• Preview
• Recap
• Bleachers

Red Wings look to bounce back against Senators

Oct 11, 2008 - 10:04 AM Detroit (0-1-0) at Ottawa (1-0-1), 7:00 pm EDT

OTTAWA (Ticker) -- It took an often overlooked non-conference opponent to ruin the Detroit Red Wings' Stanley Cup championship banner-raising celebration.

After a tough home loss to the Toronto Maple Leafs in their regular-season opener, the Red Wings on Saturday visit the Ottawa Senators, who are returning from their two-game trip to Stockholm, Sweden as part of NHL Premiere 2008.

Red Wings legends Gordie Howe, Ted Lindsay and Steve Yzerman were among those participating in the raising of the team's championship banner during a pregame ceremony Thursday, but the Maple Leafs aired out the sense of euphoria rather quickly.

Nikolai Kulemin scored what proved to be the decisive goal, the first of his career, while Vesa Toskala made 35 saves in Toronto's 3-2 victory.

Marian Hossa recorded an assist in his Red Wings debut, while Tomas Holmstrom netted both goals as the team fell to 43-30-9 in home openers.

Chris Osgood, who made 26 saves, dropped a season opener for the first time since the 2003-04 season, when he lost to the Phoenix Coyotes as a member of the St. Louis Blues.

The Red Wings have won seven consecutive Central Division titles, posted eight consecutive 100-point seasons and participated in the Stanley Cup playoffs 17 straight times - the longest active postseason streak among the four major professional sports.

Detroit also is looking to become the first team to win back-to-back Stanley Cups since it accomplished the feat from 1997-98.

The Red Wings hope to notch their first win of the season against the Senators, who took three of a possible four points from the Pittsburgh Penguins in Sweden.

It marked the second straight season in which the NHL began the season in Europe. In 2007-08, the Los Angeles Kings and Anaheim Ducks faced off twice in London, England.

Dany Heatley scored three power-play goals on the trip, while captain Daniel Alfredsson, who says he will not return to the Swedish Elite League when he ends his NHL career, set up two of the tallies in Sunday's victory. Alfredsson will not play against Detroit, however, as he underwent knee surgery on Friday and will miss at least two weeks.

Ottawa got off to a torrid start last season, winning 29 of its first 43 games, but ended the campaign with a 2-5-1 record before being swept by Pittsburgh in the Eastern Conference quarterfinals.