DETROIT - Thomas Vanek could force the Detroit Red Wings to make a difficult decision next month.

Do the Red Wings keep the veteran forward in a bid for to make the playoffs for a 26th straight season before trying to re-sign him in the off-season?

Or if their playoff hopes are looking dim near the Feb. 28 trade deadline, do they trade Vanek to a contender hoping to make some noise in the postseason?

As it is now, the Red Wings' playoff hopes aren't great.

They're seventh in the Atlantic Division, are ahead of just two teams in the Eastern Conference and four teams sit between them and a playoff berth with 38 games remaining.

But with Vanek leading the way, the Red Wings playoff hopes received a boost with two straight victories, the latest coming Monday over the Montreal Canadiens at Joe Louis Arena, where Vanek scored the game's only goal and Jared Coreau stopped all 18 shots he faced in a 1-0 win.

That extended Vanek's points streak to six games - he has five goals and four assists in that stretch - while giving him a team-high 12 goals and 30 points, second behind Henrik Zetterberg's 31.

"Creates a lot out of nothing," Zetterberg said after watching Danny DeKeyser's shot deflect off Vanek's body for the game's only goal. "He's one of those players but I thought he had some real nice plays that could have turned into goals but he got rewarded by that instead.

"He's been around for many years so he's got a lot of experience. It was no surprise here when we signed him that he's going to be a good fit for us. He's a great guy off the ice. He's been around for a long time so he's good for young players to have him around."

If that's another reason to keep him around is a question general manager Ken Holland will have to ponder at the trade deadline, when Detroit could likely get a second-round pick for Vanek before the one-year deal he signed as a free agent expires.

The Red Wings have a 5.8-percent chance of making the playoffs, according to hockey-reference.com, which says only three other teams are more of a longshot to reach the postseason.

But Vanek, 32, has seen teams with longer odds reach the playoffs.

"I think it was my first year in (Minnesota), we had a two-percent chance of making it in and we put a good second half together and we were right back in the picture," Vanek said. "I think we beat St. Louis that year.

"Again, I understand from the outside the criticism when you look at this team and say it's not a playoff team. At times, the way we play we're probably not. You guys are right, but again, the good thing here is we have great leadership, we do believe in each other, we know we have to get better and work.

"But when we do things right we can win games against the best of them. There's a long ways to go. I wish we would be higher in the standings. But it is what it is, just got to keep going. We got a good thing going on with our line combo but like I said, we need to win games. It's two good home wins.

"The next 10 games is huge for us."

Vanek was productive for the Red Wings right out of the blocks after leaving Minnesota.

He scored twice in the season opener vs. Tampa Bay and had four goals among eight points - both of which were tied for the team lead - when he went on the injured list with a lower-body injury after seven games.

Vanek missed almost a month and had one goal in 16 games after returning before picking up seven goals and five assists in the last 10 games. He has 20 points in the last 20 games.

"He's been a really good fit for us," said coach Jeff Blashill. "He's got an unbelievable offensive mind. He comes up with faceoff plays and things like that that I wouldn't be able to think of. He's got a really, really high IQ offensively and then he's got a pretty unique skill set for us.

"He's a real big body with real good skill. The biggest thing with Thomas for me is he's a winner and he's a great person. And you want as many winners and great people around here as you can."

Vanek is on pace for 25 goals, which would be the most he has scored since getting 27 in 2013-14, when he played for Buffalo, the Islanders and Montreal.

"He's done a really good in front of the net," said Coreau, who recorded his second career shutout. "I remember he scored twice against L.A. ... and he was right there in front of the net. The one against (Marc-Andre) Fleury when we played against Pittsburgh, he was right in front of the net.

"This one, too, I think it was going wide and it hit his leg. It's a hard place to play and you're going to get your bumps and bruises but you get rewarded and he's a testament to that."