Patrick Kane’s overtime power-play goal gave the Detroit Red Wings a 3-2 victory over the Ottawa Senators on Tuesday night at Little Caesars Arena. That ended the Sens’ nine-game road trip and extended the Red Wings’ winning streak to five games.
Anton Forsberg stepped up for Ottawa with a great performance, stopping 30 of 33 shots. For Detroit, former Senator Cam Talbot was pressed into action cold after a first-period injury to Alex Lyon.
Dylan Larkin started the scoring on the power play in the first period on a gorgeous three-way passing play with Lucas Raymond and Alex DeBrincat. The goal was scored on a sketchy roughing call on Brady Tkachuk for removing a player’s helmet.
That lead stood up until the second period when the Sens capitalized on a pair of power plays, ending a 145-minute goalless drought. Thomas Chabot’s slap shot from the left point appeared to ramp off the stick of former Senator Tyler Motte and past Talbot. It was five seconds too late for an official power-play goal.
With under a minute left in the second, the Sens got another power play, and Tkachuk’s wrist shot found its way through a crowd to give the Sens a 2-1 lead after 40 minutes.
Early in the third, Joe Veleno tied the game at 2 with a little chip shot over Forsberg, who was down in the butterfly.
With just over ten minutes left, Forsberg made one of the best saves of the year and certainly one of the most important. He lunged hard to his left to make a beautiful glove save on Marco Kasper. Kasper had fired off a one-timer on a two-on-one with Larkin. It was laughable that Forsberg didn’t merit selection as one of the game’s three stars.
In overtime, with Jake Sanderson off for hooking, Kane settled the matter with a low wrist shot from the high slot.
The loss dropped the Senators’ record in their last six games to 1-4-1. But after posting a record of 4-4-1 on the now-completed nine-game road trip, they’ve kept their heads above water, standing 8th in points percentage in the NHL East. They’re more than ready for some home cookin’ starting Thursday night when the Buffalo Sabres visit.
