Red Wings at Avalanche preview

RED WINGS (26-34-11) at AVALANCHE (38-25-8)
3 p.m. ET; ALT, FS-D, NHL.TV

The Avalanche and Dallas Stars each have 84 points but Colorado holds the first wild card because they have played one fewer game and have three more regulation/overtime wins. Colorado is 6-1-3 in its past 10 games and 14-2-1 in its past 17 at home.
The Red Wings have lost nine straight games (0-8-1) and could tie the third-longest losing streak in team history. They haven't won since a 3-2 overtime victory against the New York Rangers on Feb. 25. Detroit is 17 points behind the New Jersey Devils for the second wild card into the playoffs from the Eastern Conference.

Players to watch

Red Wings forward Gustav Nyquist has four points (three goals, one assist) during a three-game point streak, including goals in each game.
Avalanche forward Nathan MacKinnon has 21 points (11 goals, 10 assists) during an 11-game point streak.

They said it

"We've got lots of character in our room, there's no question about that. We've fought our tails off for a long time here and we haven't had results. That's the hard thing. Our guys keep coming and playing. That speaks to the leadership that's in the dressing room." -- Red Wings coach Jeff Blashill
"I feel good. That is what we train for in the summertime and all year long, to play every other day. I'm feeling pretty good right now." -- Avalanche goalie Semyon Varlamov, who is expected to play in his 17th consecutive game (15th start) Sunday

Red Wings projected lineup

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

Avalanche projected lineup

Gabriel Landeskog -- Nathan MacKinnon -- Mikko Rantanen
Tyson Jost -- J.T. Compher -- Sven Andrighetto
Matt Nieto -- Carl Soderberg -- Blake Comeau
Alex Kerfoot -- Dominic Toninato -- Gabriel Bourque
Nikita Zadorov -- Tyson Barrie
Patrik Nemeth -- Samuel Girard
Duncan Siemens
-- Erik Johnson
Semyon Varlamov
Spencer Martin
Scratched: Mark Alt](https://www.nhl.com/player/mark-alt-8475729?season=20172018), Anton Lindholm, Nail Yakupov, David Warsofsky
Injured: Mark Barberio (upper body), Jonathan Bernier (concussion), Andrew Hammond (concussion), Colin Wilson (concussion)

Status report

Johnson will play after missing 13 games with an upper-body injury. ... Bernier, who skated Saturday, could return next week, Avalanche coach Jared Bednar said.

Stat pack

Bertuzzi has five assists in his past six games. ... Barrie has 12 points (four goals, eight assists) in a nine-game point streak. ... Rantanen has 11 points (three goals, eight assists) in a five-game point streak.