The Detroit Red Wings will open up the 2013-14 season against the Buffalo Sabres Wednesday.
Detroit will play its first game in the Eastern Conference this season after a conference realignment was approved last season. The team will join the Atlantic Division, which includes Buffalo, the Boston Bruins, the Toronto Maple Leafs, the Montreal Canadiens, the Ottawa Senators, the Tampa Bay Lightning and the Florida Panthers.
The team is coming off a season in which it finished seventh in the Western Conference and took down the Anaheim Ducks in seven games during the first round of the playoffs. In the second round, Detroit took a 3-1 lead against the Chicago Blackhawks but wound up blowing the lead and lost in a decisive Game 7.
The team's preseason did not go particularly well as Detroit lost four of its final five matches.
The Buffalo Sabres finished the 2012-13 season in last place in the Northwest division with only 48 points in 48 games; the team was 12th in the Eastern Conference.
The Sabres recently made the unusual choice of giving the captaincy to Steve Ott and Thomas Vanek; the team previously used the co-captaincy in the 2005-06 and 2006-07 seasons when Chris Drury and Daniel Briere earned the honors.
"We just thought both guys represented what we wanted," Coach Ron Rolston said, according to Buffalo's official website. "Nothing more, nothing less than that. We thought it's all about the influence they have on the team. Those guys are big influences on the team, so we thought that was the way to go."
Prediction: Detroit wins 2-1.
Start Time: 8 p.m. EST