Flyers-Red Wings preview

Detroit, Mich. - "We want to and have to play better."

That was the brief and succinct judgment of Flyers forward Wayne Simmonds (14 pts) minutes after suffering a 1-0 shootout decision to the New York Islanders Monday.

Among the best at home and the worst on the road this season, the Philadelphia Flyers travel to Joe Louis Arena to face the Detroit Red Wings Wednesday night.

Philadelphia (8-9-3, 19 pts) has suffered five straight defeats on the road, including two outings in which they were shut out. Before defeating Columbus on Nov. 22nd, they lost four games overall, outscored 15-8.

Steve Mason (4-6-2) protected the Flyers against the Isles in his first-career shutout, stopping 46 shots against him in sixty-five minutes before allowing two strikes in the shootout from Frans Nielsen and John Tavares. 

Though the Flyers were grateful for Mason stopping those shots, head coach Craig Berbue was concerned that so many came his way, and that so few came from the sticks of those in orange, having been outshot 46-21.

"I'm disappointed we didn't play better," he said afterwards. "We didn't have enough guys that competed hard enough, that showed urgency throughout the game."

Philadelphia's Flyers are 6-3-2 at home this season and averaging 3.5 goals per game. Away from Wells Fargo Center, however, they are 2-6-1 and score 2.1 times a night. Averaging 3.45 goals scored per game at home, they have notched only 7 altogether during their current road campaign, including a 3-for-31 stretch on the power-play. 

Their penalty-kill has fared little better recently, bearing the 30th mark in hockey (.731 pct). In their 6-3 defeat to the Canadiens Nov. 15th, they allowed three power-play goals from the Habs, a group that until then had failed to strike with the advantage in 27 of their previous 28 attempts.

Killing penalities, however, is an art form in Detroit, where the Red Wings (11-5-5, 27 pts) enjoy the 2nd-best mark in the league at defending a man down (.893 pct), and are coming off a 4-3 victory over the Ottawa Senators.

They went 2-for-6 on the power-play in that contest and rank 13th with the advantage.

"It's a good win for our team," Wings boss Mike Babcock said. "We had lots of good players, and it was really good for Stephen Weiss, and that's really good for us."

Weiss, after scoring twice in 26 contests one year ago, lit the lamp twice for the Wings in their win over Ottawa, returning to action after sitting from a hernia injury that required surgery. 

"Hopefully he can get his confidence back and get going," Babcock said of the center.

Henrik Zetterberg leads the Red Wings in points (18), scoring 4 goals and assisting on 14 others. Gustav Nyquist leads the team in scoring with 10 goals this season. 

Detroit, like Philadelphia, excels at home, where they are 7-2-2 this season and Tomas Tatar is enjoying a 6-game points streak, notching an assist, shared with goalie Jimmy Howard, in Monday's win over Ottawa. 

Detroit sits third in the Atlantic Division, behind Tampa Bay and leader Montreal, against whom the Red Wings are 0-2 this season, with two more meetings scheduled.

After hosting the New York Rangers on the 28th, the Flyers will venture a five-game road trip that includes visits to the Rangers the next day and three matchups with all three California teams before heading to Columbus.

Philadelphia defeated Detroit 4-2 in their Oct. 25th meeting for the Flyers' third-stright win in the all-time series.