Red Wings at Bruins preview

RED WINGS (26-29-10) at BRUINS (40-15-8)
7 p.m. ET; NBCSN, SN, TVAS, NESN, NHL.TV

McAvoy, who's second on the Bruins in average ice time (22:06) behind Zdeno Chara (23:11), will be re-evaluated in four weeks because of a sprained left MCL he sustained in a 2-1 win against the Montreal Canadiens on Saturday.
The Bruins are 16-5-0 in their past 21 games and trail the Tampa Bay Lightning by six points for first place in the Atlantic Division with three games in hand.
The Red Wings will look to end a three-game losing streak. They are nine points behind the Columbus Blue Jackets for the second wild card into the Stanley Cup Playoffs from the Eastern Conference.

Players to watch

Red Wings forward Dylan Larkin has four assists in his past five games.
Bruins defenseman Torey Krug has five points (goal, four assists) during a three-game point streak.

They said it

"I've got faith in him as a goalie, I've said that before. And so it's just a matter of the right opportunity and obviously Jimmy's [Howard] played a lot of hockey here lately too, so it gives Jimmy a rest and gives us a look at Jared." -- Detroit coach Jeff Blashill on giving Jared Coreau his first NHL start of the season
"It could've been worse, obviously. Didn't look that bad when it happened. We'll be without Charlie for a little bit but we've got lots of depth and he will be back ... hopefully he heals quick and keeps his conditioning up." -- Bruins coach Bruce Cassidy on injured defenseman Charlie McAvoy

Red Wings projected lineup

Tyler Bertuzzi -- Henrik Zetterberg -- Gustav Nyquist
Justin Abdelkader -- Dylan Larkin -- Anthony Mantha
Andreas Athanasiou -- Frans Nielsen -- Darren Helm
Luke Witkowski -- Luke Glendening -- Martin Frk
Jonathan Ericsson -- Trevor Daley
Niklas Kronwall -- Mike Green
Danny DeKeyser -- Nick Jensen
Jared Coreau
Jimmy Howard
Scratched:David Booth, Xavier Ouellet
Injured:None

Bruins projected lineup

Brad Marchand -- Riley Nash -- David Pastrnak
Jake DeBrusk -- David Krejci -- Rick Nash
Danton Heinen -- David Backes -- Brian Gionta
Tim Schaller -- Sean Kuraly -- Tommy Wingels
Zdeno Chara -- Brandon Carlo
Torey Krug -- Kevan Miller
Matt Grzelcyk -- Nick Holden
Anton Khudobin
Tuukka Rask
Scratched:Adam McQuaid, Noel Acciari
Injured:Charlie McAvoy (MCL sprain), Patrice Bergeron (fractured foot)

Status report

Frk is back in after one game as a healthy scratch. ... Rask has a lower-body injury but is able to back up Khudobin. … Grzelcyk will play for McAvoy after missing two games with a lower-body injury.

Stat pack

Larkin is one goal from 50 in his NHL career. ... Pastrnak is one assist shy of 100 for his NHL career.