Jonas-Gustavsson-1-28-14

The Red Wings and Jonas Gustavsson lost 5-0 to Vinny Lecavalier and the Flyers last season.

(The Associated Press)

DETROIT - Detroit Red Wings coach Mike Babcock might have been exaggerating slightly when speaking about his team's record in Philadelphia.

"I don't think we've won in Philly since Christ was a kid," Babcock said.

It only seems like that. The Red Wings have lost eight consecutive games in Philadelphia, getting outscored 33-13, since winning there when it mattered the most - in Games 1 and 2 of the 1997 Stanley Cup finals en route to a sweep.

They'll have another chance Saturday at Wells Fargo Center (7 p.m., Fox Sports Detroit) and will turn to backup goaltender Jonas Gustavsson in an effort to snap the streak.

Gustavsson, who turned 30 on Friday, made 30 saves in a 1-0 overtime victory over Toronto last Saturday, his lone appearance thus far.

"It's going to be a new challenge," Gustavsson said. "I put that (first win) behind me and I'm going to go out there and do my best.

"It's always good to get the games in; that's when you learn, gain experience. You try to take advantage of the practices, too."

The Red Wings (4-1-2) rank fourth in the NHL in goals-against average (1.66) and are the only team that hasn't allowed a power-play goal (21-for-21).

Jimmy Howard has been their best penalty killer but will get a break Saturday, watching in the only building he said he has never played in.

"Howie's never played there?" Babcock said.

Then he turned to Howard, who was sitting in his stall, and said, "Howie, you're not getting to play in Philly, buddy! I didn't know that. ... Maybe that's why we never win there."

Since their last regular season victory in Philadelphia on Jan. 25, 1997, with Mike Vernon in goal (also the starter in the Cup finals that year), the Red Wings have started four goalies in Philly - Chris Osgood (0-4), Joey MacDonald (0-2), Curtis Joseph (0-1) and Gustavsson (0-1).

Detroit's all-time regular season record there is 13-38-11 (W-L-T).

The Flyers (2-3-2) historically have been a big, physical team that likes to rough it up, especially at home. Asked if they still play like that, Red Wings defenseman Jonathan Ericsson said, "Maybe not as much, but I think they still have that mentality. That's the Philly way of playing."

But, he added, "You need to have some quickness on your team. If you have big guys you usually don't get the quickness at the same time. I think they have a good mixture there but probably not as many hard-hitting big guys anymore."

The Flyers' blue line is banged up. Braydon Coburn and Andrew MacDonald are out four weeks with lower-body injuries and Kimmo Timonen is out until at least January with blood clots.

They're led up front by Claude Giroux, Jakub Voracek and Wayne Simmonds.

"I watched them the other night (5-3 win at Pittsburgh); I thought they played real well, real solid through the neutral zone," Babcock said. "I think their power play is impressive, they got the puck back. I was really impressed with Simmonds, I thought he had a heck of a game. The (Sean) Couturier line was solid. I didn't know who (Pierre-Edouard) Bellemare, their second line center, was but he looks like a good player. They've got good depth up front. They look like a real good team. We'll have our hands full.

"We've got to get started and compete. We had a heck of a win (Thursday, 4-3 in overtime over Pittsburgh), really stuck with it and found a way to get a win. We want to build off of it."

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