Now on one of their patented winning streaks, the Detroit Red Wings will face one of their biggest rivals on Friday when they hit the road to take on the Chicago Blackhawks. After a win in their last outing and a couple days rest, the Red Wings are looking for their third-straight win, having beat the St. Louis Blues 3-2 in their last outing and the Nashville Predators by a mark of 4-1 before that. This will actually be the first time thee two rivals meet this season, the first of six.
Chicago is trying to avoid a losing streak after being shutout by the Los Angeles Kings on Wednesday. The Blackhawks had previously won two straight games in dominating fashion, beating the Canadiens 5-1 and the Blue Jackets 4-1. This is one of the more anticipated games of the season, due in part because of the fact that they haven't played this season up until this point. Last season, Chicago took four of six, but it was the Red Wings who almost prevented them from making the playoffs by winning the last meeting.
Detroit has been really hit-or-miss this year, with the former generally being at the Joe Louis Arena and the latter being on the road. They've got a 14-2-1 record at home, the best home record in the Western Conference, while they sport just a 9-10-0 record on the road. Detroit did, however, pick up both of their wins over the Blackhawks on the road, so that's a definite plus.
Both teams feature an all-star roster and every preview should talk at length about them. At this point, it'd just be a list of names though, with standouts like Pavel Datsyuk and Corey Crawford to name. Crawford is going to get the start on Friday for his fourth-straight after sitting for six games, and boasts a 4-1 record over the Red Wings. Datsyuk has a four-game points streak going on now.
The game is set for 8:30 p.m. eastern on Friday.
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