Senators end two game slide beating Red Wings 3-1

Alexandre Burrows #14 of the Ottawa Senators celebrates his second period goal against the Detroit Red Wings with teammates Derick Brassard #19, Dion Phaneuf #2 and Mark Stone #61 at Canadian Tire Centre on November 2, 2017 in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. (Photo by Andre Ringuette/NHLI via Getty Images)

The Senators had the right moves to win at Canadian Tire Arena Thursday night. Their push to be ahead in the game resulted in an overall fight beating the Detroit Red Wings 3-1 ending their two game losing streak. Ottawa took 30 shots on net along with strong penalty killing that helped snap Detroit’s two game winning streak.

Detroit’s ability to get on the winning side of the game against Arizona had them still challenged with not only another road trip but a matchup against the Senators. Their Atlantic Division rival have lost two in a row, hoping to end their slide at home. The Montreal Canadiens stormed through them Monday 8-3 without Kyle Turris. With his return to the lineup and Craig Anderson starting in net, the Senators had a strong chance of showing competition.

They got to work on a broken Detroit play that allowed the Senators to turn the puck around giving Cody Ceci the shot on Detroit goaltender Jimmy Howard. The Red Wings challenged the goal that Ottawa’s Zach Smith made goaltender interference with him. Officials concluded that interference was apparent negating Ceci’s chance for a third. They remained in a high gear producing shots in the Detroit zone that woke up their lines. Detroit started to take their chances on Anderson but they were denied any push to change the scoreboard in their favor.

With four minutes left on the clock, Detroit took the lead on shots on goal but still hadn’t broke through Anderson who was solid in net. Howard kept the same stance across the ice making some big saves to stop Ottawa. It was becoming a real battle as opportunities were running out for both teams. The final minute of play changed positively for the Senators as a search for the puck ended with Mark Stone who got to it, fired the puck through traffic to score his eighth of the season. Ottawa took another scoring chance prior to the horn that gave them a 12-10 run after 20.

Detroit didn’t want to run behind the Senators and therefore began the second period with a four-shot push in the opening three minutes. While they didn’t yet get even with Ottawa, their statement was an early one to keep the confidence of their squad high. The teams kept even through halfway in the period but a push from the Senators later awarded them with a critical power play to dictate the game further to their advantage. With a little more ice, they took advantage of having two men covering one player leaving them to go for an open chance. It came on the stick of Alexandre Burrows scoring his second of the season to take a 2-0 lead.

The Senators gained a lot of momentum from it taking Detroit 14-8 through a majority of the period. A power play in the final minutes went into action for Ottawa but the Red Wings, avoided seeing the margin grow any further in their desperate attempt to bring the period to an end. They outshot Detroit 14-8 and held their ground leaving the Red Wings one last chance to respond heavily and save the game from going against them.

The Red Wings came out with three shots on Anderson but still couldn’t find one to get behind him. Time was playing against Detroit as the Senators put a lot of effort to maintain their lead with Anderson inching closer to a shutout. Detroit was awarded a second man advantage on an Erik Karlsson penalty for hi sticking Gustav Nyquist. It ended in a solid penalty kill by the Senators who were killing second chances for Detroit and pushing them out of the offensive zone at every chance.

The Red Wings remained relentless to get on the board and did so with four minutes left in regulation. With the strategy of putting pucks to the net, Dylan Larkin helped out with a fake pass backhanding the puck to the blue line where Anthony Mantha was. Mantha’s drive from the far end, got through everyone in front scoring his sixth of the year. With little time left, Howard was pulled from the net with chances still there for Detroit to force overtime.

With the hint of killing the Red Wings chances, they played it with a fight for possession, clearing the puck away from the crease as well as attempts on the empty net. With nine seconds to go, the Senators did it with Nate Thompson scoring the final goal of the night that ended the team’s short slide. While they close out their final home game of the week against the Las Vegas Golden Knights, the Red Wings would prepare to get back on the right side of the puck as they headed west to face the Edmonton Oilers on Sunday.