Senators at Red Wings
The Detroit Red Wings will try to find some answers when they begin the final season at Joe Louis Arena on Monday against the unbeaten Ottawa Senators. The Red Wings, who will move into the brand-new Little Caesars Arena for the 2017-18 campaign, allowed a total of 10 goals while losing at Atlantic Division rivals Tampa Bay and Florida to open the season.
“We’ve got something to work on, that’s for sure,” Detroit captain Henrik Zetterberg told reporters. “We’re not really connected now, and we know that. We are trying to get better.” The Red Wings, who finished 22-13-6 at home last season to help extend their playoff streak to 25 seasons, face a rejuvenated Senators team that has recorded wins in overtime and a shootout at home to open 2016-17. One of the biggest goals for first-year Ottawa coach Guy Boucher is to limit shots, and his team registered a 38-24 advantage in the 4-3 shootout victory over Montreal on Saturday. “We grew as a team,” Senators forward Ryan Dzingel, who recorded a goal and an assist Saturday, told reporters. “Both wins helped us out a lot.”
TV: 7:30 p.m. ET, TSN5, RDS (Ottawa), FSN Detroit
ABOUT THE SENATORS (2-0-0): Former Norris Trophy winner Erik Karlsson leads the team with four points (one goal, three assists) but also has shown improvement in his own end with a plus-3 rating in the first two contests. Ottawa finished 29th in the league in penalty-killing a season ago and allowed just one goal in eight short-handed situations against rivals Toronto and Montreal. Bobby Ryan has recorded three points and Kyle Turris leads the team with a pair of tallies while Mike Hoffman, last season’s leading goal scorer, has yet to notch a point despite registering seven shots.
ABOUT THE RED WINGS (0-2-0): Coach Jeff Blashill switched up his defense pairings Saturday against Florida to little effect, putting Mike Green with Danny DeKeyser while Alexei Marchenko skated beside Brandon Smith in the 4-1 loss. While defense is a concern, the Red Wings managed only 22 shots last time out, and top offensive threats Dylan Larkin, Tomas Tatar and Zetterberg have combined for just two points and a minus-12 rating. Blashill praised the work of Petr Mrazek, who stopped just 64-of-72 shots over the first two games but made several dazzling saves.
OVERTIME
1. Newcomers C Frans Nielsen and LW Thomas Vanek both have recorded two points in their first two games with the Red Wings.
2. Ottawa C Jean-Gabriel Pageau went 13-2 in the faceoff circles against Montreal after going 3-6 in the season opener.
3. Detroit earned seven of 10 possible points against Ottawa last season (3-1-1), splitting a pair of games at home.