Time: 21 November, 2009 at 7:00 PM ET
League: NHL – United States of America

Last 10 matches: Detroit 6-2-2; Montreal 5-5-0
Detroit is missing forwards Valtteri Filppula (wrist), Jason Williams (leg) and Johan Franzen (knee) and defenseman Andreas Lilja (concussion).

On the plus side, Montreal got defenseman Ryan O’Byrne and forward Georges Laraque back against Washington after lengthy injury absences. Unfortunately, they lost forwards Scott Gomez (lower-body injury) and Travis Moen (undisclosed), both of whom will be evaluated Saturday. Forwards Brian Gionta (foot) and Matt D’Agostini (concussion) and defensemen Hal Gill (foot) and Andrei Markov (ankle) are already out of the lineup. Its been an up-and-down first quarter of the season for the Habs, who sit fourth in the Northeast Division, but only four points behind first-place Buffalo. They’ll be shooting for a sweep of a back-to-back, coming off an impressive 3-2 win Friday in Washington.

The Red Wings, accustomed to finding themselves atop the Central, are currently in third and also four points in back of division-leading Chicago. They hit the road for a pair after losing consecutive games at home for the first time this season, 3-1 to Dallas on Wednesday and 2-1 in overtime to Florida on Friday.
Henrik Zetterberg assisted on Datsyuk’s goal Friday to extend his points streak to five games. He’s put up 11 points (five goals, six assists) over that span.

Montreal’s leading scorer, Tomas Plekanec, has a goal and six assists in his last four games. Goaltender Carey Price has won consecutive starts and three of his last four, giving up just two goals in each game and compiling an impressive .943 save percentage.
These Original Six rivals are meeting for the only time in the 2009-10 season. Montreal paid a visit to Joe Louis Arena the night before Thanksgiving last season and beat Detroit 3-1 on the strength of three second-period goals, including the winner by Tomas Plekanec. Carey Price made 32 saves and was less than seven minutes from a shutout before Johan Franzen scored. Live score and results will be available soon..