via Brian Hunter of NHL.com,
TV: CBC, TVA, FS-D
Season series: Stephen Weiss scored twice and the Detroit Red Wings edged the Ottawa Senators 4-3 in the most recent game between the teams. Craig Anderson made 31 saves to give the Senators a win in the previous game at Canadian Tire Centre.
Red Wings team scope: The expectation earlier this week was that goaltender Jimmy Howard would be ready to return for Detroit after leaving the Dec. 19 game against the New York Islanders with a lower-body injury and missing the next two games. The Red Wings hope to continue the momentum established in their final game before the holiday break, a 6-3 win against the Buffalo Sabres that snapped an 0-2-4 skid in which they scored six goals total. Weiss opened the scoring against the Sabres with a power-play goal. Weiss, who was returning from injury, left in the third period after a hit to the jaw, but passed concussion protocol and is expected to play Saturday. Defenseman Niklas Kronwall, who sustained an upper-body injury in the second period, is questionable.
Senators team scope: Forward Erik Condra was the only Ottawa player to have any luck on a recent two-game road trip in which the Senators were outscored 6-2 in losing to the Montreal Canadiens and Washington Capitals. Condra scored shorthanded against the Canadiens and picked up his third goal of the season against the Capitals. The Senators are 3-3-1 since Dave Cameron took over as coach. This will be their third home game with Cameron behind the bench. They come out of the break trailing the Capitals by six points for the second wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference. One oddity to this point has been Ottawa's .368 points percentage when it scores first, the lowest in the League. However, the Senators have a .467 points percentage when giving up the first goal, tied for fourth-best.
DETROIT RED WINGS
THE MATCHUP
- Tonight is the 32nd all-time meeting between DET and OTT
- Tonight marks the 3rd of 4 meetings this season between DET and OTT, 2nd of 2 in OTT
- DET’s all-time record vs. OTT: 19-11-1-0
- DET’s all-time road record at OTT: 10-5-1-0
- DET has won 13 of its last 19 games vs. OTT
- OTT won the 1st meeting of the season on 11/4 by a 3-1 score: Erik Karlsson, Patrick Wiercioch and Clarke MacArthur scored for OTT, Henrik Zetterberg for DET
- DET won the 2nd meeting of the year on 11/24 by a 4-3 score: Kyle Turris, Erik Karlsson and Chris Neil scored for OTT; Gustav Nyquist, Riley Sheahan and Stephen Weiss (2) scored for DET
- Pavel Datsyuk has 9 points (4-5-9) in 14 games vs. OTT
- Tomas Tatar has 5 points (1-4-5) in 6 games vs. OTT
- Henrik Zetterberg has 16 points (3-13-16) in 14 games vs. OTT
- Niklas Kronwall has 10 points (1-9-10) in 11 games vs. OTT
- Johan Franzen has 13 points (12-1-13) in 11 games vs. OTT, including a 5-goal game on 2/2/11 at OTT and a hat trick on 2/27/14 at OTT
- OTT’s all-time top scorers vs. DET: David Legwand (15-26-41 in 70 GP), Milan Michalek (6-10-16 in 23 GP) and Bobby Ryan (11-5-16 in 24 GP)
- OTT F David Legwand is a Grosse Pointe, MI native who had 11 points (4-7-11) in 21 games for DET after being acquired at the trade deadline from NSH
- OTT F Erik Condra was born in Trenton, MI
- OTT F Chris Neil had 55 points (24-31-55) and 655 PIM in 129 GP for the Grand Rapids Griffins from 1999-01
- OTT GM Bryan Murray was DET’s head coach from 1990-93
POTENT POWER PLAY
The Red Wings rank 4th in the NHL on the man advantage at 24.1%, after starting the season with just two goals in its first eight games (2-for-30, 6.7%). DET is now 1st 32 PPG (3 ahead of 2nd place STL) and also lead the NHL (2nd, CHI – 130) in PP opportunities at 133. DET has also scored two power play goals in one game on 10 occasions this season, including a season-high 4 PPG game on 12/23 vs. BUF.
LEAGUE LEADERS
Datsyuk: T21st with 13 goals, 4th with 57.6 faceoff %, 14th with 19.4 shooting %
Franzen: T11th with 3 GWG
Glendening: T12th with a 55.7 faceoff %
Howard: T14th with 13 wins, T5th with a 2.06 GAA, T10th with a .921 SV%, T9th with 2 SOs
Kronwall: 26th with 23:45 TOI
Nyquist: T14th with 14 goals, T2nd with 8 PPG
Tatar: T14th with 14 goals, T2nd with 4 GWG
Zetterberg: T9th with 23 assists, T19th with 30 points, 15th with 113 shots, 28th with a 53.7 faceoff %
TEAM: 5th with 2.29 goals against per game, 4th on the power play at 24.1%, 2nd on the penalty kill at 87.9%, 10th with 30.9 shots for per game, 2nd with 27.1 shots against per game
RECENT/UPCOMING MILESTONES
- Cleary played his 600th game as a Red Wing on 12/13 at TOR
- Datsyuk passed Red Kelly (846) for 13th in DET history in games played on 12/21 vs. COL
- Franzen passed Marcel Dionne (366) for 21st in DET history in points on 12/23 vs. BUF
- Babcock’s win on 12/23 vs. BUF gives him sole possession of 17th in NHL history at 502 wins, breaking a tie with Pat Burns
- Helm’s next goal will be his 50th in the NHL
- Zetterberg is 1 point away from 750 in the NHL
THIS DATE IN RED WINGS HISTORY
December 27, 1947 – Former Red Wings right wing and current color analyst Mickey Redmond was born on this date in Kirkland Lake, Ontario.
December 27, 1979 – The Red Wings host St. Louis in the first NHL game at Joe Louis Arena.
December 27, 2010 – Chris Osgood becomes the 10th goalie in NHL history to record 400 career victories when the Red Wings defeat Colorado 4-3 in overtime at the Pepsi Center.
OTTAWA SENATORS
OTTAWA vs. DETROIT - History:
2014-2015 (1-1-0): Nov. 4 @ Ottawa (3-1 win), Nov. 24 @ Detroit (4-3 loss), Dec. 27 @ Ottawa, March 31 @ Detroit
2013-2014 (2-2-0): 10/23/13 @ Detroit (6-1 win), 11/23/13 @ Detroit (4-2 win), 12/1/13 @ Ottawa (4-2 loss), 2/27/14 @ Ottawa (6-1 loss)
Series record: Overall: 11-17-1-2; Home: 5-9-1-1; Away: 6-8-0-1
Last Ottawa win: @ Ottawa: Nov. 4 (3-1); @ Detroit: 11/23/13 (4-2)
Last Detroit win: @ Ottawa: 2/27/14 (6-1); @ Detroit: Nov. 24 (4-3)
Last OT result: 10/11/03 (3-2 OT loss) @ Ottawa
Last shootout: None
Most goals, game: Scored: 6, 10/23/13 (6-1 win); Allowed: 8, 12/3/93 (8-1 loss); Both teams: 12, 2/2/11 (7-5 loss)
Last Game: Nov. 24, 4-3 loss @ Detroit: OTT Goals: Turris, Karlsson, Neil; DET Goals: Nyquist, Sheahan, Weiss (2); OTT Scratches: Condra, Greening; OTT Injuries: Methot, Phillips; OTT Goalie: Anderson; DET Goalie: Howard; OTT PP: 1-4; DET PP: 2-6; Shots: 26-43.
Career vs. Detroit: Legwand leads in career games played (71), goals (15), assists (27) and points (42); Neil leads in penalty minutes (56) against Detroit.
ON THE POWER PLAY: The Senators are 23-for-120 (19.2%) on the power play this season ... Legwand maintains the team-lead with five powerplay markers while Karlsson leads the club with 15 power-play points ... The club has tallied multiple power-play goals on three occasions this season after having done so nine times last season en route to concluding 2013-14 14th in the NHL with an efficiency rate of 18.4%.
ON THE PENALTY KILL: Ottawa has overcome 100 of 121 (82.6%) shorthanded situations to date this season ... Condra, Michalek, Stone and Turris have scored the team's four shorthanded goals in 2014-15 ... Last season, the Senators tied for 20th in the NHL with five shorthanded goals (Condra, MacArthur, Smith, Turris x 2).
HOW THE SENATORS WERE BUILT (24):
Draft (16): Borowiecki, Ceci, Condra, Cowen, Greening, Gryba, Hoffman, Karlsson, Lehner, Neil, Pageau, Phillips, Smith, Stone, Wiercioch, Zibanejad
Trade (6): Anderson, Chiasson, Methot, Michalek, Ryan, Turris
Free Agency (2): Legwand, MacArthur
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