It's a mid-afternoon puck drop at Little Caesar's in Detroit as the Senators pay a final visit to the Wings this season.
The Senators snapped their 6 game losing streak with a dramatic overtime penalty shot win over the Florida Panthers that put a dagger in the Panthers' playoff chances. There will be no such spoiler role to be had today as the Red Wings' fate, much like that of the Senators, is sealed and has been for some time. It will be Detroit's second straight post-season on the outside looking in after ending their impressive streak of 23 consecutive appearances in the dance last season.
This will be the fourth meeting of the season between these clubs, with Ottawa getting points in the previous 3, a 3-1 win and a pair of 2-1 extra time losses (one in overtime, one in a shootout).
The Red Wings are coming off a 6-3 win in Buffalo, which followed up a nice 5-2 win over the Penguins.
It is Mike Condon's spot in the rotation in goal for the Senators, and on a side note, for those hankering for a look at Filip Gustavsson before the season is out, he allowed four goals on 30 shots in a 4-1 Belleville loss in Syracuse last night.
Erik Karlsson is expected to play and is one goal shy of reaching the 10 goal mark for the season, and one point away from 60 points, both significant milestones that would put him in pretty select company. He would join Zdeno Chara, Shea Weber Dustin Byfuglein, Brent Burns and Drew Doughty as the only active defensemen to have 7 10+ goal seasons, and the only active defenseman with 6 60+ point seasons.
He is also only 3 points behind Mark Stone for the team scoring lead, and if he can overtake Stone he would become the first defenseman to lead his team in scoring 6 straight seasons.
That could be a tough task as Karlsson admitted following Thursday's game that he would play in Detroit and in the home finale on Monday, but could skip the final 3 game road trip that ends the Senators season. Stone could return from his leg injury early next week, if not Monday then possible Wednesday in Buffalo.