Sun Mar 30 11:10:16 2008

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Red Wings host Preds, try to move closer to Presidents' Trophy

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(Sports Network) - The Detroit Red Wings will take another shot at wrapping up the Western Conference's top seed and the Presidents' Trophy today, when they welcome the Nashville Predators for a Central Division battle at Joe Louis Arena.

The Red Wings, who have won their division for the seventh straight season, are trying for their third Presidents' Trophy in four years as they shoot for the best record in the NHL. Detroit can secure the hardware with a win today and a loss by San Jose, which plays a home test later against Phoenix.

Nashville, meanwhile, comes into today's test with the intention of improving its playoff chances. The Predators have 86 points and are tied with Vancouver and Edmonton for the eighth and final postseason berth in the West. Nashville currently holds tiebreakers over both teams, as it has played less games than the Oilers and has a higher win total than Vancouver.

The Oilers are off today, but the Canucks are hosting Calgary in a late game.

Detroit had a four-game winning streak halted its last time out, as it was handed an overtime setback by visiting St. Louis. Brad Boyes scored 2:43 into the extra session, helping the Blues to a 4-3 win at the Joe.

In the extra session, Paul Kariya held the puck along the right wing, then turned and put a feed on the tape of Boyes' stick. Boyes, stationed just in front of the crease, easily knocked the puck past Chris Osgood to notch his second goal of the night and 40th of the season.

Johan Franzen notched a pair of goals and Brian Rafalski also tallied for the Red Wings, who split the home-and-home as they notched a 2-1 victory Tuesday in St. Louis.

Osgood made 17 saves in defeat, while Pavel Datsyuk and Henrik Zetterberg had three assists each for Detroit. Osgood could be in net for a third straight start today for Detroit, as Dominik Hasek is still battling the flu.

Today's game marks the second of two straight at home for the Red Wings, who have an excellent 26-9-3 mark as the host this year. Detroit has lost two of three in Motown, but also has five wins in its last seven home tests.

The Predators have won three in a row and are coming off back-to-back shutouts in a home-and-home series with Columbus. Rookie netminder Dan Ellis was in net for both white-washings and now has six shutouts in his career.

Ellis made 43 saves to post the second shutout, as the Predators blanked the Columbus Blue Jackets, 2-0, at Nationwide Arena. Ellis, who stopped 36 shots in Tuesday's 3-0 home win against Columbus, extended his shutout streak to 170:18.

Jan Hlavac and Radek Bonk scored for the Predators.

Nashville is playing the first of two straight on the road today and is 17-17-4 as the visiting club this year. The Predators, who will also visit St. Louis on Tuesday for the opener of a home-and-home series, have won two straight and three of four away from Music City.

Detroit is 4-3 against the Predators this season and has taken eight of 11 and 10 of the last 15 encounters between the clubs. Nashville has also dropped seven of its previous nine tests in the Motor City.