Senators at Red Wings
After seeing their offense erupt in the last two games, the Ottawa Senators addressed their defense in a big way on Tuesday by acquiring veteran Dion Phaneuf in a nine-player deal with provincial rival Toronto. The Senators hope to have the three-time All-Star in the lineup when they vie for their third straight victory on Wednesday against the host Detroit Red Wings.
"From our point of view, it's a trade that will give us a little more security on the back end," Ottawa general manager Bryan Murray said. "(Phaneuf is) a real good person. He competes. He wants to win ... We don't expect him to be a savior. We expect him to be the player he is." Detroit's Petr Mrazek reached the 20-win plateau for the first time in his career after turning aside all 23 shots he faced in a 3-0 win over Florida on Monday. The 23-year-old, who has recorded two shutouts in his last five starts, made 33 saves in the Red Wings' 5-3 win in Canada's capital on Oct. 31.
TV: 7 p.m. ET, TVA, RSN (Ottawa), FSN Detroit
ABOUT THE SENATORS (25-23-6): Mired in respective eight-game goal droughts, Mark Stone and Curtis Lazar opted to pay it forward by handing $50 to homeless men - and the two received immediate dividends on the ice. Stone recorded two goals and set up another in Ottawa's 5-1 win over Tampa Bay on Monday, bringing his total to five tallies and three assists since his generous gesture. While Stone has scored in four straight games to match his career high goal-scoring streak from April 2-7, 2015, Lazar tallied twice in the Senators' 6-1 rout of the Maple Leafs on Saturday.
ABOUT THE RED WINGS (27-18-8): Pavel Datsyuk has turned in back-to-back two-point performances after being limited to just one assist during a five-game stretch. The 37-year-old Russian recorded his first multi-goal performance versus the Panthers with new linemate Henrik Zetterberg setting up both tallies. Zetterberg collected a goal and two assists in three meetings with Ottawa this season and has 21 points (five goals, 16 assists) in 19 career encounters.
OVERTIME
1. In addition to Phaneuf, Ottawa received Fs Matt Frattin, Casey Bailey and Ryan Rupert as well as D Cody Donaghey from Toronto for Fs Milan Michalek, Colin Greening, Tobias Lindberg, D Jared Cowen and a second-round pick in the 2017 draft.
2. Detroit has scored four power-play goals in the last three games after going 1-for-11 in the previous four.
3. The Senators' 74.6 percent efficiency on the penalty kill is the worst in the league.