The Anaheim Ducks are celebrating their 25th anniversary this season, but it's been even longer since the Detroit Red Wings went winless in their first three games.
The Ducks will have a chance to keep Detroit without a victory when they host the Red Wings in their home opener Monday night at Honda Center.
Detroit (0-1-1) hasn't gone without a win through its first three games since the 1991-92 season. The Red Wings regrouped to post the top record in the Campbell Conference that year.
The Ducks will try to start 3-0-0 for the first time since the 2006-07 season, which culminated with their only Stanley Cup title.
Both teams are dealing with injuries to some of their most veteran players.
Ducks captain Ryan Getzlaf left in the third period of a 1-0 win at the Arizona Coyotes on Saturday night because of a lower-body injury and his status for Monday's game was unknown as of Sunday afternoon.
He joins a long list of injured veteran forwards for the Ducks. Corey Perry had knee surgery late last month and is out for five months. Ryan Kesler and Patrick Eaves have not returned to action as they recover from surgeries, and Ondrej Kase is sidelined indefinitely with a concussion.
Anaheim has been forced to insert four rookie forwards into the lineup, but they are holding their own so far.
Max Comtois scored in both wins, becoming the first Anaheim rookie to score in his first two games to start a season.
"He's definitely brought a lot of energy," said Ducks defenseman Cam Fowler, who assisted on Comtois' goal on Saturday night. "All of our young players have been expected to make a big impact on our team early and I think they've done a great job of that."
Adam Henrique filled Getzlaf's spot as the top line center during practice Sunday with Rickard Rakell and rookie Troy Terry on his wings.
Another rookie, Sam Steel, centered the second line with Comtois and Jakob Silfverberg on his wings.
The Red Wings will be without veteran defensemen Jonathan Ericsson and Niklas Kronwall, both of whom are nursing upper-body injuries that have delayed the start of their seasons.
Detroit also lost defenseman Trevor Daley to an upper body injury in the first period in a 4-2 loss at the Los Angeles Kings on Sunday night and he will miss Monday's game. The Red Wings played the remainder of the game with five defensemen, including three rookies.
"All we can do is focus on making sure that we're getting better here, and I thought again there was a lot of things we did good," Red Wings coach Jeff Blashill said. "We've got to make sure we repeat a lot of that performance tomorrow night and find a way to score a bit more."
Kronwall, 37, was second on the team in scoring among defenseman last season with 27 points (four goals, 23 assists). He's in his 14th season with Detroit.
Ericsson, 34, is in his 11th season with the Red Wings.
Detroit goaltender Jimmy Howard is expected to start after former Anaheim goalie Jonathan Bernier played against the Kings on Sunday.
Howard is 10-6-2 in his career against the Ducks with a .925 save percentage and 2.28 goals-against average. He has three shutouts against Anaheim, which matches the most against any team.
Ducks goalie John Gibson is off to a hot start with two goals allowed in the first two games. He's 4-3-0 in his career against the Red Wings with a .917 save percentage and 2.20 GAA
