The Detroit Red Wings have been a streaky team this year, to say the least. Starting the season 5-0, they then went on a six-game losing skid, before going on to win another four games straight with two shutouts in the latter streak. Now they've dropped two straight, a 2-1 loss to the St. Louis Blues and a 5-2 loss to their Western Conference rivals, the San Jose Sharks on Thursday.
On Saturday, they'll stay in the state of California when they head to Los Angeles to take on the Kings at the Staples Center. Over the last six games between the two teams, the Kings have won five of them, though the Red Wings won their last meeting on Feb. 28 earlier this year. Los Angeles has won their last three games, including a 5-3 win over the Ducks on Thursday. They're riding hot and are contending within the Pacific Division.
Detroit has lost five straight road games, and haven't lost six straight on the road for almost 25 years. For a team that boasted the second-best road record in the league last season at 26-11-4, it's bad to note that they're 2-5-0 on the road thus far, with their last win as the visitor coming on Oct. 15. It will be interesting to see if Jimmy Howard starts in goal for the Red Wings, after he allowed four goals on 21 shots against the Sharks before being replaced by backup Ty Conklin. While Howard is 1-4-0 in his last five starts against Los Angeles, Conklin has won his last four against the Kings.
The game is set for 4:00 p.m. eastern on Saturday, and can be seen on the usual Fox Sports Detroit, as well as the NHL Network.