Howard stopped all 29 shots he faced in a shutout win over the Islanders on Saturday. It was a great effort for a netminder who had lost his previous seven starts. The Red Wings are really going to rely on Howard over the next few games at least, as they will be without Pavel Datsyuk and Henrik Zetterberg. He has a solid matchup against the Flyers on Wednesday.

Howard allowed four goals on 29 shots in a loss to the Senators last Saturday. He was given the next two games off in favour of Jonas Gustavsson because coach Mike Babcock believed he needed a breather. He has not won since November 1st and is 1-3-4 with a 3.03 GAA and .897 SV% in November. He has a good matchup vs. the Islanders this afternoon.

ALL GOALIES CONFIRMED UNLESS OTHERWISE NOTED AT TIME OF PRINT An early bird special this day after Thanksgiving as the Philadelphia Flyers are hosting the Winnipeg Jets. Steve Mason gets the nod against Ondrej Pavelec. Mason is having the better year out of the two statistically speaking and being on home ice should be enough advantage as the Flyers try to get back on the winning track....Then we have a matinee special as well with the New York Rangers and Henrik Lundqvist visit the Boston Bruins. Both goalies have something to prove in this one with the "King" trying to add to last game's win against Florida and Tuukka Rask trying to shake his lackluster effort against the Detroit Red Wings.  This one just may last long into a shootout..."Hockey all day" continues as the Tampa Bay Lightning and Ben Bishop (LIKELY) will face the surging Pittsburgh Penguins at 4:00 pm (ET). Marc-Andre Fleury (LIKELY) will be in net for the Pens as he has been getting plenty of support lately with the return of James Neal to the lineup. Bishop has a nicked-up hand, so the Penguins may try to take advantage of that.  It was a wild one last time these two teams met, ending in a 5-4 Pens' victory. This will be a good test for the Bolt....The second of four 4:00 pm games pits the New York Islanders and Kevin Poulin against the visiting Detroit Red Wings who are coming off a thrashing of the Boston Bruins. I sense a letdown for the Wings in this one as Jimmy Howard has lost 7 in a row. Howard is struggling a bit this year and while Poulin hasn't stepped it up ever since Nabokov went down with an injury, the Isles are in desperate need of a win after losing 4 straight and 9 of their last 11....Reto Berra and the Calgary Flames travel to Anaheim to take on Jonas Hiller (LIKELY) and the Ducks. Hiller tries to get back on the winning track against a Flames team the Ducks should easily handle....In a game pitting two Western Conference powerhouses against one another, Jaroslav Halak (LIKELY)and the St. Louis Blues take their gear to San Jose to take on the Sharks and Antti Niemi. The Sharks have won 3 in a row while and 6 of last 7 while the Blues have won 5 in a row as Halak has been improving his game in that streak, allowing only 4 regulation goals in 4 games during that streak.  This should be a great game to watch and I'm not crazy enough to select who may win this one....On to 5:00 pm (ET) where we will see a battle of the backups.  The Montreal Canadiens go with Peter Budaj,...

Howard gave up two goals on 25 shots in a loss to the Predators on Tuesday. He will look to snap his six game losing streak when the Wings welcome the Senators to 'The Joe' tonight. Howard was pulled after allowing three goals on eight shots the last time he faced Ottawa.

All Red Wings beat reporters confirmed Howard to start tonight, but he came down with the flu and Jonas Gustavsson ended up getting the start. Monitor Howard's status prior to Saturday's contest vs. the Senators, it all depends how long the flu sticks around wether or not it will be Howard or 'The Monster' vs. Ottawa.

Howard allowed two goals on 25 shots in a 2-0 loss to the Predators on Tuesday. It has been a frustrating stretch of games for Howard and his owners. He is 0-2-4 with a 2.93 GAA and .904 SV% in his last six starts. The Red Wings offence has disappeared, which is killing Howard's value. They are at home tonight vs. Carolina, where hopefully the insertion of Gustav Nyquist into the lineup sparks the Wings offence.

Howard gave up three goals on 33 shots in another shootout loss for Detroit. Howard has lost five straight and is 1-1-4 with a 3.03 GAA and .899 SV% in November. The Red Wings have been outplaying opponents but can not put them away, they will look to get their first home win of the season tonight vs. former division foe Nashville.

Howard allowed two goals on 21 shots in a shootout loss to the Jets on Tuesday. It was his fourth straight loss (three in extra time) which moves him to 5-5-5 (yeah I know). The Red Wings have yet to win at home this season, but will look to get off of the schnide tonight vs. Washington at Joe Louis Arena.

The New Jersey Devils turn to Cory Schneider in net as they face a Kings team coming off a tough-earned 3-2 comeback victory the night before against the Isles on the road. This is a tough spot for Los Angeles, who will start feeling the loss of franchise goalie Jonathan Quick sooner than later. Ben Scrivens (LIKELY) gets the start again. The Devils have been red-hot, winning 3 of the last four games.   Martin Brodeur has been the main beneficiary of the sudden winning streak, so look for Schneider to be plenty motivated in this one. We are hot for the Devs....  Will the Pittsburgh Penguins extend their losing streak to four tonight? Heck, no. The perfect remedy to such a losing streak is a date with a far more inept Nashville team and their over-matched backup to the backup goalie, Marek Mazanec. Marc-Andre Fleury wins easy for the Pens....Tim Thomas starts for the Florida Panthers but this is a revenge match for Josh Harding and company as the Wild lost to the Panthers their last time out. It won't happen again, as Harding will continue his masterful goaltending and further entrench himself as the Wild's No. 1 guy, ahead of the injured Niklas Backstrom....If you feel like "swinging for the fences", take the streaking Steve Mason and the suddenly dangerous Flyers on the road against Winnipeg. There could be a small letdown following their grueling victory at Pittsburgh, but Claude Giroux has been playing himself back into the conversation of elite NHL forwards. Take a chance on Mason.... Columbus, in the second of back-to-back games, will be facing a desperate Montreal club, who will be pumped for a win. Peter Budaj will be in goal for the Canadiens, but he has been razor sharp in spot duty. Bobrovsky played in last night's tilt against Boston so expect Curtis McElhinney (LIKELY) to get his 4th start of the season. Go Habs, go!....The Anaheim Ducks sent Frederik Andersen back to the AHL as Viktor Fasth (LIKELY) returns from the IR.  Fasth will be thrown into action immediately against the Carolina Hurricanes especially after last night's embarrassing 5-1 loss to the Tampa Bay Lightning.  With Justin Peters is in net for the Canes. Peters has won 3 of his last 4 all on home ice, so this could be another upset in the making.   Actually, this one can go either way depending on which of the two teams decides to show up....Braden Holtby and the Washington Capitals look to gain some momentum from their win over Columbus but playing Detroit on the road is no ...

Howard surrendered three goals on 34 shots in his second straight overtime loss on Saturday. Tonight he takes on a Jets team who fired 47 shots at him on November 4. Howard was the best player on the ice that night, but the loss started a three game skid for the Wings. Expect a bounce back from Howard tonight at Joe Louis Arena.