The Ottawa Senators picked up a critical two points in the drive to make the playoffs in the Motor City. The Senators tightened their grip on the first wild-card spot in the East with only 11 games left in the season. Ottawa scored a 4-3 victory over the Detroit Red Wings on Thursday night at Little Caesars Arena.
Michael Amadio, David Perron, Tim Stutzle, and Thomas Chabot did the scoring as the Senators closed out this three-game road trip with their second victory. Linus Ullmark was good early and then had to make the necessary stops late in the third as the Senators hung on for dear life because Detroit refused to go quietly into the night. Alex DeBrincat hit the goal post in the dying seconds.
“I think we put up a lot more minutes of playing well compared to our previous game against Buffalo, where we talked about (not) putting up a 60-minute game,” Ullmark told TSN 1200’s Gord Wilson after making 31 stops. “It’s hard to (play) a full 60. There are going to be some ups and downs. They’re a good team, they’re desperate but we responded well and we got the two points.”
The Wings found their game in the third period by pushing the pace and getting back into this one after trailing 3-0. Vladimir Tarasenko pulled Detroit to within one with 4:30 left in the game. Detroit’s Patrick Kane scored on the sixth man advantage of the night with 14:35 in the third period to ruin Ullmark’s bid for a shutout. Then, Lucas Raymond pulled the Wings to within two goals with 8:10 left after Amadio had extended the club’s lead to 4-2.
Trying to ignite the offence after a 3-2 loss against the Buffalo Sabres on Tuesday, coach Travis Green shuffled the deck. Captain Brady Tkachuk played with Shane Pinto and Ridly Greig while Stutzle was between Claude Giroux and Fabian Zetterlund. The only line in the top nine that remained intact was Dylan Cozens with Perron and Drake Batherson. The changes had the right effect, but the Senators also did a better job of playing with urgency. That was something the club lacked against the Sabres, and it reared its ugly head in the third period of this game.
“We played a great 60 minutes,” said Stutzle. Through 40 minutes, they led 3-0 and looked like they were well in control.
The Senators closed out their season series against the Wings. The club posted a 2-0-1 record in the first three games and a 5-1-1 mark versus Detroit in the last two seasons. This was an opportunity to not allow Detroit to get itself back into the playoff picture in the East. The Senators came into this game with wins in 12 of their last 15 against the Wings.
Nobody has lifted their game more than Perron, who was signed in the off-season. He scored his third goal in his third straight game when he gave the club a 3-0 lead at 1:33 of the second period. That’s Perron’s eighth of the season and sixth in 12 games. “I thought it was a bounceback game for us. We responded well,” Perron said. That had to feel good for the former Red Wing, but it prompted Detroit coach Todd McLellan to make a goaltending change. Alex Lyon was yanked after allowing three goals on 10 shots, and Cam Talbot took over.
Ullmark made his 13th start in 15 games after getting Tuesday off. He came into this game with a 7-4-1 record in 12 starts since the end of the 4 Nations Face-Off break. Ullmark had posted an 8-2-2 record in 12 career games against the Wings with a 2.05 goals-against average and a .936 save percentage. Ullmark started this trip with 25 stops in a victory Saturday in New Jersey.
“I liked our game. We were very resilient in the first period with five penalties, and we just kept playing,” said Green. “It was a really good team effort. I liked our aggressive and we got right back at it after the first.” The Senators spent eight minutes and 39 seconds shorthanded in the first 20 minutes but were still up 2-0 thanks to a solid effort by Ullmark, who made 15 stops.
“I don’t think I’ve ever seen the penalty calls 5-0,” Stutzle told TSN’s Gord Miller after the first. Stutzle extended the lead to 2-0 on only the third shot Lyon faced at 13:01 of the first. Tkachuk had everybody distracted by taking down Raymond, and Stutzle picked up the puck to score his 21st of the year. Chabot opened the scoring with his first goal in 13 games. He fired a blast by Lyon at 5:49 of the first. That was his first since Feb. 26, and Zetterlund picked up his first point with the Senators with an assist.
This was shades of last season down the stretch, when the Red Wings pulled off dramatic rallies and victories. The Wings certainly made things interesting Thursday but couldn't complete the comeback, falling to Ottawa 4-3. It was the Wings' 11th loss in the last 14 games and kept them stalled outside of the playoff picture, which has been a natural position for a while now.
Detroit jumped on struggling goaltender Alex Lyon, and the Red Wings failed on their first five power plays in the first period, putting the Wings in an unenviable hole. But they showed admirable fight in the third period. Tarasenko's 10th goal cut the Ottawa lead to 4-3 at 15:30. J.T. Compher found Tarasenko unattended in the slot and Tarasenko snapped a shot past goaltender Linus Ullmark.
Time is running out for the Wings, who only have 10 games remaining after Thursday. McLellan has been adamant about putting the focus only on the next game and not looking at the bigger picture the Wings need to confront. "We've been trying to do that, almost from Day 1 here, where we want to focus on what's in front of us and deal with that," McLellan said. "Put a good effort in, adjust, fix things and then move on. I don't think that changes at all down the stretch here."
As the Senators continue their playoff push, they will look to carry this momentum into their next match, while the Red Wings must regroup and find a way to turn their season around before it slips away.
