Six seconds of separation gives Red Wings win over Senators

Andreas Athanasiou #72 of the Detroit Red Wings skates with the puck up ice followed by Cody Ceci #5 of the Ottawa Senators during an NHL game at Little Caesars Arena on January 3, 2017 in Detroit, Michigan. (Photo by Dave Reginek/NHLI via Getty Images)

Seven clearly was the lucky number of Andreas Athanasiou and the Red Wings Wednesday night. The 23 year old scored one in regulation was determined to get another as he did so in overtime on his seventh shot to beat the Ottawa Senators 2-1 at Little Caesars Arena. Jimmy Howard scored big as well with his third win in a row making 33 saves for a newfound winning streak for the team.

The Red Wings tried for the second time to go for a third straight win. They finished 2017 with some amazing wins that had Howard and the Red Wings shutting down their opponents. With the win against the Penguins at home being their most recent, keeping up the positivity against the Senators was key. Ottawa has been struggling of recent losing the last ten of 13 and the notion of making serious changes to the franchise. While they try to get on the right side of the new year, Anthony Mantha would make the night difficult for them in his return to the Red Wings. He leads the team with 13 goals and would try to get his team on the board again.

The Red Wings came out sticks blazing shooting four at Senators goaltender Craig Anderson who made good stops in net. His defense helped his sluggish team get on the puck during the first period and become a competitor. They started to catch up near the midway point challenging Howard in for the Red Wings. Detroit helped get him out of trouble and go on the offensive with a few chances.

The Red Wings took over the puck on Ottawa’s mistake in their own zone to watch them go to work. Detroit created shooting opportunities that ended with Athanasiou scoring his seventh of the season. Tensions began to rise in the Senators as they were down in the score and wanted to even the game with little time left on the clock. They didn’t get that chance but did overtake the Red Wings to end the first period outshooting them 14-11.  

They kept the heat on high going into the second where scoring chances were becoming frequent with the Senators. They had six shots through the first six minutes leaving the Red Wings stuck chasing the puck. Despite lacking the shots, the Red Wings were proving dangerous in the shots they did. Athanasiou charged in alone for a chance at a second goal but shot the puck on the pads of Anderson. They came together nearly getting another one indicating they’re strength to create opportunities.

They came with many on Detroit’s lines taking shots that came so close in the net behind Anderson. When the period finally ended, the Red Wings took 11 shots and had six scoring chances. Detroit’s record when leading after two periods was 9-0-3 giving them to a chance to dictate.

Ottawa denied them a chance to do so as they evened up right away in the third period. Ottawa’s Ryan Dzingel got hold of a loose puck during a Detroit pass that allowed him to fire the one timer scoring his tenth of the year. The Red Wings challenged the goal as Derrick Brassard’s stick hit Howard’s justifying goaltender interference. The NHL officials didn’t agree and kept the goal up for the Senators with Detroit losing their timeout.  

They resumed play with the Senators taking a grip on controlling the puck in order to get the lead. Both teams fought for possession with time clicking away with the Red Wings aimed in on Anderson but unable to get one through. A chance for them came at 10:41 when Dionne Phaneuf tripped Athanasiou on a breakaway awarding the young Red Wings forward a penalty shot. Like his five attempts, the solo scoring chance was denied by Anderson making things very interesting in the final minutes.

Ottawa and Detroit were neck and neck on shots at their respective goaltenders, but the next goal seemed to be the determining factor with five minutes left in regulation. Neither team gave an inch in that amount of time as they were forced to take the game into overtime for another five minutes. Detroit outshot them 12-9 in the period that leveled the teams at 34 shots each before going 3 on 3.

With no surprise of the effort that Athanasiou had, he brought it to a close six seconds in as he went for the backhander that got the puck in behind Anderson ending the game right there and then. “When the puck was bouncing I saw Karlsson’s stick on the left side of me and figured I’d go backhand again and try to get it over his glove and fortunately it went in.” It was his second of the night and the seventh shot of the game and the one that clinched him the first star of the night.

“it definitely feels good,” Athanasiou said during his press conference in the locker room. “Anytime you get on a three-game winning streak it definitely is a good feeling for us for sure.”

“Anytime I get the chance, I’m always trying to make something happen and anytime I can help the team out is definitely a good feeling.”

With things continuing for the Red Wings at home, their matchup with the Florida Panthers Friday would determine how things go for them. “You knew it was going to be tough,” Howard said to Fox Sports Detroit’s Matt Shepherd. “They come and play their systems pretty well. They like to travel through the neutral zone so we knew it was going to be a tough game for us but we found a way to win tonight.