Despite already being eliminated from playoff contention, the Red Wings are currently playing some of their best hockey right now. Following a 5-4 shootout victory over Tampa Bay, Detroit has now won back-to-back games for the first time since Jan. 10. This was also just the third time this year that the Wings have scored four goals during regulation.

After playing playoff spoiler against the Lightning on Sunday, the Red Wings will have an opportunity to put pressure on the Hurricanes later tonight. Currently, Carolina is in a tight race for one of the two Wild Card spots in the Eastern Conference. With just 15 games left for the Hurricanes, there continues to be very little room for error heading down the stretch.

During their first meeting of the season back on Nov. 1, all three of Detroit’s goals came from their top line and we could see similar results during this third and final matchup of the season against Carolina. In particular, the trio of Anthony Mantha, Dylan Larkin and Tyler Bertuzzi have been virtually unstoppable over their last four games. During that span, Detroit’s overpowering top unit has produced six goals and 18 points.

While the Red Wings are still averaging less than three goals/game (2.50) over their last four contests, their top line could have a major impact in this showdown against the Hurricanes. Since Feb. 1, Carolina has allowed the third-most goals per game (3.44) among all 31 teams in the league. Based on that metric, Detroit’s top line shouldn’t have any issues continuing their dominant performance later tonight.

Despite playing with seven defensemen back on Sunday, Gustav Lindstrom received a career-high 21:49 minutes of ice time, including 1:50 minutes of TOI during the powerplay. While the 21-year-old rookie didn’t record any points against the Lightning, he did produce a pair of key blocks while also inducing a turnover as well.

While Lindstrom has tallied just one assist over his 15 games with Detroit this season, the right-handed defenseman has started to display some improvements over the last five games, as he’s recorded seven blocks and five hits. As a result, he’s been rewarded with additional ice time from coach Jeff Blashill. Based on Lindstrom’s recent success, he’ll likely receive a significant amount of ice time against the Hurricanes.

If you’re watching tonight’s game, make sure to get to your devices before puck drop. During each of their previous meetings earlier this season, the team who scored first, which was Carolina in both games, ultimately won the outcome of the game. So far this season, the Hurricanes are tied for the sixth-most wins (26) when scoring first and the sixth-most wins (19) when leading after the first period as well.

Since Detroit has averaged the fewest goals per game (2.00) and they’ve scored the fewest number of goals in the first period (43) this season, scoring before Carolina may prove to be difficult. However, the Red Wings have scored the opening goal in each of their last four games. So, accomplishing that feat once again could allow them to extend their current winning streak to three games.