The Detroit Red Wings have not been home for the playoffs in over two decades and the current team is not looking forward to being the squad to break that streak, giving them motivation to earn the one point they need on Saturday night to clinch when they face the Dallas Stars at the American Airlines Center in Dallas.
The team has been to the Stanley Cup playoffs for 21 straight years and that streak looked in jeopardy a week or so ago, as the team was hanging on to their spot, but after some strong play they are currently in the seventh seed and will clinch a spot with a point against the Stars, who have already been eliminated. The Red Wings won 23 games during the lockout schedule and are looking good on offense following a 5-2 over the Predators on Thursday, the third victory for the team in a row. Detroit usually is in the upper half of the playoff seeds, but this year they will playing from the bottom up.
The Stars are on the other end of the spectrum, as they are already eliminated and traded a number of players away during the trade deadline and now are locked in a four game losing streak to end the year heading into Saturday. Goaltender Kari Lehtonen has been solid for most of the season, including in a win over Detroit in January, but he has allowed three goals per game during the losing streak, including in the loss Thursday. He will go against Jimmy Howard, who has been excellent over his past six games, going 4-1-1 with a sub-2.00 goals against average. Pavel Datsyuk is the points and scoring leader for the Red Wings and he will need to be at his best for Detroit to make a playoff run.
Depending on how the seeds shake out, the Red Wings could end up playing the Blackhawks, who are the number one seed. The team is ranked seventh in goaltending and 19th in the league in scoring, while Dallas is 10th in goals per game and 23rd in goals against. The special teams will play a part on Saturday night and Detroit is fighting with Minnesota and Columbus for the final spots in the West, while the East is already fully locked in with it's teams after the Rangers clinched earlier in the week.