Game 55 preview: Ottawa Senators @ Detroit Red Wings

After going scoreless in Ottawa's 5-1 win over Tampa Bay, Erik Karlsson will look to get back on track in tonight's game against the Red Wings in Detroit. Scoreboard watching did not go well either last night with both Jamie Benn and Tyler Seguin picking up two points. Benn has now passed Karlsson for second in the NHL points race, while Seguin is just a point back. The one bright side was that Patrick Kane did not pick up any assists, leaving Karlsson four ahead.

The other big news is that Dion Phaneuf will make his Senators debut after being traded from Toronto. Mark Borowiecki will hilariously stay in the lineup while Patrick Wiercioch is a healthy scratch. Craig Anderson will start. Here are the lines and pairings from Gord Wilson.

Hoffman - Turris - Ryan
Smith - Pageau - Stone
Prince - Zibanejad - Chiasson
Dzingel - Lazar - Neil

Methot - Karlsson
Phaneuf - Ceci
Borowiecki - Wideman

Anderson (starter)
Hammond

Some notes for tonight:

• Karlsson's club assist record watch: he needs 24 assists in 28 games to break Jason Spezza's club record of 71 assists in a single season.
• It will be interesting to see how long Marc Methot stays on the top pair. Methot and Cody Ceci have not been good in the past though.
• Mark Stone has five goals and three assists on 11 shots on goal in his last four games.
• Karlsson has played less than 28 minutes for three consecutive games.
• The Senators have scored 18 goals in four games since the All-Star break. They have also allowed 15 goals in those four games.
• There is currently a three-way tie for second place in the Atlantic Division with Tampa Bay, Detroit and Boston all having 62 points in 53 games. The Senators are six back and have played an extra game.
• Having won consecutive games in regulation for the first time in almost 11 weeks, the Senators will look for their first three game winning streak in 11 weeks.
• Ryan Dzingel sure seemed to have quite the pace on him didn't he?
• Dion Phaneuf should help the Senators power play with another slap shot threat from the point. He has 116 shots on goal for Toronto this year. Cody Ceci is second among Ottawa's defencemen with 70.
• Mika Zibanejad is on pace for 50 points in 81 games this year.
• Karlsson has only one power play goal this season. Chris Wideman has the only other power play goal by a Senators defenceman.
• The gap might be too big for this year, but if Clarke MacArthur comes back and Mark Borowiecki is replaced by Patrick Wiercioch, this is not a terrible team. Not a championship contender by any means, but it would be a good team./

Here are some stats for the two teams tonight. All stats are from NHL.com except Corsi and Fenwick are from www.puckon.net. Note that Corsi is now adjusted for score as well as the venue and event type.