In the first half of a home-and-home, the Senators visit Detroit for their last game ever at Joe Louis Arena. The Wings are in their final five games of the season and tonight’s is the third final in the Joe.

Another loss against Toronto on Saturday have put the Wings on a three game losing streak. They made a push towards the end of the game, but the Leafs held on to close it out with a score of 5-4. It was a season sweep by the Leafs. This would be the second divisional rival the Wings were swept by this season after losing 5-3 to Tampa Bay last Thursday.

Tonight, the Senators will make their final trip to Joe Louis Arena. They are in desperate need of a win as they’ve recently fallen from 2nd place in the Atlantic Division to the second Wild Card spot in the playoff race. The Tampa Bay Lightning are right on their heels, a mere three points out. This back-to-back against the Red Wings is of supreme importance. One Red Wings win could be enough to do in the Senators. Both teams are weighed down with heavy injuries right now, leaving opportunity open for young players to make a difference.

Detroit Red Wings Lines via DailyFaceoff.

The Red Wings are coming off of one of their strongest performances of the season, but they were still unable to play spoiler against the Maple Leafs and their outstanding rookies.

The Red Wings are hoping they have an outstanding rookie of their own in the form of Yevgeny Svechnikov. Their first round pick (No. 19 overall) in 2015 will make his NHL debut tonight with Drew Miller (illness) sidelined. The 20-year-old will skate on a line with Dylan Larkin and Justin Abdelkader, and comes to Detroit after scoring 18 goals (4th on the Griffins) and 26 assists (3rd) for 44 points (4th) in his first 68 career AHL games. Svechnikov has great size (6’2″, 199 lbs) with a lethal shot and will be auditioning for a permanent spot on the Red Wings’ roster next season.

The Henrik Zetterberg line had another great game on Saturday. This line should have been carrying the team all season long, but it is a positive sign heading into 2017-18. Zetterberg picked up two helpers, to give him 50 assists for the second time in his 14-year career. Gustav Nyquist picked up a pair of points (1 G/1 A) as well, continuing his torrid scoring pace since returning from his suspension. In 16 games since he caught Jared Spurgeon with a high-stick, Nyquist has registered four goals and 11 assists (15 points) – which is second on the team behind only Zetterberg and good enough to be tied for 17th in the NHL over that span.

Ottawa Senators Lines via DailyFaceoff.

The sky is falling in Ottawa and they need a win against Detroit tonight. The Senators went from being a near-lock to make the playoffs a few weeks ago to hanging on by a thread heading into tonight. They have lost four in a row (0-3-1) and are extremely banged up right now.

Tonight they will be without Erik Karlsson, Cody Ceci and Marc Methot on the blueline, while Zack Smith, Ryan Dzingel and Chris Neil are out up front. Replacing someone like Karlsson is impossible, but Chris Wideman will do his best. Wideman has averaged just over 13 minutes per night this season, but played 25:12 in Winnipeg on Saturday. Ceci was hurt that night, so Ben Harpur will draw in for just his second game of the season. The 2013 fourth round pick (No. 108 overall) leads all Bingamton (AHL) defensemen with 27 points (2G/25A) this season.

Much like Svechnikov making his highly anticipated NHL debut tonight, the Senators will get a chance to see one of their top prospects tonight as well. Colin White, who the Sens selected 21st overall in 2015, will draw in on the fourth line tonight. White finished third in points (33) in his sophomore season at Boston College and scored one goal with two assists in his first three AHL games.

Petr Mrazek vs. Craig Anderson.

Mrazek as beat five times on 31 shots in the Red Wings’ loss in Tampa Bay last Thursday. Mrazek has lost three of his last four starts (1-2-1) while allowing a combined 12 goals on 135 shots (.911 SV%). It certainly has not been a banner year for this 25-year-old, but he played very well in his first start vs. Ottawa. Back in October, when the Red Wings still had hope, Mrazek turned aside 31 of 32 shots in a 5-1 blowout win at Joe Louis Arena.

Despite all of his off-ice hardships, Anderson has managed to turn in a nice season. The veteran netminder has 22 wins, a 2.38 GAA and a .925 SV%, but comes in on a personal three-game losing streak. He has allowed a combined 10 goals on 85 shots (.882 SV%) during that stretch and is in big need of a ‘W’ tonight.

Puck drop is at 7:00 p.m. ET at Joe Louis Arena. You can watch the game on Fox Sports Detroit and RDS-2 if you’re in Canada. If you can’t watch the game you can listen to it on 97.1 FM The Ticket.

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