The Detroit Red Wings visit the Ottawa Senators on Thursday night in a matchup of teams beginning their final sprint for spots in the Eastern Conference playoffs.

The Red Wings, looking to snap a nine-year playoff drought, are tied for second place in the Atlantic Division with the Montreal Canadiens but have played one more game. The Buffalo Sabres and Boston Bruins are two and three points behind Detroit, respectively.

The Senators sit fifth in the Eastern Conference wild-card race, six points behind the second-place Bruins.

Ottawa welcomes back forward Brady Tkachuk after the Canada residents rooted against him Sunday in the gold-medal game at the Olympics.

“They’re not the happiest with me right now,” Tkachuk said on Fox News after helping the United States defeat Canada for gold. “I’m just going to go back and give them everything that I’ve got. It’s a funny feeling when you feel their support every day, and then, within two weeks, you’re Public Enemy No. 1.

“I’m going back with a smile on my face, and I’m getting ready for a playoff push.”

Ottawa rolled into the Olympic break, winning five of six, but faces a tough road — literally — as play resumes. After hosting the Red Wings, Ottawa embarks on a five-game road trip with stops in Toronto, Edmonton, Calgary, Seattle and Vancouver.

After a full week of practice for those who did not go the Olympics, play resumes

“I think once Thursday comes, we’ll be ready,” Senators forward Nick Cousins told Sportsnet. “I think I can speak for the guys in the room. I think everybody’s kind of itching to get going here and play some games.”

“The guys are sick of practice,” he joked.

After returning from a leave of absence, goalie Linus Ullmark played two games before the break. He won both, stopping 40 of 43 shots. Ullmark is 9-2-2 with a 2.13 goals-against average and a .934 save percentage in 13 games versus the Red Wings.

The Senators have allowed just 11 goals over their past six games.

Detroit stumbled into the Olympic break, losing four of five (1-3-1) and scoring a total of seven goals, but remain in control of its post-season fate.

“You work all season to be in that spot, and now we’re in a great position to hopefully do some damage along the way,” Red Wings defenseman Moritz Seider said following his return from the Olympics. “I think everyone is looking forward to it.”

Red Wings goalie John Gibson is 6-3-2 with a 2.20 GAA and .926 save percentage in 11 games against the Senators.

Olympian Lucas Raymond also returned to Detroit practice on Tuesday.

“You kind of get pumped up to get back, and I think that kind of brings it up a notch,” he said. “We’ve had a tough (couple of weeks) here, where maybe we haven’t been playing up to our standard.”

After a stop in Ottawa, the Red Wings travel to Carolina and Nashville.

It’s the third of four meetings between the Atlantic Division rivals. The Red Wings beat the host Senators 5-3 on Jan. 5 behind a goal and two assists from James van Riemsdyk. On Jan. 19, Alex DeBrincat scored 36 seconds into overtime to lift host Detroit to a 4-3 win.

The Red Wings are 10-4-2 against the Atlantic Division.

–Field Level Media

Tallon Griekspoor of the Netherlands used his strong serve to upset No. 2 seed Alexander Bublik of Kazakhstan 6-3, 7-6 (4) in the Round of 16 at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships on Wednesday.

Griekspoor fired off 14 aces without a double fault and won 35 of 40 first-service points (87.5%). He also saved three break points and had just 10 unforced errors to 30 winners. Bublik had 29 winners but committed 23 unforced errors.

In another pair of upsets, Frenchman Arthur Rinderknech toppled No. 4 Jack Draper of Great Britain 7-5, 6-7 (4), 6-4, and Jenson Brooksby beat No. 7 Karen Khachanov of Russia 7-6 (6), 6-4. In similar fashion to Griekspoor, Rinderknech racked up 20 aces without one double fault.

No. 1 seed Felix Auger-Aliassime of Canada moved on to the quarterfinals by beating French qualifier Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard 6-4, 6-4, while Russian third seed Daniil Medvedev defeated Swiss veteran Stan Wawrinka 6-2, 6-3. No. 5 seed Andrey Rublev of Russia beat Frenchman Ugo Humbert 6-4, 6-7 (5), 6-3, while a pair of Czech natives, No. 6 Jakub Mensik and No. 8 Jiri Lehecka, advanced in straight sets.

BCI Seguros Chile Open

A pair of upsets saw the fourth and seventh seeds bow out in the Round of 16 in Santiago, Chile.

Germany’s Yannick Hanfmann racked up a 28-12 edge in winners in beating No. 4 seed Camilo Ugo Carabelli of Argentina 6-4, 6-3. Italian qualifier Andrea Pellegrino benefited from his opponent’s 50 unforced errors, including 11 double faults, in a 7-6 (3), 6-7 (2), 6-3 win over No. 7 seed Francisco Comesana of Argentina.

Lithuania’s Vilius Gaubas rallied past Croatia’s Dino Prizmic 5-7, 7-5, 6-3 in a match lasting three hours, two minutes. The final match of the day was set to pit No. 2 seed Luciano Darderi of Italy against Mariano Navone of Argentina.

–Field Level Media

Two teams look to solidify their holds on a playoff spot when the New York Islanders visit the Montreal Canadiens on Thursday in the first game for each following the NHL’s pause for the 2026 Winter Olympic Games.

The Islanders sit third in the Metropolitan Division with 69 points, one behind the Pittsburgh Penguins for second in the division, though Pittsburgh holds two games in hand. New York won its last two games before the break and has won five of its past seven overall.

“The break gave us a chance to recover, both with little injuries and the mental aspect of the game,” Islanders center Jean-Gabriel Pageau said. “It gave us a chance to look at ourselves in the mirror and see where we can be better. We took advantage of practices in the past week to work on those details. We’re all excited to get back to action.”

The power play is one area that they will be watching. It’s been a season-long struggle on the man advantage for New York, which sits 30th in the NHL with a mere 15.7% success rate. The Islanders are 0-for-10 over their past five games, a drought that comes after their most successful stretch of the season on the power play over their previous seven outings. They went 6-for-24 during that run, connecting at a 25% clip.

They’ll also be looking for more offensive contributions from their depth, namely forward Jonathan Drouin. The 30-year-old has just three goals in 51 games this season while averaging 17:17 of ice time, third-most among active forwards on the team.

“If you probably ask him, (Drouin) probably would like to score a goal and take some pressure off of himself,” Islanders coach Patrick Roy said. “Eventually, I mean, his confidence will be back. But I like the fact that he’s focusing on the big picture. And to me, the big picture is how you play with or without the puck. … He’s bringing a lot to the team that maybe sometimes we don’t place enough attention on.”

The Canadiens will be looking to pick up where they left off before the break, having won four of five (4-0-1) and six of their previous nine.

They’ll welcome back forward Alex Newhook for Thursday’s tilt after a 40-game absence following surgery for a fractured ankle sustained Nov. 13.

“It’s been a while since he’s played, but it’s been encouraging watching him in practice this week. He has jump,” Canadiens coach Martin St. Louis said.

Newhook was off to a solid start this season, with 12 points (six goals, six assists) in 17 games. He’s on pace for 30 points in 42 games, should he play in all of Montreal’s remaining 25 contests — an output that would match the third-highest total of his career.

“I think I gained a lot of confidence from the start of the year,” Newhook said. “I have expectations for myself and had expectations coming into the year as to where I thought I could be as a player and what kind of player I could be to this team. I think early on in the season I proved that.”

The Canadiens entered Wednesday in second place in the Atlantic Division with 72 points, tied with the Detroit Red Wings but holding a game in hand.

–Field Level Media