The Detroit Red Wings will try to bounce back from a tough weekend when they visit the sliding Calgary Flames for Tuesday's clash at the Saddledome.
The Red Wings, who are tied for sixth in the West standings, had won two in a row before running into the red-hot Columbus Blue Jackets in a home-and-home series. The Blue Jackets notched a 3-0 win in Friday's encounter in Ohio and then posted a 3-2 shootout decision the following night in Detroit.
The recent home-and-home wrapped up the season series between the Central Division rivals and Columbus ended with a 4-0-1 record against the Red Wings.
"They're tough," Red Wings goaltender Jimmy Howard said of the Blue Jackets. "They play a tough style. They dump the puck in and then they all fall back in their own zone. All five of them are just standing there in front of the net, and it's tough to get pucks through."
Jakub Kindl and Johan Franzen both potted goals in Sunday's loss, while Howard recorded 19 saves in regulation and overtime but failed to come up with a stop in the shootout.
The Red Wings hope to put the rough series against the pesky Blue Jackets behind them on Wednesday, when they aim for their sixth win in seven trips to Calgary. Detroit has won seven of 10 overall in the series with the Flames, but Calgary recorded a 4-1 win when the clubs met in Detroit on Feb. 5.
Calgary enters this contest on an 0-3-0 slide and the last-place club has lost five of its past seven games. The Flames have been outscored by a 13-3 margin during the three-game slide and their best result during that skid came in Monday's 3-1 loss at Los Angeles.
The Kings swept a two-game home series against the Flames, beating the visitors by a 6-2 score on Saturday before Monday's win. Dustin Brown notched two goals to lead L.A. to a win in the most recent contest.
Mikael Backlund scored the lone Calgary goal, while Joey MacDonald allowed two goals on 21 shots for the Flames, who are last in the Western Conference with 22 points.
"We're not winning games," Calgary captain Jarome Iginla admitted. "We're in last place and that's not acceptable."
The Flames played both games in the L.A. series without forward Curtis Glencross, who is questionable for Wednesday's test in Calgary. Glencross is second on the team with eight goals this season.
Calgary is 6-5-2 as the host this year and is kicking off a two-game homestand. The Red Wings are 3-5-2 as the guest and will play three straight and seven of their next eight games on the road.
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