Preview: Red Wings at Avalanche

RED WINGS (26-30-11) at AVALANCHE (19-46-3)
9:30 p.m. ET; ALT, FS-D+, NHL.TV

Red Wings team scope

Forward Anthony Mantha will return to the Detroit Red Wings lineup after being a healthy scratch for two games. He'll skate at left wing on a line with center Frans Nielsen and right wing Darren Helm. Mantha is eighth among NHL rookies in scoring with 33 points (14 goals, 19 assists) in 50 games. He had 11 points (three goals, eight assists) in 14 games before he was scratched. "It's just being more prepared to play in every game, every shift, to compete at a higher level," he said. "That's the message they wanted to send to me, and that what I was thinking about when I was sitting out." Justin Abdelkader will move to left wing on a line with center Dylan Larkin and Andreas Athanasiou. Goalie Jimmy Howard will make his second start since Dec. 20 and play in his 394th NHL game to tie Mike Dunham for 12th place among United States-born goalies. He returned from a knee injury Friday and made 24 saves in a 4-2 win against the Chicago Blackhawks. Forward Henrik Zetterberg needs one goal for 324 to tie Norm Ullman for sixth place in Detroit history. The Red Wings are 1-4-1 in their past six games, 0-3-1 in the past four on the road. They are 1-for-14 on the power play in six games.

Avalanche team scope

Colorado Avalanche defenseman Anton Lindholm will make his NHL debut. Lindholm, 22, was recalled Monday from San Antonio of the American Hockey League and practiced Tuesday. The Avalanche didn't have a morning skate. Lindholm had 12 points (two goals, 10 assists) in 59 games with San Antonio. Coach Jared Bednar said he would be paired with Francois Beauchemin. "I want to prove to myself that I'm good enough to compete with the best players in the League, and to come in with good confidence next year knowing that I'm capable of playing at this level of hockey," Lindholm said. He will also kill penalties. "We just want to encourage him to play the same way and play with the same fire, and he'll be put into a bunch of defensive situations," Bednar said. "He's a good defender, skates well and competes hard." The Avalanche have lost two consecutive games and are 2-6-0 in the past eight. They lost 1-0 to the Arizona Coyotes on Monday and have been shut out a Colorado record-tying 12 times this season. The Avalanche are 2-for-35 on the power play in the past 14 games.

Red Wings projected lineup

Tomas Tatar -- Henrik Zetterberg -- Gustav Nyquist
Anthony Mantha -- Frans Nielsen -- Darren Helm
Justin Abdelkader -- Dylan Larkin -- Andreas Athanasiou
Luke Glendening -- Riley Sheahan -- Drew Miller
Danny DeKeyser -- Nick Jensen
Niklas Kronwall -- Mike Green
Xavier Ouellet -- Robbie Russo
Jimmy Howard
Petr Mrazek
Scratched:Mitch Callahan
Injured:Tyler Bertuzzi (ankle), Jonathan Ericsson (wrist), Ryan Sproul (knee)

Avalanche projected lineup

Sven Andrighetto -- Nathan MacKinnon -- Mikko Rantanen
Gabriel Landeskog -- Matt Duchene -- Rene Bourque
John Mitchell -- J.T. Compher -- Blake Comeau
Mikhail Grigorenko -- Carl Soderberg -- Matt Nieto
Mark Barberio -- Erik Johnson
Fedor Tyutin -- Tyson Barrie
Francois Beauchemin -- Anton Lindholm
Calvin Pickard
Jeremy Smith
Scratched:Joe Colborne, Cody Goloubef, Patrick Wiercioch
Injured:none

Status report

Pickard will make his fifth consecutive start.

Who's hot

Zetterberg has 24 points (five goals, 19 assists) in the past 20 games. Nyquist has four assists during a two-game point streak. Larkin has four points (one goal, three assists) in the past five games. Tatar has five points (three goals, two assists) in the past six games ... Barrie has four points (one goal, three assists) in the past four games. Andrighetto has three points (one goal, two assists) in the past four games. Comeau has three assists in the past four games.