When the Detroit Red Wings returned home from Sweden, they had given up nine goals in their first two games of the regular season, and that came after spending the entire exhibition season focusing on being tough to play against defensively.

A month later, they are playing more like the team they want to be. Headed into their game against visiting Anaheim last night, the Red Wings have allowed one goal or fewer in five of their past six games.

They are on a 5-1 run, starting with an Oct. 31 win at Calgary.

"That Calgary game, I think we started to be a little more committed defensively," defenseman Brad Stuart said.

"And our goaltending's been great, which is a large percentage of that. When you get those two things working together you're going to have some success and you're going to bring your goals against down."

The most encouraging news coming out of the back-to-back wins against Columbus and Vancouver may be the performance of backup goalie Jimmy Howard. Thursday, he delivered a 31-save performance.

With Chris Osgood battling flu-like symptoms, Howard used his past two starts to improve his save percentage to .907 -- a reflection of how much better Detroit is playing overall.

Washington right winger Mike Knuble has a broken finger and will miss three to four weeks.

The Capitals said Knuble will have surgery, but the team did not say which finger was broken.

Knuble has five goals and 10 assists for the Capitals this season.

He was one of Washington's major offseason acquisitions, signing a two-year deal, $5.6 million deal on the first day of NHL free agency in July.

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