Detroit Red Wings announce several lineup changes for matchup vs. Senators

Back on the ice tonight are the Detroit Red Wings, taking on the division foe Ottawa Senators for the first time this year (7:00 PM, FanDuel Sports Detroit, 97.1 The Ticket).

Last year, the Red Wings went 1-1-2 against the Senators. Tonight also marks the return of Vladimir Tarasenko to Ottawa, where he played the first 3/4 of last year before being traded to the Florida Panthers at the Deadline.

Conversely, this will also mark the first time the Red Wings will face former locker room leader David Perron, who chose to sign with the Senators for $4 million annually over the next two years during the summer.

Detroit gets a huge boost to the lineup with the activation of Patrick Kane, who had missed the last five games with an upper-body injury, from Injured Reserve (retroactive to November 23).

Kane returns to the lineup tonight, and coach Derek Lalonde has made several adjustments to his line combinations.

In are Kane and defenseman Albert Johansson, while coming out of the lineup is underachieving forward Joe Veleno and struggling defenseman Erik Gustafsson.

During Tuesday's loss against the Boston Bruins, Gustafsson cost the Red Wings what would have been Marco Kasper's go-ahead 2nd period goal when he was ruled to be offside; he also took a careless penalty near the end of regulation that nearly ended in disaster for Detroit.

Meanwhile, Veleno continues to not produce the kind of points the Red Wings expected of him; he has just two points (1G, 1A) in 22 games.