Detroit City Wire

The Detroit Red Wings are set to face the Ottawa Senators at Little Caesars Arena on Tuesday, marking the start of a four-game homestand. The Red Wings aim to extend their current winning streak to five games. Currently, Detroit stands at 17-18-4 with 38 points, while Ottawa holds a record of 19-17-2 and has accumulated 40 points in the Atlantic Division standings.

Patrick Kane highlighted the importance of each game as the season progresses. "We’ve kind of worked ourselves back into a position where we’re playing meaningful games, but that just shows how tight it is," Kane stated. "Things can change overnight. Things can change day to day."

The Red Wings recently secured victories against the Columbus Blue Jackets and Winnipeg Jets during their road trip. Kane expressed confidence in recent team adjustments under head coach Todd McLellan, stating, “I think we’ve made some changes to our game that will help us no matter what time frame we’re in with [head coach Todd McLellan].”

Kane has been performing well with an ongoing four-game point streak and recently achieved his seventh multi-point performance this season. Reflecting on his progress, he mentioned feeling more confident despite earlier struggles.

Meanwhile, Ottawa is fifth in the division and concluded a nine-game road trip with a loss against the St. Louis Blues. Tim Stutzle leads Ottawa’s scoring efforts with 40 points.

Senators' goalie Linus Ullmark remains out due to an upper-body injury since December 22, prompting Leevi Merilainen, Anton Forsberg, and Mads Sogaard to share starting duties.

In their last encounter on December 5, Ottawa defeated Detroit 2-1. Looking ahead to this matchup, McLellan acknowledged Ottawa's improvement under head coach Travis Green and stressed maintaining momentum following recent successes.

“They’re obviously a great team,” said McLellan regarding Ottawa's progress. He emphasized assessing how his team responds during favorable periods: “Are we prepared to build on it? Are we prepared to just sit on it? Are we going to give it back?”