DETROIT -- The Ottawa Senators and Detroit Red Wings began the 2016-17 NHL season going in opposite directions.
The teams are scheduled to meet at 7:30 p.m., Monday at Joe Louis Arena in Detroit's season home opener.
Ottawa is 2-0-0 after defeating the Toronto Maple Leafs 5-4 in overtime on Wednesday night in its opener and a 4-3 shootout win over the Montreal Canadiens Saturday night, while the Red Wings are 0-2-0 after a 6-4 loss to the Tampa Bay Lightning on Thursday night and dropping a 4-1 decision to the Florida Panthers Saturday night.
"Early in the season, it's good to grow and learn from different things ...," Senators forward Ryan Dzingel told the Ottawa Sun after Saturday night's game. "We grew as a team. Both wins helped us out a lot."
Dzingel had a goal and an assist in the game, in which defenseman Erik Karlsson and center Kyle Turris scored in the shootout.
It will be the Senators first road game of the season.
It is the first time that Detroit has lost its first two games of the season since 2009.
The Red Wings defensive corps was an issue last season, when they reached the playoffs for the 25th consecutive season -- the longest current streak in the NHL -- and were eliminated in the first round of the NHL playoffs by the Tampa Lightning in five games, and it continued to be an issue in the first two games of the 2016-17 season.
"I think we got some guys on the back end that have to play better," Detroit coach Jeff Blashill told mlive.com after Saturday night's game.
The Red Wings have already surrendered numerous breakaways and odd-man rushes. They fell behind 1-0, 1:10 into the game Saturday night and trailed 2-0 midway through the first period.
"We can't keep giving up free opportunities like that. It's nonsensical," Blashill said. "That put us on our heels. I thought then we played to not give up chances and when you do that you're tentative and we weren't quick enough on pucks. Their second guy beat our second guy to too many pucks, so we didn't spend any time in their zone."
Blashill switched his top two defense pairs after the season-opening 6-4 loss to Tampa Bay on Thursday night.
Danny Dekeyser played with Alexey Marchenko in the opener but was paired with Mike Green Saturday night.
Marchenko skated with Brendan Smith against Florida. The third pair of Jonathan Ericsson and Xavier Ouellet was intact for both games.
"I think Johnathan Ericsson has been very good in two games," Blashill said. "I think Xavier Ouellet has been very good in two games. I think Mike Green for large portions has been good. But as a group we got to do better."
This season is Detroit's last at Joe Louis Arena. The team will move to the Little Caesars Arena, which is under construction, to begin the 2017-18 season.
