When: 1 p.m. Saturday.
Where: Little Caesars Arena in Detroit.
TV: Bally Sports Detroit.
Radio: WXYT-FM (97.1; Red Wings radio affiliates).
• Box score
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Game notes: The Senators seemed to be signaling they were all-in on their playoff push in the offseason, trading for Alex DeBrincat from Chicago and signing Claude Giroux as a free agent. So far, not so good, as they enter Saturday’s matinee in eighth place in the Atlantic Division — one spot worse than they finished last season. The big problem, despite the addition of veteran scorers, is the Sens’ offense, which is averaging just 3.06 goals a game. Still, Ottawa is 5-1-1 this month (though the Sens have scored, yep, three goals in each of their past four outings).
Saturday’s visit was set to be a homecoming of sorts for several Senators: DeBrincat hails from Farmington Hills, while St. Clair’s Tyler Motte and Oxford’s Josh Norris both attended Michigan. But Motte and Norris are injured and will miss Saturday’s matchup. Not so DeBrincat, who has been on a heater with a seven-game point streak. That includes three assists in Wednesday’s win over Montreal and two goals on Monday against Anaheim for the 24-year-old who’ll be a restricted free agent at the end of the season.
The Wings, meanwhile, are dealing with some absences themselves, as defenseman Filip Hronek was knocked out of Wednesday’s loss in Minnesota in the first period with a hit to the head and captain Dylan Larkin missed that game entirely after taking a puck off his “upper body” — better known as his right hand in non-hockeyspeak. Both will be game-time decisions, though coach Derek Lalonde sounded cautiously optimistic on Friday that both could play. Even better, the Wings could have forward Jakub Vrana back; he entered the player assistance program after the second game of the season, but returned to practice on Friday.
After Saturday’s early finish, the Wings get Sunday off to head to Washington for a visit with Alex Ovechkin, who’s looking to tie and pass Gordie Howe (801 goals) on the NHL’s all-time list. The Sens, though, will continue their Midwest run with a visit to Minnesota to take on the Wild in another matinee Sunday afternoon.
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This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Detroit Red Wings game score vs. Ottawa Senators: Time, TV
