-game losing streak.
Preview
In October, the Leafs defeated the Wings 6-3 in Toronto. The Leafs scored four first period goals in the win as they held off a late rally by the Wings.
Entering Friday night, the Maple Leafs are sitting in second place in the Atlantic Division and are 12 points ahead of the Red Wings.
The away side is on a losing streak of their own as they fell to the Minnesota Wild on Thursday night in a shootout and lost 4-2 to the Philadelphia Flyers on Tuesday. Before this week, the Leafs had won five of their last six.
With the Bruins only five points ahead of the Wings in third place, every point the Red Wings can get will help keep them in the hunt for what appears to be their only chance of getting into the playoffs at this point in the season.
After falling to their last four Atlantic Division opponents this will be a key game to get a result against one of the top teams in the division.
Players to Watch
Auston Matthews, to no one’s surprise, is currently the Leafs leading scorer. With 26 points in 26 games played the second-year pro is always a factor. However, the star is likely to be out against the Red Wings.
Even without Matthews in the lineup, the Leafs still have five other players with 20 points or more. Nazem Kadri is the next closest player to Matthews’ numbers with 23 points.
Goal scoring wise, James van Riemsdyk leads the way with 15 goals in 32 appearances.
In net, Frederik Andersen has continued to be the Leafs no.1 option. Andersen is 17-10-1 in 28 starts this season.
Dylan Larkin increased his team-leading point total to 24 points on Wednesday with his second shorthanded goal of the season. The 21-year-old ended a three-game pointless streak as well.
Jimmy Howard is the projected starter for the Red Wings.
How to Watch
When: Friday, Dec. 15-7:30 p.m.
Where: Little Caesars Arena-Detroit, MI
How to Watch: Fox Sports Detroit, TSN 4 (Canada)
Live Stream: Fox Sports Go App