Daniel Alfredsson collected three assists Thursday night in a 4-2 victory over Colorado. The veteran winger has earned one goal and seven helpers during his current four-game point streak. Alfredsson got off to a slow start with the Red Wings, but his play has picked up considerably of late.

Daniel Alfredsson scored his first goal as a Red Wing as Detroit beat Columbus 2-1 Tuesday night. The Swede's impressive start (six points through seven games) appears to signal he's fitting in well on the veteran-laden Red Wings squad.

Daniel Alfredsson helped get Detroit's power play going Saturday by contributing three assists while his team had the man advantage. The Wings started the year with a 0-for-10 slide on the power play, but Saturday's contest saw them score three times on seven opportunities. Alfredsson was dropped to the third line for Saturday's game, but his work on the power play gave his fantasy owners something to be happy about. He has four assists in five games, but he hasn't scored a goal yet despite 13 shots.

Daniel Alfredsson will start Saturday's game on the third line. Detroit's second unit struggled mightily in Thursday's loss to Phoenix. Justin Abdelkader will play alongside Stephen Weiss and Johan Franzen in Alfredsson's place. Joakim Andersson and Daniel Cleary will play with Alfredsson.

The Detroit Red Wings are one of just seven teams that still haven't scored a power-play goal. Detroit has squandered eight opportunities so far. "We need to depend on it," Daniel Alfredsson said. "We've done some good things but we haven't put the puck in the net and that's what it's all about." The Red Wings were hoping the addition of Alfredsson would give them a boost with the man advantage and it still should despite their sluggish start in that regard.

Daniel Alfredsson is playing the point on the first power play. Pavel Datsyuk, Henrik Zetterberg and Johan Franzen will play on the first power play and coach Mike Babcock likes Alfredsson's shot from the point. "You want your power play to be spot on," Babcock said. "Obviously Alfredsson, the way he shoots the puck, really brings a dimension that way. We need Samuelsson to do the same. We need all five guys on there working hard and shooting the puck and getting pucks back." Niklas Kronwall will likely spend a lot of time partnering on the blueline with Alfredsson.

Daniel Alfredsson didn't practice on Thursday because of a minor groin issue. GM Ken Holland said that Alfredsson "has slight tenderness in his groin" and the veteran winger described his absence from the ice as "a maintenance day." The Red Wings play Friday at Carolina and Saturday in Boston and Alfredsson expects to play in both contests. Keep him active if you normally would and if his status changes then we'll let you know.

Having Daniel Alfredsson on their roster gives the Red Wings added urgency to win now. Alfredsson is entering what could be the final campaign of his career and he's hoping to end up with his first Stanley Cup championship. "Seeing his drive motivates the other guys even more," Niklas Kronwall said. "Seeing how badly he wants it, I think it pushes everything to the next level." Detroit isn't a favorite to win the Cup, but they do have a solid team. At this point Alfredsson is likely to be more of a secondary scorer on it than an offensive leader.

Daniel Alfredsson (groin) will return to the Red Wings' lineup on Friday. Alfredsson will probably end up on a line with Johan Franzen and Stephen Weiss. At the age of 40, it wouldn't be surprising to see Alfredsson miss the occasional game due to minor injuries.

Daniel Alfredsson (groin) might be back in Detroit's lineup on Friday. "It's pretty good," Alfredsson said Thursday referring to his injured groin. "I felt pretty good after the practice the other day, but it wasn't really as good the next day as I was hoping. So, precautionary, and good skate today. I felt good, and come in tomorrow morning and skate tomorrow morning and go from there. but I'm comfortable playing tomorrow." The Wings may finally get a chance to look at their second line of Alfredsson, Johan Franzen and Stephen Weiss with the preseason nearing its conclusion.