When the Ottawa Senators and Detroit Red Wings game on Dec. 23 was postponed due to a winter blizzard that gripped Ottawa, the NHL rescheduled the contest for Feb. 27.

The Red Wings were already slated to be in Ottawa on Feb. 28, so the league figured it would make the most logistical sense for Detroit to come in early and play another game at Canadian Tire Centre 24 hours earlier.

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What the league likely didn’t foresee was how critical these two games would be in the Eastern Conference playoff picture. With the Washington Capitals and Pittsburgh Penguins falling in the standings, the two wild-card spots in the East are suddenly up for grabs. And the Red Wings and Senators — two clubs who have been in rebuilding mode over the past few seasons — are now eyeing a playoff berth.

Over the past month, both clubs have hit their stride. Detroit is 9-4-0 in its last 13 games, giving it the fourth-best record in the NHL since January 23. Ottawa is just a hair behind, going 8-3-1 during that span — the seventh-best mark in the league.

Given the stakes, these next two games in Ottawa will carry a playoff atmosphere. And to help set up this crucial two-game set, The Athletic’s beat writers for the Red Wings (Max Bultman) and Senators (Ian Mendes) have weighed in on a number of storylines heading into this series.

How crucial is this series for each team considering their current playoff odds?

If we look at the playoff odds for Detroit and Ottawa heading into this two-game series, they both have an uphill battle if they want to secure a wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference. But considering how well they’ve been playing, coupled with the struggles of the Capitals and Penguins, there is certainly some hope here. Plus, Detroit and Ottawa have a number of games in hand over the other teams like the Islanders and Panthers who are also in the mix.

After the Islanders, Penguins and Sabres won on Sunday, Dom Luszczyszyn updated his playoff scenario for us. Currently, his model gives the Red Wings a 19.6 percent chance of making the playoffs, while the Senators are sitting at just 2.8 percent. (However, other sites such as MoneyPuck, Hockey Reference and HockeyViz are slightly more optimistic about Ottawa’s chances, putting them at roughly 7.5 percent).

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According to Dom, a series sweep by either Detroit or Ottawa would significantly change the playoff odds for both of these teams.

If Detroit wins both games this week, Dom sees their playoff odds increasing to 31.3. And if that happens, Ottawa’s odds essentially vanish, going down to 0.4 percent if they lose both games.

If the Senators manage to win both games, their odds would basically double and put them at 5.5 percent in Dom’s model. And if the Red Wings lose both games, they would come crashing down to Ottawa’s level and be hovering at 8.9 percent odds.

Bultman: When you factor in how tough the Red Wings’ schedule is, getting at least two points in this series — and probably more, realistically — feels critical for their playoff hopes. They’re going to close the season with nine of their last 10 against potential playoff teams, and that’s in addition to multiple games remaining against the Bruins and one against the Avalanche. Knowing that’s looming on the horizon, every single point right now is precious — and even more so against a team they’re directly competing with.

Mendes: This feels like a critical two-game window for Ottawa. If they truly want to elevate themselves into the playoff picture, I think they need to sweep this series, ideally with a pair of regulation-time wins. When you look at the playoff probabilities above, you can see the wide gap between Ottawa and Detroit heading into this series. If the Senators can sweep this two-game set in regulation time, it would at least pull them into a tie with the Red Wings in the standings and not allow Detroit to pull away.

If Ottawa wants to get to 95 points, they’ll need to basically go 17-6-1 down the stretch. So if we’re assuming they have six regulation-time losses to play with, they should probably “save” those for the multiple meetings they have with heavyweights like Tampa, Toronto and Carolina. Maybe the playoff cutoff in the Eastern Conference will be a touch less than 95 points, but no matter how you slice it, the Senators have left themselves very little wiggle room for regulation-time losses. And they certainly cannot afford any against a team they are competing with in the wild-card race.

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The playoffs were a long shot for both of these teams prior to the All-Star break. What has changed to allow them back in the picture?

Mendes: Earlier this season, the Senators were living off their power play, which allowed them to hang around a lot of games.

But over the past month, we’ve finally seen their five-on-five scoring come around. Since Jan. 23, the Senators have outscored opponents 30-21 at five-on-five, giving them a 58.82 GF% that has them fourth in the NHL over that span and only behind heavyweights Boston, Carolina and Tampa. It’s no coincidence Ottawa has gone 8-3-1 in that span and its record is directly tied to its improvement at even strength.

The brilliant play of Tim Stützle, Brady Tkachuk and Claude Giroux has also been a major catalyst in Ottawa’s recent resurgence. Since Jan. 1, all three players are averaging better than a point per game and their dominant and consistent production has helped alleviate the lack of an impact from Ottawa’s bottom-six group. Stützle in particular has elevated his game, becoming a dynamic game breaker on a regular basis.

And despite using four different goalies over the past month, the Senators have received solid and consistent goaltending. Ottawa is hanging around this playoff conversation thanks to the sparkling play of Mads Sogaard (.919 save percentage in his four starts) and Kevin Mandolese (.938 save percentage in his two starts).

Bultman: There are probably several answers here, but I’ll give you the three big ones as I see it.

Number one, Ville Husso has been outstanding. Before the break, the fatigue of playing his most-ever pro games in a season seemed to be starting to wear on him. After the time off, though, he’s played like the kind of goalie who gets that 60-game workload. His save percentage in his nine starts since the break is .926, and he’s made some spectacular stops, including this stunner on Adam Fox.

Ville Husso makes a save on Adam Fox in the 2nd period #DETvsNYR #LGRW #NoQuitInNY

— nopClips (@nopClips) February 24, 2023

Second has been they’re getting scoring from everywhere. Dylan Larkin is playing as good of hockey as I’ve ever seen from him. Tyler Bertuzzi is back to being himself. Michael Rasmussen and Andrew Copp had a huge game against the Rangers. Robby Fabbri is scoring regularly on the third line. Pius Suter is scoring on the fourth. They’re just about fully healthy now, and it’s making them tough to match up against.

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But the X-factor in all this is the intangibles. Derek Lalonde and Andrew Copp both mentioned the team’s growing maturity after their recent win over the Rangers, but while I believe that’s true, it’s not what I mean. Instead, it’s the bonding the Red Wings did out West — that’s when this run really started stacking up, and talking to guys in the room, the fact it happened during such a natural bonding time on a road trip has helped bring them close together. That’s a powerful feeling, and while it’s hard to quantify, we’re all seeing the impact right now.

Will the outcome of this series determine whether these teams are buyers or sellers at the trade deadline?

Bultman: It very well could. I don’t know that I see the Red Wings selling at this point, but losing two games in 24 hours would certainly chip into their math and could prevent them from buying. You never want to make too much of a small sample, but hey, I thought they were surefire sellers just a couple weeks ago — clearly, things can change fast. Ultimately, what happens elsewhere in this race will affect the picture too, but the bottom line is yes, there are real trade deadline stakes here.

Mendes: Prior to the game against Chicago on Feb. 17, Pierre Dorion said the next seven games would determine his actions at the trade deadline. Naturally, the Senators have gone 2-2-1 in the first five games of that seven-game segment, which hasn’t really provided a ton of clarity either way. They have moved Tyler Motte and Nikita Zaitsev in that window, but it doesn’t necessarily mean Ottawa has moved into a seller’s mode. Those players likely weren’t going to be part of the Senators core for next season, so trading them at the deadline was likely always going to be the plan.

If the Senators sweep these two games against Detroit, you can probably expect some internal pressure from their core group of players to see their general manager make a positive addition to the roster. If the Sens are within four points of the final wild-card spot by the middle of this week, it’s fair to say they’re legitimately in the race. And if they can add a right-shot defenseman — even a rental — it might be worth the gamble.

But if Detroit takes both of these games, it’s hard to fathom a scenario where the Senators can go shopping for a short-term rental. Maybe they still add someone with term, but it would seem like adding a rental would be out of the equation.

Is there a chance we could see one of these teams starting the same goalie both nights in this series?

Mendes: This is going to be fascinating to watch unfold. Since being called up to replace Anton Forsberg earlier this month, Sogaard has gone 3-0-1 with a .919 save percentage. In some ways, you can see the argument for starting Sogaard on Monday because he’s the hottest hand the Senators have in goal right now.

D.J. Smith has been adamant that Ottawa won’t use Sogaard in back-to-back games because they’re worried about his durability. Smith has mentioned that fact on multiple occasions over the past two weeks, which is why Sogaard has only split the back-to-back games this month — either with Mandolese or Cam Talbot.

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If the Senators turn to Sogaard and he plays well on Monday, there will absolutely be a temptation to go right back to him 24 hours later. Still, Talbot was brought in for this exact situation: to be a stabilizing, calming and veteran presence in the nets for Ottawa when it was facing big pressure moments.

There is an argument for both goalies to draw Monday’s starting assignment — and a case for the Senators to run back with the same netminder on Tuesday if he wins. Right now I’m tempted to say we see the goalies split these two games, but I would not be the least bit surprised if Ottawa has moved into the ‘win and you’re in’ phase of the goaltending plan.

Bultman: Detroit did play Husso on both ends of a back-to-back in early December, but I expect you’ll see a split between him and Senators legend Magnus Hellberg this time around.

Husso’s workload got a little out of control in the first half, and while I do think they’re going to continue to ride him relatively hard, both nights of a back-to-back doesn’t make sense with Hellberg playing pretty well. His last time out against Calgary, which was his first action in three weeks, he bounced back from a bad turnover that led to a goal to stop 33 of 35. That should more than earn him a start in Ottawa.

If one team is to sweep both games of this series, what are three things that have to go in their favour for it to happen?

Bultman: The Red Wings will have to manage their game and avoid odd-man rushes against (especially with Stützle on the ice), their power play has to convert and their goaltending has to be strong. That’s been their recipe all year, and it certainly will remain that for this series.

My biggest question though is going to be about their offense. This is not a team built to score four, five or even six goals in a game, but they had been managing to put those numbers up recently before running into a brick wall in Andrei Vasilevskiy on Saturday. I want to see how they respond now, especially if Sogaard can keep them off the board early.

Mendes: Sure, the Senators’ recent success has been tied to their improved five-on-five play, but it would be nice if they could marry that with an effective power play. Ottawa has only scored three power-play goals in eight games since the All-Star break, going 3-for-27. To make matters worse, they have also allowed three short-handed goals against in that same window. So if Ottawa is going to sweep this series, we need to see a return of its lethal power play.

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Alex DeBrincat is also a major key for Ottawa. The Senators are a remarkable 14-1-1 in games in which DeBrincat scores a goal this season. To take it a step further, DeBrincat has 35 points and a plus-13 rating in the 28 games Ottawa has won this season. In the 30 games they’ve lost, he has two goals and a minus-30 rating. If DeBrincat heats up in these two games, it’s almost a lock that Ottawa wins.

And if the Senators want to win these games in regulation time, they should try and have a lead after the second period. Detroit and Ottawa are two of the worst third-period comeback teams in the league this season, as they’ve each only managed two comeback wins when trailing after 40 minutes. Whichever team is leading heading into the third period has a very good chance of winning in regulation time.

Both these teams have been mired in a rebuild for several years. Finish this sentence: These two games are the biggest games they’ve played since ________

Mendes: This truly feels like the most relevant and important Senators games since their run to the conference finals in 2017. And while it might sound like hyperbole, consider that Thomas Chabot and Brady Tkachuk have never played a consequential game in the standings during their time in Ottawa. The Senators have always been well out of the playoff picture in the first quarter of the season, making all of their second-half games a moot point. That’s about to change with these two games against Detroit, which really have a playoff vibe to them for the first time in the Chabot-Tkachuk era of the franchise.

Bultman: Saturday! Right now, it feels like every Red Wings game is their biggest of the season — the Capitals game to end the road trip, the Rangers game that momentarily put them into a playoff spot, the big test against the Lightning. And this one is next up: the back-to-back against a direct competitor and division rival. It makes for a fantastic spectacle.

(Photo of Tim Stützle battling for the puck with Jake Walman: Lon Horwedel / USA Today)