At the Rink: Senators at Red Wings

DETROIT -- The Detroit Red Wings are getting a forward back from injury, but it's not Pavel Datsyuk.

Datsyuk remains out with a sore groin. He will miss his fourth game in a row and sixth in the past eight when Detroit plays the Ottawa Senators Monday at Joe Louis Arena.

Stephen Weiss, who has been limited to one game (Oct. 18) this season because he was a healthy scratch and later a groin injury, will be in the lineup against Ottawa. Normally a center, Weiss is slated to play left wing on the third line with Darren Helm at center and Tomas Jurco on the right side.

"It's completely different," Weiss said. "I played center the last two games [with Grand Rapids of the American Hockey League] and I got wing tonight so I'll have to be on my toes."

"It's a good opportunity for him," Red Wings coach Mike Babcock said. "He's going to have to grab a hold of it, obviously. He's had a good NHL career. It's been sidetracked for two years. Played in Grand Rapids, got hurt the first time, played again the second time. Now it's up to him. We're in the business of winning games and everyone's got to command their share of the ice and get their share of the ice time."

Datsyuk said he is improving but isn't quite ready to return.

"I feel much better," he said. "But I think I need more full practices with team to make sure it feels good and it does not come back every second game.

"It's hard for me because it's the first time with these symptoms. After two games, I think I'm fine and I come back and it just comes right back. Now I am more careful and want to be more ready, more energy, more exciting."

The Senators are getting a forward back of their own when Curtis Lazar returns after missing two games with an undisclosed injury.

Lazar will center the fourth line with Mike Hoffman and Mike Stone. He replaces Colin Greening in the lineup.

"I'm excited. Just over a week now since I've played," Lazar said. "… Try to throw my body around and get back into it."

Lazar is looking forward to playing at Joe Louis Arena.

"Actually, growing up, I was able to come to a Red Wings game and the atmosphere was great," Lazar said. "It's pretty cool. Just being on the ice a little bit [for the morning skate] and looking up at all the banners was fun."

Here are the projected lineups:

SENATORS

Clarke MacArthur - Kyle Turris - Alex Chiasson

Bobby Ryan - David Legwand - Mika Zibanejad

Milan Michalek - Zack Smith - Chris Neil

Mike Hoffman - Curtis Lazar - Mark Stone

Mark Borowiecki - Erik Karlsson

Jared Cowen - Cody Ceci

Patrick Wiercioch - Eric Gryba

Craig Anderson

Robin Lehner

Scratched: Colin Greening, Erik Condra.

Injured: Chris Phillips (undisclosed).

RED WINGS

Gustav Nyquist - Henrik Zetterberg - Justin Abdelkader

Tomas Tatar - Riley Sheahan - Johan Franzen

Stephen Weiss - Darren Helm - Tomas Jurco

Drew Miller - Luke Glendening - Joakim Andersson

Niklas Kronwall - Jonathan Ericsson

Kyle Quincey - Danny DeKeyser

Xavier Ouellet - Jakub Kindl

Jimmy Howard

Petr Mrazek

Scratched: Daniel Cleary, Brian Lashoff

Injured: Pavel Datsyuk (groin), Brendan Smith (hand)

Status report: Zibanejad moves up from centering the fourth line to playing right wing on the second line after scoring a goal Saturday in Ottawa's 3-2 loss against the St. Louis Blues. Abdelkader moves up from the second line to play right wing on the first line, switching places with Franzen. Kindl returns to the Detroit lineup after being a healthy scratch for four games. Lashoff had played in his place.

Who's hot: Ryan has a four-game point streak with two goals and two assists … Tatar has five goals and two assists in his last five games to tie Nyquist for the Red Wings lead with nine goals. Tatar was named the NHL's Second Star of the Week on Monday after four goals and an assist in three games last week.