OTTAWA -- On the day Daniel Alfredsson returned to Ottawa, the Senators got yet another reminder that things arent the same this season without him. Despite an empty-net goal and an assist, Alfredsson wasnt primarily responsible for the Senators second straight loss and fourth straight at home. But in helping the Detroit Red Wings to a 4-2 victory Sunday night at Canadian Tire Centre, the long-time captain contributed to the continuation of his former teams woes. "The result makes it a lot sweeter," said Alfredsson, who was named the third star in his return. "You could tell our team was motivated today and played hard and I thought we got better as the game went on. But if we would have lost, for me personally I think it would still have been a night Ill always remember." Like so many times in their previous 27 games in the post-Alfredsson era, something was just missing for the Senators (10-13-4). Botched line changes hurt badly. "They catch us on three line changes and they get the odd-man rush and they dont miss," Ottawa coach Paul MacLean said. "Theyre a team that if you give them those opportunities, theyre going to take advantage of them. They took what we gave them and they made it the difference in the game." The other difference was Ottawas power-less power play, which went 0-for-4 and put up just four shots. "We couldnt really establish anything off the entries, and thats why we couldnt really get set up," defenceman Erik Karlsson said. "We just had to chase the puck the whole time." And when the Red Wings had the puck at even strength, they got the job done. Alfredsson assisted on Johan Franzens opening goal for Detroit (14-7-7), and Drew Miller scored twice. Clarke MacArthur scored his eighth goal of the season for the Senators, and Mika Zibanejad made things interesting late, but it wasnt enough to make them a perfect 3-0 against the Red Wings this season. Ottawa won the first two meetings, both coming at Joe Louis Arena. "It was important for our team. We had dropped the ball, the first time we played against them we played poorly," Red Wings coach Mike Babcock said. "It was important to respond here today, for Alfie and for the guys. The guys care about him, they wanted him to have a big night here." Alfredsson had himself a night with his 590th and 591st points in his 596th game in Ottawa. The empty-net goal brought boos from the crowd of 20,011, but it generated plenty of relief for the Red Wings. "It was nice kind of to seal the game there," Alfredsson said. "They were pushing, and I was thinking, Here comes the Pesky Sens again. But we were lucky to get a good bounce there." The Senators were the "Pesky Sens" last year when they managed to find ways to win despite injuries to Karlsson, centre Jason Spezza, goaltender Craig Anderson and others. This season, theyve struggled mightily. Sunday was another painful example of those problems. "At the end of the day we didnt do enough to win," MacLean said. "Is that playing harder? Is that work ethic? Is that being smarter? Its all of the above, I would say. But we can just categorize it I guess under one term is that we need to play harder." And, ideally, better at home. Their last win at Canadian Tire Centre was Nov. 15. "It seems like we got a little block at home," MacArthur said. "I think one thing goes wrong and then another thing goes wrong, and then we start to tighten up. I dont know if its shutting our brains off for periods during the game, but we made a couple mental errors and its one of those nights where its a good team and they capitalize." With all the Senators flaws, MacLean refused to pin any blame on goaltender Robin Lehner, who made 19 saves on 22 shots. "We have no issue with Robins game. None," MacLean said. "I dont have any issue with that. The line changes, the opportunities they got, oh yeah wed like one more save and one more play, but to be honest with you they were pretty good opportunities for them." Red Wings goaltender Jonas Gustavsson, who like Alfredsson is a native of Gothenburg, Sweden, made 29 saves for the victory. The pre-game fanfare was all about Alfredsson, who spent 17 seasons with the Senators, including the final 14 as their captain. The game only got underway after a 67-second video tribute to Alfredsson that was accompanied by "Alfie" chants and a standing ovation. "It was fun to see the ovation he got," said Karlsson, who drove to the rink with Alfredsson. "Its probably nice to get it over with as well for him. I think the fans handled it really well and gave him the applause he deserved and then during the game they cheered for the Sens as normally." There wasnt much to cheer for. After a lacklustre first period, Alfredsson was involved in the scoring when it began in the second. Alfredsson gave the puck to defenceman Jakub Kindl as the Red Wings caught the Senators on an odd-man rush. With only defenceman Erik Karlsson back, Franzen had Henrik Zetterberg with him and Alfredsson trailing but decided to shoot and beat Lehner at the 8:22 mark of the second. It was Franzens seventh goal of the season and Alfredssons 14th assist. Miller made it 2-0 Red Wings at the 11:13 mark, taking a pass from Tomas Tatar and firing a one-timer past a sliding Lehner. The Senators answered just over three minutes later on a flurry around Gustavsson. Milan Michalek followed his shot to the net and knocked the puck loose and right to MacArthur, who broke up the shutout at 14:14. Miller was the beneficiary of some messy play by the Senators on his second goal of the game. Detroit defenceman Brendan Smith managed to stick-handle and pull everyone to him, leaving Miller wide open to put the puck into an empty net. "Those are the easy ones," Miller said. "Those are the ones youd like to get more often than not." It was the Red Wings fourth straight victory. They havent lost since the Senators beat them in Detroit on Nov. 23. NOTES -- Defenceman Marc Methot was a late scratch for the Senators with the flu, the team announced. Coach Paul MacLean indicated before the game that Jared Cowen would be a healthy scratch for a second straight game. Instead Cowen replaced Methot in the lineup. ... Alfredsson finished with 16:33 of ice time. Cheap Adidas Nmd Womens . The 24-year-old right winger has one assist in nine games this season with the Sabres. In his career, he has three goals and six assists in 43 NHL games. Adidas Nmd Wholesale China . However, the 38-year-old is in no hurry to sign with another team. "Im not in a rush. This will be my last contract, so I want to do it right," said Burris on Thursday. http://www.nmdsneakerssale.com/nmd-shoes-mens-deals.html. The 7-foot-1 Hawes, who is in the final year of his contract, is averaging 13 points and 8.5 rebounds, both career highs, and shoots 40 per cent from 3-point range. The 25-year-old Hawes is in his seventh NBA season. Adidas Nmd r1 China . Paire broke Giraldo twice and lost his serve once in both sets to wrap up the win in 1 hour, 10 minutes. He will next face Pablo Carreno Busta of Spain, who advanced when Jurgen Zopp of Estonia retired with an injury at 5-5 in the first set. Yeezy Boost 350 Deals . Markieff Morris and Marcus Morris, city natives, handled the catering for teammates that begged them for the tasty postgame feast.PRETORIA, South Africa - Kneeling in court and swinging a cricket bat at Oscar Pistorius toilet door, a South African forensic analyst demonstrated Wednesday how the double-amputee athlete may have bashed the door to get to the girlfriend he had just fatally shot. Col. J.G. Vermeulen said he believed Pistorius was on his stumps when he swung his bat at the brown cubicle door. The defence, on cross-examination of the policeman, insisted instead that Pistorius was wearing his prosthetic legs when hitting the door in the pre-dawn hours of Valentines Day last year — and the marks from the bat on the door were lower down because the athlete swung with a bent back. The intricate argument over whether Pistorius, the first amputee to run at the Olympics and now on trial for murder, was on his prosthetic limbs or not is important because it could match parts of his story that he accidentally shot Reeva Steenkamp. It could also show that he is lying. The athlete has said he fearfully approached the bathroom on his stumps on Feb. 14 last year and shot Steenkamp by mistake, thinking she was an intruder hiding behind the door. According to his account, he then put on his prostheses and tried to kick down the locked toilet door, and battered it with a cricket bat to get to his girlfriend after realizing what he had done. Prosecutors maintain he intentionally shot the 29-year-old model and have charged him with murder. He pleaded not guilty to all charges against him, which also include three firearm related counts. The actual door that Pistorius shot through a year ago was erected in the Pretoria courtroom Wednesday. The bat he used that night was also used in the dramatic demonstrations. And there was even a toilet cubicle behind the door, recreated to the exact specifications of the small area of Pistorius bathroom where Steenkamp was fatally shot, Vermeulen said. It included a toilet bowl. The door also had what appeared to be white tags on it and, lower down and below the handle four bullet holes were clearly visible. Pistorius shot at Steenkamp four times through the door, hitting her in the hip, arm and head. One shot missed, the court has heard. Vermeulen, who said he has 29 years experience as a forensic analyst, said it was his belief that Pistorius was on his stumps — and against what the athlete says — when he hit the door.dddddddddddd "The marks is consistent with him being in a natural position without his prostheses," Vermeulen said. The police analyst was repeatedly asked by both the prosecution and defence to demonstrate his assertions by swinging the bat at the door. "Its quite low down on the door," Vermeulen testified about one of the marks he said were made by the bat. He said it was "not the normal position that I would expect from a mark from a cricket bat." Defence lawyer Barry Roux countered that Pistorius hit the door with a "bent back" and that the low marks were consistent with such a body position. Roux also made it clear that the prosecution had now retracted initial claims that Pistorius was on his prosthetics when he fired the shots that killed Steenkamp. It is now accepted, Vermeulen said, that he was probably on his stumps. That mistaken claim by prosecutors in the early part of the investigation was used by them to argue there was premeditation in the killing because they believed the disabled runner planned the killing while putting his prosthetics limbs on. Earlier, Vermeulen also said a metal panel on the wall of the main bathroom in Pistorius home had been damaged by being hit with a "hard" object, or after the object fell against it. The steel plate was new evidence. A photo of the damaged plate was shown. Prosecutors say Pistorius intentionally shot Steenkamp, a 29-year-old model, after a fight. Led by questions from prosecutor Gerrie Nel, Vermeulen removed his blazer and walked down from the witness stand and over to the door to demonstrate to the judge how he believes the door was hit by Pistorius last year. Vermeulen said he was particularly interested in two specific marks on the door that he concluded were made by the bat and with the use of court photos and by kneeling down in court, Vermeulen showed the low position that the person could have been in when striking the door with the bat. Pistorius faces a possible life sentence if convicted of murder for killing Steenkamp. The judge, who watched the demonstrations Wednesday, will ultimately decide on the verdict. There is no trial by jury in South Africa. Associated Press writer Torchia reported from Johannesburg. ' ' '