Senators at Red Wings
The Detroit Red Wings are happy to be home after snapping a long losing streak on the road while the Ottawa Senators are relieved to halt an ugly slide of their own. With nothing to play for except draft position, the Atlantic Division rivals wrap up their four-game season series with a matchup in Detroit on Saturday afternoon.
Ottawa snapped a six-game skid with a 3-2 overtime victory over visiting Florida, which is battling for the last playoff spot in the Eastern Conference. "Some people say that game doesn't mean anything for us, but it does," Senators forward Jean-Gabriel Pageau said. "We're still trying to get better, trying to build some confidence, trying to get that winning confidence back." The Red Wings ended an 11-game road losing streak with a 6-3 victory at Buffalo and have scored 11 goals in the last two games -- their highest regulation total in back-to-back wins since mid-November. Detroit has scored only four regulation goals in winning two of the three meetings this season, including a 2-1 overtime victory at home on Jan. 3.
TV: 2 p.m. ET, TVAS, Sportsnet1 (Ottawa), FS Detroit-Plus
ABOUT THE SENATORS (27-39-11): Pageau ended an eight-game drought with his first two-goal game of the season against Florida, scoring in regulation before converting a penalty shot in overtime to seal the victory. Captain Erik Karlsson has scored in all three games since returning after the stillborn death of his son, reaching 50 assists for the fifth time in nine seasons. "I'm doing OK," Karlsson said. "It's been an extremely tough time and a situation that (we) never expected to be in."
ABOUT THE RED WINGS (28-38-11): Captain Henrik Zetterberg reached a milestone by collecting an assist for the 954th point of his career, tying Sergei Fedorov for fifth place on the franchise's all-time list. "He's awesome. He's one of those leaders you can't say enough about," goaltender Jimmy Howard said. "It doesn't matter what the situation is, whether we're in the playoffs or not, he leads by example." Dylan Larkin has four goals in six games after scoring once and setting up another tally.
OVERTIME
1. Red Wings F Andreas Athanasiou, who ended a nine-game goal drought Thursday, scored twice against Ottawa on Jan. 3.
2. Senators F Mark Stone, who has missed the last 10 games, practiced Friday.
3. Detroit is 2-for-31 on the power play in the past dozen games.