Notes: Red Wings admire Bergeron's game

DETROIT-- Boston Bruins center Patrice Bergeron is the reigning Selke Trophy winner as the top defensive forward in the NHL.
He's won the Selke four of the last six years and Bergeron's four Selke Trophy honors tie him with former Montreal Canadiens great Bob Gainey for the most in NHL history.

But Bergeron is so much more than a defensive whiz.
He currently leads the Bruins in goals with 22 and is third in overall scoring with 44 points in 45 games. He is tied for second on the Bruins at plus-24 and his average ice time of 19:35 per game is fifth-best on the team and ranks second among Boston's forwards.
Bergeron centers one of the NHL's best lines with left wing Brad Marchand (21 goals, 29 assists, plus-24) and right wing David Pastrnak (21 goals, 28 assists, plus-7) and he's winning 56.8 percent of his face-offs.
After Tuesday's morning skate, Red Wings coach Jeff Blashill was asked if he was surprised the Bruins' top line was still scoring without Marchand, who will miss tonight's game against the Wings as he serves the fifth and final game of his suspension for an elbowing incident against the New Jersey Devils on January 23.
"Brad Marchand is a great player, but Bergeron, for me, he's probably been the best player in the league for the season up until now," Blashill said. "There's a couple others, (Nikita) Kucherov, that would probably make arguments. But I think he's had as big an impact on winning as anybody in the league. I think elite two-way centers are the most prized possession with maybe No. 1 defensemen.
"The fact they've been able to keep scoring is a testament to the other guys on the line, Pastrnak is a highly talented guy and when you play with somebody who's as responsible as Bergeron, now all the sudden you can use your skill sets. You're not playing as much in the D-zone because he gets you out of the D-zone. It's just a testament to the guys that are on the line. I like their lineup without Brad Marchand (better) than with it."
Blashill is so impressed with Bergeron, he's talked to Dylan Larkin about watching Bergeron's game and trying to emulate some of what he does on the ice.
"Dylan's a real smart person," Blashill said. "He wants to be the very best player he can be and a couple guys we've talked about outside of his own - guys that he's played with - he played with two of the best winning centers in their prime in (Henrik) Zetterberg and (Pavel) Datsyuk his first year.
"Other guys, Bergeron is one, (Jonathan) Toews is another one. Guys that I think that if Larks can learn some stuff from and add to his own game, I think it can help him be an elite player."
After a disappointing season last year, Larkin has turned his play around and has embraced his role at center, his natural position.
Larkin leads the Wings in scoring with 38 points, including eight goals, and is minus-8 in 51 games. His 19:49 of ice time per game leads Detroit's forward corps and is third overall on the Wings.
He has also played with an edge this season. Larkin's 49 penalty minutes is second most on the Wings trailing only Luke Witkowski's 50 penalty minutes in 19 games.
"It's tough when you're playing against him. He's great on face-offs. His positioning, he's probably one of the best as a centerman in the NHL. So those two things," Larkin said about Bergeron. "You don't notice him too much but it seems like he never stops skating his entire shift. He's always moving, he's always in the right spot. I'm sure his wingers love playing with him. He makes the players around him better."
Justin Abdelkader has had many encounters with Bergeron over the years and believes he's the catalyst of the Bruins teams.
"He does it at both ends," Abdelkader said. "Marchand adds another element to that line, but Bergeron is the motor that keeps that line running as a centerman. He's responsible defensively and just an all-around 200-foot player."
HOWARD GETS THE NOD IN NET: Until recently, goalie Jimmy Howard has provided the Wings with excellent goaltending.
Howard will start Tuesday night against the Bruins. It will be his first start since he was pulled in the first period against the Chicago Blackhawks on January 25 after he surrendered three goals on nine shots in 8:43.
He has not won since January 5 when he stopped 38 of 40 shots against the Florida Panthers in a 4-2 Red Wings victory. Howard is 0-4 in his last four starts and has allowed at least three goals in every game.
Entering Tuesday's game against the Bruins, Howard is 14-16-6 with a 2.82 goals-against average and a .911 save percentage.
"Jimmy Howard will start. Petr (Mrazek) played really well a few games in a row, played him a number of games in a row. I'm going to go to Howie here tonight. I got belief in both of them," Blashill said. "We're going to need both to be real good here down the stretch. We've talked lots, we need elite goaltending and we're going to need that from both of them."
Blashill was asked if he has noticed anything in Howard's play that could explain his recent poor performance.
"No," he flatly answered. "I just think sometimes, it's like any player. Not every player scores every night and not every goalie is going to stop it every night and I just think sometimes you get in a groove one way or the other. "So he's had a chance here to go to work with (goaltending coach) Jeff Salajko. Both he and Petr work real hard at their game. I don't see anything from a technical standpoint that will preclude him from having lots of success tonight.
"But every game takes a life of its own. Hopefully the puck hits him early and sticks to him and he feels good and he has a great game for us."
SCORING ON RASK: While Howard has experienced a dip in his play, Boston netminder Tuukka Rask has been dominating between the pipes.
Rask, who will start against the Red Wings, has not lost in regulation since November 26. He is 18-0-2 in his last 21 games and is on a personal point streak of 20 games.
He's 21-8-4 this season with a 2.09 goals-against average, .925 save percentage with two shutouts.
"He must feel like he's in the zone. He's been playing really well, just like their whole team," Gustav Nyquist said. "I can't say I've watched too many games of them, but obviously he must have been playing real well to be on a points streak like that. He's been a good goalie in this league for a long time now. He's a tough goalie to beat."
Nyquist doesn't keep a book on goalies because he feels out on the ice, the pace is way too manic for thinking, but memory does come into play.
"I think as you play them more and more, I think you remember some goals on them," he said. "But at the same time, when you have a window to shoot the puck or get an opportunity, it's usually everything happens fast, so you can't think too much, 'oh, this goalie does this, and I gotta shoot there.' You don't really have time for that, I think at least. You just try to find the shot that's available at that point."
Boston is 11-1-2 against the Atlantic Division, 20-6-4 against the Eastern Conference and 13-5-4 on the road this season.
The Bruins' 30-11-8 overall record and 70 points is second-best in the East and fifth best in the NHL.
"A full 60-minute effort. It's going to be a battle, but we've been playing good here lately," Nyquist said about what it will take to beat the Bruins. "We like our team. Sure, they've won some games, but the league's really close. I don't see a reason why we can't go out there at home and beat them."
INJURY UPDATE: Blashill expects the Red Wings to be at full strength against the Bruins with the possible exception of forward Darren Helm, who is dealing with a lower-body issue.
"Helm will be a game-time decision. I anticipate everybody else being available," Blashill said.