http://www.nhl.com/gamecenter/en/preview?id=2014020082
Canadiens, Red Wings look to continue fast starts
By Sean Farrell
RED WINGS (3-1-1) at CANADIENS (5-1-0)
TV: RDS, CITYM, FS-D
Season series: This is the first of four games between the Detroit Red Wings and Montreal Canadiens. Montreal won twice and had an overtime loss in four games against Detroit last season. Red Wings forward Gustav Nyquist had two goals and three assists in those four games. Canadiens forward David Desharnais has three goals and three assists in five games against the Red Wings. Montreal leads the all-time series 273-200-99, including a 174-68-45 record in 287 home games against the Red Wings.
Red Wings team scope: Forward Pavel Datsyuk may make his season debut against the Canadiens. He has been sidelined for four weeks because of a shoulder injury he sustained in training camp on Sept. 22. Datsyuk practiced with contact Monday and will decide after the morning skate on Tuesday if he is fit to return, which might be the spark Detroit's struggling power play needs to get going. The Red Wings have scored twice in 21 opportunities. "We have to get more pucks to the net," defenseman Niklas Kronwall told the Detroit Free Press. "We've been a little bit too stationary once we do enter the zone. We need to make sure we have more motion." The Red Wings are on a 2-0-1 run as they get set to face an Atlantic Division opponent for a fourth straight game. Forward Johan Franzen was put on the seven-day injured reserve list because of a muscle spasm he sustained in his thigh Friday in a 4-1 victory against the Toronto Maple Leafs at Air Canada Centre. Franzen did not play Saturday in Detroit's rematch against the Maple Leafs, a 1-0 overtime win at Joe Louis Arena. Jimmy Howard will start in Montreal after a groin injury forced him onto the 48-hour goaltender injured reserve list. Goaltender Petr Mrazek was assigned to Grand Rapids of the American Hockey League.
Canadiens team scope: The Canadiens have an opportunity to get off to their best start since 1977-78, when they opened the season with six wins and a tie through their first seven games. Forward Michael Bournival was recalled from Hamilton of the AHL on Monday. Bournival, who had one goal in two games with Hamilton, alternated with Travis Moen on a line with Manny Malhotra and Brandon Prust at practice. Dale Weiss, who was scratched for Montreal's past two games, alternated with Czech rookie Jiri Sekac on the right side of Lars Eller and Rene Bourque. "I'm happy we're winning right now, 5-1, I don't think you can be upset with that," Weise told the Montreal Gazette's Hockey Inside/Out website. "This is a team game and the thing about our team is everybody buys in, everybody wants to win. Regardless of who's scoring or who's playing, everybody wants to win, there are no egos in this locker room. We're all playing for the team, as cliché as that sounds."
