Datsyuk scored twice and Zetterberg had two assists in a 3-0 win against the Florida Panthers on Monday.
Detroit coach Jeff Blashill can play the two natural centers together because he trusts Brad Richards as the Red Wings second-line center and Dylan Larkin, who plays wing on the second line, doesn't need to play with Zetterberg to be productive.
"Dylan can self-generate, a lot of times, regardless of who he's playing with, but it had more to do with my belief that Brad Richards is a second-line center, he did it last year on a Stanley Cup-winning team [the Chicago Blackhawks]," Blashill said. "With Hank and Pav it gives you a one-two punch up the middle that is a real important piece, but we wanted to take a little bit of a chance to, in [general manager] Ken Holland's words, get two percent better."
The Red Wings have won their past two games by a combined margin of 8-1.
"They're a real good hockey club playing well and pushing for a playoff spot," Ottawa coach Dave Cameron said.
The Senators have won their past two games by a combined scored of 11-1.
Phaneuf was traded from the Toronto Maple Leafs along with forwards Matt Frattin, Casey Bailey and Ryan Rupert, and defenseman Cody Donaghey to the Senators for defenseman Jared Cowen and forwards Milan Michalek, Colin Greening and Tobias Lindberg, along with Ottawa's second-round pick in the 2017 NHL Draft.
"I'm proud to be a member of the Ottawa Senators and looking forward to starting tonight," said Phaneuf, 30. "... I've got nothing bad to say [about playing in Toronto] … A lot of great hockey people who are part of their management. Nothing bad to say about them at all."
Here are the projected lineups:
SENATORS
Mike Hoffman - Kyle Turris - Bobby Ryan
Zack Smith - Jean-Gabriel Pageau - Mark Stone
Shane Prince - Mika Zibanejad - Alex Chiasson
Ryan Dzingel - Curtis Lazar - Chris Neil
Marc Methot - Erik Karlsson
Dion Phaneuf - Cody Ceci
Patrick Wiercioch - Mark Borowiecki
Craig Anderson
Andrew Hammond
Injured: Clarke MacArthur (concussion), Chris Phillips (cracked vertebra), Dave Dziurzynski (undisclosed).
Scratched: Nick Paul, Chris Wideman
RED WINGS
Henrik Zetterberg - Pavel Datsyuk - Justin Abdelkader
Tomas Tatar - Brad Richards - Dylan Larkin
Tomas Jurco - Andreas Athanasiou - Gustav Nyquist
Darren Helm - Luke Glendening - Riley Sheahan
Kyle Quincey - Dan DeKeyser
Jonathan Ericsson - Alexey Marchenko
Brendan Smith - Jakub Kindl
Petr Mrazek
Jimmy Howard
Injured: Mike Green (groin), Niklas Kronwall (knee), Drew Miller (knee), Johan Franzen (concussion).
Scratched: Joakim Andersson
Status update: Green skated during the optional morning skate and is day-to-day.
Who's hot:Stone has a four-game goal streak, during which he has five goals and three assists … Pageau has a four-game point streak (2-5-7) … Zack Smith has two goals and an assist in his past two games … Datsyuk has two goals and two assists in his past two games … Tatar has a four-game point streak (2-3-5) … Larkin has a three-game point streak (3-2-5).
