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Red Wings hope to keep power play going

Dec 12, 2006 - 3:56 PM Ottawa (15-15-1) at Detroit (17-7-4) 7:30 pm EST

DETROIT (Ticker) -- You knew it was going to happen sooner or later.

The Detroit Red Wings' power play has languished near or at the bottom of the NHL rankings all season, but it seems to be starting to awaken.

The Red Wings, who scored five goals with the extra man in their last game, hope the trend continues when they host the Ottawa Senators on Tuesday.

Detroit went 4-for-14 on the power play in an easy 5-1 triumph over the Toronto Maple Leafs on Saturday. Mikael Samuelsson and Henrik Zetterberg each scored a pair of power-play goals for the Red Wings and Daniel Cleary also scored with the extra skater.

Dominik Hasek stopped 21 of 22 shots for the Red Wings, and has been his usual consistent self again this season. Hasek leads the league with a 1.84 goals-against average and is tied for fifth in wins with 14.

Ottawa has lost three straight and has been outscored, 15-5. The Senators suffered a humbling 6-2 defeat at Columbus on Sunday. Martin Gerber had an off-night and was pulled after giving up four goals on only 13 shots.

Ray Emery replaced Gerber and made 16 saves, but by then it was too late. Christoph Schubert and Mike Fisher scored for the Senators, who allowed an alarming five power-play goals in 11 attempts due to numerous defensive breakdowns in their own end.