Division leaders clash as Canes host Red Wings

The Carolina Hurricanes probably needed a break, a chance to wipe away the bitter taste they dealt with prior to their three-day layoff.

They'll try to get back on track when the Detroit Red Wings visit for Saturday night's game at Raleigh, N.C.

While the Hurricanes might have been feeling the holiday blahs, Detroit went into the break on a three-game winning streak and winner of five of its last six games.

It will be a matchup of divisional leaders, with each team racking up 47 points, though the Red Wings have played in two more games.

The Hurricanes have their first three-game losing streak of the season, going 0-2-1 during that pre-Christmas stretch. They squandered multi-goal leads in all three defeats.

"It's 82 games," Carolina captain Jordan Staal said, noting the length of the regular season. "We're going to have to learn from this."

The Hurricanes had three-goal advantages at Florida and at Tampa Bay prior to Tuesday night, when their 2-0 edge in the third period vanished in a 5-2 home loss to the Panthers.

"It's three in a row, basically, of that crap," Staal said. "We have to be better as a group playing with the lead and playing with some confidence in the third."

The Hurricanes have allowed 11 goals across the last two games, the most surrendered in a two-game stretch this season.

"Hopefully, the lesson sinks in," Hurricanes coach Rod Brind'Amour said. "We've got to stick with it. We're not good enough to (have breakdowns)."

The Red Wings are coming off overtime home victories against the Washington Capitals and Dallas Stars. Detroit will be trying to post its first four-game winning streak since winning five straight in October.

Dylan Larkin scored the tying and winning goals Tuesday against Dallas.

"To hang in there and stay patient as a young team, I thought that was a big learning lesson," said Larkin, the team captain. "Something we can hang our hat on and remember for the final stretch after Christmas."

Larkin is tied for the team lead with 20 goals this season, but he's willing to deflect the attention.

"We've had different heroes every night," Larkin said. "We're doing it by committee."

Red Wings coach Todd McLellan's team is 9-2-2 across its last 13 games.

Detroit goalie John Gibson has gone 8-0-0 in December, though he has surrendered three or more goals in half of those games. Gibson has the Red Wings' first eight-game winning streak since Chris Osgood in the fall of 2007.

The Hurricanes are likely to go with either Brandon Bussi (11-1-1) or Pyotr Kochetkov (6-2-0) in the nets after another rough stretch for Frederik Andersen in the third period against Florida. He hasn't won in his last seven decisions.

The Red Wings have won five of their last six road games. They've scored at least four goals in all of those victories.

This is the first of three meetings this season between the teams. The Red Wings lost two of three clashes last season, including the lone matchup in Raleigh.

--Field Level Media