Howard Blanks Predators as Red Wings Regain Playoff Spot

The Detroit Red Wings moved back into playoff position Sunday night behind a shutout of the Nashville Predators by goaltender Jimmy Howard.

Howard stopped 22 Nashville shots for his second blanking of the Predators this season. With the two points, the Red Wings moved past Dallas and back into eighth place in the standings, though the Stars have a game in hand.

After a scoreless first period, Henrik Zetterberg got Detroit on the board at 6:23 of the second. Pavel Datsyuk forced a giveaway in the right faceoff circle and the puck came out to Jakub Kindl at the point, who sent it back along the blue line to Datsyuk. Datsyuk moved it along to Danny DeKeyser, who fired a shot from the top of the left circle intentionally wide of Pekka Rinne in the Nashville goal. The puck caromed off the back boards to the opposite side of the net where Zetterberg snapped a shot in behind Rinne.

Johan Franzen virtually locked things up with 2:59 left in the third period, roofing a backhander from the slot over Rinne’s glove off a Nashville turnover.

Justin Abdelkader’s empty-net goal with 1:19 remaining wrapped up the game’s scoring.

Rinne finished the night with 29 saves on 31 shots against.

Both teams were scoreless on two power plays each.

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Kyle Quincey was a healthy scratch on defense for the Red Wings, with Brendan Smith swapping back into the lineup… After the game Brian Lashoff was sent to the Grand Rapids Griffins to help alleviate the logjam on the blue line, giving the Red Wings eight defenders on the roster.