PLAYER NOTES

--G Jimmy Howard recorded his sixth career shutout. He was at his best late in the first period and early in the second. He made two big saves on Daniel Sedin in the waning seconds of the opening period. He stopped breakaways by Alexandre Burrows and Dale Weise less than a minute apart early in the second period.

--D Niklas Kronwall had a strong game at both ends of the ice, finishing with a plus-2 rating. He made a good first pass to Todd Bertuzzi to set up Justin Abdelkader's goal, which proved to be the game-winner. Kronwall also blocked a game-high six shots and played a gritty, physical game in his own end.

--C Cory Emmerton's strong start has prompted coach Mike Babcock to play the rookie in all three games and scratch veteran Patrick Eaves twice. Being a center helps Emmerton's cause as the club needs someone to center the fourth line. Emmerton also has been strong on the penalty kill, but he must improve in the faceoff circle, having won only five of 16 draws.

MEDICAL WATCH

--D Mike Commodore (sprained MCL on Sept. 28) will miss Saturday's game in Minnesota but might return to the lineup Oct. 21 against Columbus.

--RW Jan Mursak (fractured left ankle on Sept. 25) is not expected to return until late December.

GOALTENDERS

--Jimmy Howard

--Ty Conklin.

DEFENSE PAIRINGS

--Nicklas Lidstrom, Ian White

--Niklas Kronwall, Brad Stuart

--Jonathan Ericsson, Jakub Kindl.

FIRST LINE

--LW Henrik Zetterberg, C Pavel Datsyuk, RW Dan Cleary.

SECOND LINE

--LW Jiri Hudler, C Valtteri Filppula, RW Johan Franzen.

THIRD LINE

--LW Justin Abdelkader, C Darren Helm, RW Todd Bertuzzi.

FOURTH LINE

--LW Drew Miller, C Cory Emmerton, RW Tomas Holmstrom.

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