--LW Kris Draper scored his sixth goal of the season, which proved to be the game-winner. In just 28 games, Draper has nearly equaled his output in 81 games last season (seven). He is skating well and contributing offensively after coming back from his Oct. 21 hernia surgery.

--C Mike Modano was given clearance to take part in contact drills and shoot the puck with authority as he continues his recovery from surgery to repair a severed tendon in his right wrist. He said he has nearly regained full strength in the wrist and hopes to return by the end of the month.

--G Jimmy Howard has posted back-to-back solid games and leads the NHL with 28 wins. Howard has been struggling with consistency since early December but has done a much better job controlling rebounds and challenging shooters the last two games.

MEDICAL WATCH

--C Mike Modano (wrist surgery) was injured on Nov. 26 and is expected back by late February or early March.

--D Brad Stuart (broken jaw) was injured on Jan. 7 and is due back in late February.

--G Chris Osgood (hernia) had surgery on Jan. 11 and is due back in early March.

--RW Jan Mursak (bruised toe) was injured on Saturday and is due back this week.

--C Valtteri Filppula (sprained knee) was injured on Monday and is listed as week-to-week.

GOALTENDERS

--Jimmy Howard

--Joey MacDonald

DEFENSE PAIRINGS

--Nicklas Lidstrom, Niklas Kronwall

--Jonathan Ericsson, Brian Rafalski

--Jakub Kindl, Ruslan Salei

FIRST LINE

--LW Johan Franzen, C Henrik Zetterberg, RW Todd Bertuzzi

SECOND LINE

--LW Jiri Hudler, C Pavel Datsyuk, RW Dan Cleary

THIRD LINE

--Tomas Holmstrom, C Justin Abdelkader, RW Patrick Eaves

FOURTH LINE

--LW Kris Draper, C Darren Helm, RW Drew Miller

Copyright (C) 2011 The Sports Xchange. All Rights Reserved.