At the Rink: Coyotes at Red Wings

Tuesday, 03.24.2015 / 2:47 PM | Paul Harris - NHL.com Correspondent

DETROIT -- The Detroit Red Wings have an important game Tuesday against the Arizona Coyotes in their quest to clinch a spot in the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

But forward Darren Helm has a little bit more to think about than a game.

Helm's girlfriend, Devon, gave birth to the couple's first child, a daughter, at 2:15 a.m. Monday. The baby couldn't wait until they arrived at the hospital, so Devon gave birth to baby Rylee Klaire (6 pounds, 10 ounces) in the car.

Helm said mother and baby are fine. He said the baby arrived about seven days and five minutes earlier than expected.

"It was pretty intense," Helm said. "I'm extremely proud of what she did. The courage and the pain that she had to go through is amazing. How she did that, I'm so proud of her, proud of the baby.

"We got to the ER and they kept assuring us that things were going to be OK after they got a good look at the baby and Devon was feeling good. It took us a while to kind of get over what happened, but things are moving along pretty well.

"Couldn't be happier with the way things turned out and we have a pretty funny story now that we think about it."

The Red Wings are thinking about finding ways to start winning games consistently.

After a 2-1 overtime win against the St. Louis Blues on Sunday, the Red Wings have lost four of their last six games (2-4-0). They have a four-point lead on the fourth-place Ottawa Senators and are five points ahead of the fifth-place Boston Bruins.

That stretch has coincided with the scoring slumps of Tomas Tatar and Gustav Nyquist. Nyquist has two goals in his past 21 games and Tatar has two goals in 15 games.

Tatar leads the team with 26 goals and Nyquist is third with 22.

"Sometimes you've got it going and sometimes you don't. And when you don't you've got to stay mentally strong and keep going," Red Wings coach Mike Babcock said. "As a goal-scorer, every time you get the puck when you're scoring you shoot it. Why? Because it's going in.

"And then when you aren't scoring goals you don't shoot it and then you wonder why it's not going in. Maybe you should just do what you always did and shoot the puck and get on the inside and win more battles and be good defensively. And then everything will turn."

Arizona has lost eight straight (0-7-1).

"Losing [stinks]. Can't say any more about it," Coyotes coach Dave Tippett said. "We have to find a way to win games. That's why we're here."

Arizona captain Shane Doan agreed.

"Nobody ever wants to be in this position or be put in this position … at the same time, you have to make sure that you're ready for every game," he said. "… It's the same character and perseverance that you need no matter what."

Here are the projected lineups:

COYOTES

Tobias Rieder - Mark Arcobello - Shane Doan

Martin Erat - Sam Gagner - David Moss

Lauri Korpikoski - Kyle Chipchura - Jordan Szwarz

Craig Cunningham - Joe Vitale - B.J. Crombeen

Oliver Ekman-Larsson - Michael Stone

Klas Dahlbeck - John Moore

Andrew Campbell - Connor Murphy

Mike Smith

Louis Domingue

Scratched: Tye McGinn, Brandon Gormley