Up Next: Pittsburgh Penguins

DETROIT --When the Pittsburgh Penguins and the Detroit Red Wings ring in the New Year on Sunday, playing in Detroit's traditional New Year's Eve game at Little Caesars Arena (7 p.m. face off), you couldn't blame the defending Stanley Cup Champions if they're ready to turn the page on 2017.
It has been a memorable year for the Penguins.

After winning their second consecutive Stanley Cup in June, many tabbed Pittsburgh as legitimate contenders for a three-peat as Stanley Cup Champions for 2018.
It is still a possibility, but the Penguins must pick up their play to keep pace with the teams ahead of them in the Metropolitan Division.
Pittsburgh lost 2-1 at Carolina to the Hurricanes on Friday night in a game where they scored first, but couldn't get anything else going offensively. They registered 28 shots on goal, with 14 of them coming in the third period.
"We've got to be able to reenergize and try to dictate the terms out there and we didn't do it enough," Pittsburgh head coach Steve Sullivan told reporters after Friday's loss. "We've got to make sure we stay determined and get more focused and control what we can and play the game the right way. If we do that I believe this team will find success."
Currently the Pens sit in seventh place in the Metropolitan with a 19-17-3 record good for 41 points. They are six points out of third place in their division and three points out of the final wild card spot.
Though the deficits seem manageable for a team with Sidney Crosby as their leader and catalyst, the Penguins are inundated with injuries.
On December 28, the Penguins placed defensemen Kris Letang (two goals, 23 assists) and Chad Ruhwedel (one goal, two assists) along with forward Bryan Rust (four goals, 14 assists) on injured reserve (IR).
Rust and Ruhwedel are dealing with an upper-body issue, while a lower-body injury is keeping Letang off the ice.
They join defenseman Justin Schultz (two goals, eight assists, plus-1) on IR. This is Schultz's second stint on IR. He has missed a total of 16 games this season due to a lower-body condition.
Pittsburgh's staring goaltender Matt Murray (lower body) missed Friday's game at Carolina and is listed day-to-day. In a precautionary move the club called up goalie Casey DeSmith from Wilkes-Barre/Scranton on Thursday.
In 27 games, Murray is 14-10-1, with a goals-against average of 2.94, a save percentage of .904 with one shutout.
From December 1-11, Murray missed six games and was replaced in net by rookie Tristan Jarry. In those six starts, Jarry was 3-2, with a goals against average of 2.26, a .927 save percentage and one shutout.
Until Murray returns, Jarry will be the starter. For the season, Jarry is 5-3-2, with a goals-against average of 2.40, a .921 save percentage and a shutout.
"Tristan is good goalie, he's played some good games for us. He's helped us win some games. We think Tristan can step in there and be a solid goalie for us," Sullivan told reporters on Thursday. "He can make the timely save. We think he's very, very capable. He handles the puck well. There are a lot of things I like about Tristan's game."
With three top-flight and right-handed shooting defensemen on IR, the Penguins will be led on the blueline by Olli Maatta, who has three goals among his 15 points and is minus-7 in 39 games.
Maatta will be joined by Michigan natives Ian Cole (Ann Arbor, two goals among his six points and minus-7 in 32 games) and Matt Hunwick (Warren, three goals among his four points in 23 games and is minus-3).
"It's just kind of working by committee. We've lost a lot of ice time, obviously Tanger (Letang) is one of the highest-minute guys in the league," Hunwick said. "He brings a lot to every facet of the game. Especially on special teams. He's a big part of it.
"So just kind of spreading the ice time out, trying to be consistent and just trying to be good. I think overall our team defense is always an area of focus and even more so when you're missing some defensemen.
"It's going to be more ice time, more opportunity for a lot of guys. You take it while you can. You never want to see anyone hurt, but it's time for other guys to step up."
Letang leads Pittsburgh in ice time, averaging 25:46 a game. Defenseman Brian Dumoulin (two goals, two assists, minus-10 in 39 games) is second on the defensive corps in ice time, clocking in at 20:45, which is also the third-highest average on the team.
Up front the Penguins are led by future Hockey Hall of Famers Crosby, Phil Kessel and Evgeni Malkin.
Kessel is the Pens' top scorer with 41 points in 39 games (16 goals, 25 assists and minus-5). Crosby, who has 1,062 career points in 821 games, is tied with Malkin for second in scoring with 35 points in 39 games (14 goals, 21 assists and minus-11).
Malkin has 13 goals among his 35 points and is minus-3 in 35 games. He has been on a December scoring tear. His three-point effort against Columbus on December 27 gave him points in 10 of 13 games for the month. Malkin has 14 points this month with six goals and eight assists, which leads the Penguins in December.
Before he was traded to Pittsburgh, former Red Wing Riley Sheahan was scoreless in eight games for the Wings. In his 30 games as a Penguin, he has three goals among 11 points and is even.
"We always have had our fair share of injuries that we have had to fight through in order to have success and this is no different," Sullivan said. "We believe we have capable guys. It's going to test the depth of our team, but we believe we have that depth. It an opportunity for guys to step up."
Sunday's game will be the 69th time the Wings have played on New Year's Eve. Detroit is 35-24-8-1 on New Year's Eve, but since 1992, the Red Wings are 12-3-2-1 playing on December 31.
This will be Pittsburgh's 27th game played on New Year's Eve. Their record on New Year's Eve presently stands at 14-10-2.