Red Wings start road trip by defeating Senators in OT

Photo by: Andre Ringuette/Getty Images

Anthony Mantha’s OT goal puts a damper on the night for the Ottawa Senators. His game winning goal allowed the Red Wings edged out their Atlantic Division rivals 3-2 at Canadian Tire Centre Thursday night. Detroit began the road trip with a solid win to capture the second point and begin a positive pace on Daniel Alfredsson jersey retirement night.

Detroit hoped to play spoiler during the retirement jersey night of one of their former players. Their loss Monday to the Buffalo Sabres left them in a state of concern starting a long road trip from Joe Louis Arena. Taking on the Ottawa Senators became huge for Coreau who used to idolize the team as a child. The Perth, Ontario native wanted another win to go with the one he got against the Florida Panthers winning in a shootout. The need for a winning streak on the road would determine on the timing of the Red Wings and their energy to take point right from the start.

The Red Wings got to a good start after four minutes with Brendan Smith driving the puck from the far end. His shot went into traffic with the puck deflecting off of Tomas Vanek for his seventh of the season. A power play came to them later on but their 30^th ranked success on the ice didn’t help them to produce more goals.

Plays got dicey in front of the net for Coreau and Senators goaltender Mike Condon. A loose puck nearly caught the Red Wings netminder off guard but the 25-year-old made the pad save to clear the puck out of danger. The same went for Condon who watched Mantha come in for a shot lifting the puck high. Condon got a piece of his glove high enough to deflected the shot from falling over his shoulder and into the net.

The competition remained close with one another as the Senators hunted down the chance to level the game. In the final minute of the period, Ottawa got possession with Mark Stone stealing one away from Detroit behind the net. A pass play to Derrick Brassard allowed the center man to fire a shot giving him his eighth of the season. The late surge pushed the Senators over Detroit with a 14-12 shots on goal lead.

The surge continued on for the Senators who had the Red Wings down on their luck while hoping to increase the margin on the scoreboard. They trailed Detroit on shots but a push into the Red Wings end with Mark Stone getting the best of them. His shot from the boards zipped into the net giving him 11 on the year and the lead for his team.

Detroit showed signs of bouncing back and creating offense to level the game. After four minutes of offensive push, the veterans on the Red Wings got the game back to leveling pegging with Tomas Tatar firing a shot behind Condon for his eighth. The remainder of the period saw times where the teams were even till the pace took a turn in favor of Ottawa.

The Senators received a huge advantage gaining a two-man advantage over the Red Wings. They began their attack by charging the puck into the Detroit end firing shots at Coreau. All their attempts were close, but not enough to take the lead back. They led 9-7 against the Red Wings with the third period becoming most critical for both.

The third was a slow run for Detroit and Ottawa as the teams took their shots on goal but little opportunities were produced. Time elapsed from the clock with neither team having an edge on the other. For the remainder of the period, it was a neck and neck fight for control for puck possession but the edge never arrived leading Detroit and Ottawa to attempt to settle the score in overtime.

The victory for the Red Wings didn’t take long for them to seal the win over the Senators. Niklas Kronwall made a good skate into a solid spot in the Ottawa zone where he found Mantha not far back. The 22-year-old fired off a wrister scoring the winning goal that ended things after 67 seconds of play.

The victory for Detroit gives the team plenty of rest in order to prepare for Sunday’s Centennial Classic at BMO Field in Toronto.