Red Wings Have Golden Opportunity to End Winless Start Against Senators

It might not be a complete surprise, but the Detroit Red Wings have not gotten off to their desired start of the 2026-27 season.

Tuesday is going to give them the opportunity to change that.

Detroit enters the matchup against the Ottawa Senators at Little Caesars Arena with a 0-2 record. Both the New York Rangers and the Winnipeg Jets have recorded wins against them.

Ottawa on the other hand has been headed in the opposite direction.

The Senators moved to 2-0 Monday evening with a convincing win against the Boston Bruins with a score of 4-1. Tim Stutzle scored twice and added an assist.

Even with all that momentum, things might be headed in the right direction for Detroit to turn things around.

Ottawa is going to be playing the second part of a back-to-back and its third game in four days. The Red Wings, however, had Monday off following their 3-2 loss to Winnipeg.

The Senators are also going to have to take the ice without one of their best defensemen.

Jake Sanderson is going to miss Tuesday’s game after suffering an injury during Ottawa’s season-opening victory over the Toronto Maple Leafs. It was significant enough for him to return to Ottawa rather than travel on with the team to Boston.

The Red Wings are already facing some early pressure, and this is an opportunity they can’t afford to waste.

Red Wings Could Get Dylan Larkin Back

While Ottawa is facing a loss of a player, Detroit may be getting a boost.

Dylan Larkin has missed the first two games with an upper-body injury that happened off the ice. Head coach Todd McLellan indicated earlier that Larkin could return in Game 3.

Game 3 has arrived.

Larkin’s status should become clear after the morning skate on Tuesday. So should Marco Kasper.

Kasper had to miss Sunday’s game against the Winnipeg after an upper-body injury took him out. His absence, combined with Larkin’s left Detroit thin at Center. Emmitt Finnie was forced to the middle agains the Jets.

Getting either player back would certainly help.

Getting both back would change the look and feel of the whole lineup.

Larkin was a force last season, scoring 34 goals and finishing with 67 points. The Red Wings have scored only two goals without Larkin in the first two games.

Detroit did show signs of improvement on Sunday.

They only managed 22 shots against New York, but increased that to 35 when facing Winnipeg. Viktor Arvidsson scored his first goal with Detroit and Finnie added another.

Now, they need to take advantage of that forward movement and turn the play into wins. Offense will be the key.

Detroit Must Capitalize

Ottawa is not going to be an easy opponent. Not even close.

The Senators won 44 games last season when they finished with 99 points. Now, they have opened the season without a loss and gained two consecutive Atlantic Division victories.

They will be tired and have to play without Sanderson. There could also be some uncertainty in goal.

Linus Ullmark stopped the 10 shots he faced on Monday against Boston, but had to leave in the third period after a collision. Samuel Ersson stepped in to finish the victory for Ottawa.

Detroit has a history of success against Ottawa. Last season they won three of their four meetings.

Not a single one of those things guarantees a win on Tuesday.

The 0-2 opening doesn’t constitute a crisis. An 0-3 opening would start to make things uncomfortable, or maybe we should say, more uncomfortable than they already are in Detroit.

A 10-year playoff drought. Drama surrounding their star player, Dylan Larkin. No general manager. Now Simon Edvinsson’s status is in question.

Something needs to happen to turn a lot of negativity into something positive to focus on. Tuesday will offer a chance to record that first win, and the Red Wings must take advantage of it.

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