DETROIT (AP) Out of the playoffs and sinking fast with one win in 14 games a week ago Custom Vegas Golden Knights Jerseys , the Detroit Red Wings could have embraced tanking to bolster their chances in the NHL draft lottery.Instead, they launched a winning streak.Jimmy Howard stopped 31 shots for his first shutout of the season as the Red Wings beat the Ottawa Senators 2-0 on Saturday for their third straight win.Dylan Larkin and Andreas Athanasiou scored to help Detroit gets its longest winning streak since a season-high four-game stretch Dec. 29 to Jan. 5.”We have a job to do every night and every day, and we’ve got a lot of young guys in here,” Larkin said. ”Every day is an audition and guys are trying to earn whatever it might be, whether it is more ice time next year,whatever.”Your position on this team and in this league has to be earned every day.”Howard’s best save was a sliding left pad stop on a second-period breakaway by Ottawa forward Ryan Dzingel.”It feels good,” Howard said after his 24th career shutout. ”It took 59 games, unreal, but at the same time the guys in front of me did a really great job, allowing me to see the puck.”Mike Condon finished with 25 saves for the Senators, who were blanked for the ninth time this season.”I can’t comment on the offense, because if that’s the case then all the offensive guys could comment on the goaltending,” Condon said. ”That’s a slippery slope.”Everyone’s working their hardest. Everyone’s trying to get a couple in there.”After a scoreless opening period, Detroit got on the board at 4:10 of the second. Taking advantage of a bad pinch by Senators defenseman Christian Wolanin, Anthony Mantha fed a pass across to Larkin on a 2-on-1 break www.ducksshoponline.com , and Larkin flipped the puck in as Condon lunged desperately across his goal crease. It was Larkin’s fifth goal in the last seven games. He scored nine times in the first 72 games.”That was a horrible play on my part,” Wolanin said. ”It cost us the first goal and eventually the game winner.”Athanasiou increased the margin to 2-0 at 4:29 of the third. Using Evgeni Svechnikov as a screen, Athanasiou fired a high shot past Condon.NOTES: Ottawa captain Erik Karlsson remained one point away from reaching 60 for the sixth time in his career. … The Senators, who play three of their final four games away from home, fell to 11-22-5 on the road – one win more than Montreal for the fewest in the NHL. Last season, the Senators won 22 games away from home, fifth-best in the league. … The Red Wings improved to 17-6-2 in their last 25 games against Ottawa. That includes five straight wins by Detroit at home. Ottawa’s last road victory in in the series was a 3-1 decision on Oct. 30, 2015. … Henrik Zetterberg remained one point from breaking a tie with Sergei Fedorov (954) for fifth on the Red Wings’ all-time scoring list.UP NEXTSenators: Host Winnipeg on Monday night in their final home game of the season.Red Wings: At Columbus on Tuesday night. ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. (AP) Russ Brandon abruptly resigned his dual role as president of the NFL’s Buffalo Bills and NHL’s Buffalo Sabres after being confronted by the teams’ owners regarding an alleged inappropriate relationship with a female employee, two people with direct knowledge of the situation told The Associated Press.The people spoke on the condition of anonymity because it is an internal matter, and owners Terry and Kim Pegula did not provide a reason for accepting Brandon’s resignation in a statement they released Tuesday.The relationship in question first became apparent to a number of team employees during the Sabres’ visit to New York for a game against the Rangers on Jan. 18, the people said. The trip included the team hosting a fan event at a bar the day before the game.Kim Pegula will take over Brandon’s roles overseeing the Bills, Sabres and Pegula Sports Entertainment, the company which controls the owners’ numerous holdings.In a text to The AP, Brandon said he has contemplated stepping down from the job for some time Carolina Hurricanes T-Shirts Womens , and felt the timing was right after the conclusion of the NFL draft.”My goal when the Pegulas purchased the franchise was to reach 20 years with the Bills, in which I achieved this past November,” Brandon wrote.”As grateful as I am for the amazing experience and the incredible people I’ve had the privilege to work with the past two decades, I am just as anxious for the professional opportunities that lie ahead,” he added.Brandon did not respond to follow-up questions regarding his relationship.Brandon’s departure comes after the Bills made a big splash in the first round of the draft by trading up to select both Wyoming quarterback Josh Allen with the seventh pick, and Virginia Tech linebacker Tremaine Edmunds with the 16th pick. The new additions join a Bills team that went 9-7 and ended a 17-year playoff drought last season.On Saturday, the last-place Sabres earned a boost by winning the NHL draft lottery and the right to the No. 1 pick for the third time in franchise history.”We have a tremendous amount of confidence in the strong leadership team we have built within each of these entities over the last several years,” the statement from the Pegulas read.”We are excited about the direction of our teams, especially after this past weekend’s NFL draft and NHL lottery results. Our focus remains on building championship teams on and off the field for our fans and community.”Brandon most recently served as the Bills’ managing partner, was the Sabres alternate on the NHL’s board of governors and a member of the NFL’s business ventures committee.The timing of Brandon’s exit comes at a time he was supposed to oversee the Bills’ next big venture in determining their future home. Brandon was expected to lead the team’s stadium search committee in deciding whether the Bills should continue playing at their current home or develop a new facility in downtown Buffalo.He served in various roles with the Bills, involving both marketing and football decisions during a two-year stint as general manager from 2008-09.He also took the lead in negotiating the Bills’ most recent lease five years ago, which played a critical role in securing the franchise’s long-term future in Buffalo especially following Hall of Fame owner Ralph Wilson’s death in March 2014.The lease included a strict non-relocation clause that included a $400 million penalty the team would be forced to pay if it considered moving before 2020.Brandon also oversaw the Bills’ eventual sale to the Pegulas, who completed their $1.4 billion purchase of the franchise in October 2014.The Pegulas retained Brandon and elevated him to the role of managing partner. The Pegulas thought so highly of Brandon, the Sabres were added to his responsibilities after the team reached a mutual agreement to part ways with Ted Black in July 2015.Brandon’s resignation continues a large turnover of Bills executives who served under Wilson. Bruce Popko is the senior holdover and now becomes the top executive as chief operating officer of Buffalo-based Pegula Sports and Entertainment, which oversees the Pegulas’ numerous holdings.Brandon grew up in nearby Syracuse www.blackhawksshoponline.com , New York, and began making his mark in Buffalo shortly after being hired by the Bills in 1997 to serve as the team’s business development and marketing director.He began by spearheading a campaign to transform them into a regional team by expanding the franchise’s fan base to offset Buffalo’s dropping population base.That process began in 2000, when the team shifted training camp to Brandon’s alma mater, St. John Fisher College in suburban Rochester, to capitalize on the community’s corporate and larger population base.Later, the Bills boosted their presence across southern Ontario by negotiating a deal to begin playing annual regular-season games in Toronto starting in 2008. The ”Bills In Toronto” series lasted through 2013 before the deal was placed on hold the following year and then terminated by the Pegulas.Toronto-based media giant, Rogers Communications, paid the Bills $78 million to essentially lease eight games (five regular season and three preseason) during the initial five-year agreement. The price was almost double what the Bills were projected to generate if those games were played at their home facility.The series also spurred a large bump in season-ticket purchases from across the border. By 2015, the Bills estimated southern Ontario fans accounted for about 18 percent of their season-ticket sales, surpassing their support from Rochester.Not everything succeeded under Brandon, who drew criticism for a number of decisions, including failing to build a winner during his two-year stint as the Bills GM when Wilson elected to promote from within the organization after Marv Levy stepped down following a two-year tenure.—This story’s third paragraph has been corrected to note the relationship first became apparent during the Sabres’ visit to New York for a game against the Rangers on Jan. 18—