The Detroit Red Wings improved to 3-0 against the Ottawa Senators this season with a 2-1 overtime victory at Canadian Tire Centre on Thursday night. Dylan Larkin scored the winner on a breakaway at 1:50 of OT, his second goal of the night, sliding a gentle backhander through Linus Ullmark’s pads.
Along with some controversy, gold medal karma also seems to have followed the American Olympians back to their respective NHL teams. They accounted for all the scoring in this one, their first game back since winning gold at the Winter Olympics.
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Even Team USA’s video coach got in on the act.
The Red Wings appeared to open the scoring at 8:11 of the first period when Michael Rasmussen sprinted up the ice on a 2-on-1 and fired a wrist shot past Ullmark. But Sens video coach Mike King, just back from Milan with a gold medal, called down to the bench to let the coaches know that an overanxious Elmer Söderblom had jumped over the blue line too soon. The Sens got the goal overturned on an offside challenge.
Brady Tkachuk got the Sens on the board at 18:44 of the first, firing home a wrist shot through traffic in front of John Gibson. That would be the only blemish of the night for Gibson, who made 26 saves and seems to have the Sens’ number this year. In just his third start since Dec. 27, Ullmark countered with 18 saves on the night.
5:24 into the second period, with Ridly Greig off for hooking, Lucas Raymond gathered the puck in the corner, backhanded a pass into the slot, and Larkin one-timed a snapshot past Ullmark to tie the game at one.
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That was it for the scoring on the night, at least in regulation.
One notable moment came at the 7:40 mark of the second period when Greig backhanded the puck out of the Ottawa zone, way over everyone’s head. Simon Edvinsson stepped up and shouldered Tkachuk, who would have had no reason to expect contact there.
Tkachuk was left with a bloody nose from his own stick coming up on the collision. It looked like textbook interference, but Edvinsson seemed to contend that he was holding the blue line and Tkachuk, who wasn’t looking where he was going, skated into him.
Dylan Cozens fought Edvinsson right after the collision, and that didn’t go so well either, while Tkachuk was given a ten-minute misconduct for his protests.
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With no scoring in the third, the two teams headed for overtime, where the Senators lost an offensive zone faceoff. After head-manning the puck to Raymond in the neutral zone, Larkin caught Shane Pinto flat-footed in the race up ice.
Not realizing Larkin was home free, Thomas Chabot veered out of position to challenge Raymond at the boards with a stick check. Raymond then easily tapped the puck past Chabot for a Larkin breakaway, and he made no mistake, winning it in overtime.
After Canada’s gold medal loss on Sunday, Sens fans have probably had enough of 3-on-3 overtime for one week.
Ottawa still ends up with a point out of it, but with the Boston Bruins (WC2) pulling two points out of their game against Columbus on Thursday, the Senators now stand seven points out of a playoff spot in the East.
Steve Warne
The Hockey News
