The Ottawa Senators opened up a three-goal lead then held off a furious Detroit rally to defeat the host Red Wings 4-3 on Thursday night.
Thomas Chabot, Tim Stutzle, David Perron and Michael Amadio scored for the Senators (38-28-5, 81 points). Linus Ullmark made 31 saves as Ottawa, which leads the Eastern Conference wild-card race, won the season series 3-1.
Lucas Raymond had a goal and an assist for Detroit (33-33-6, 72 points), which is three points out of the East’s second wild-card spot. Patrick Kane and Vladimir Tarasenko also scored, while Alex Lyon and Cam Talbot combined for 28 saves.
Detroit had 16 shots on goal in the first period yet trailed by two goals after it ended.
The Senators killed off an early penalty against Fabian Zetterlund, then scored when he came out of the box. Zetterlund set up Chabot, who lifted a shot from the slot that eluded Lyon’s right shoulder.
Ottawa killed off two more penalties during the first 11 minutes, then made it 2-0 on Stutzle’s goal at 13:01. He skated into the Detroit zone along the left side and beat Lyon on the short side.
The Senators killed off a David Perron penalty later in the period. The Red Wings got a fifth power play in the period with 40 seconds left when Tyler Kleven was called for tripping. It carried over to the second period but the Red Wings still couldn’t break through.
Seconds later, Perron made it 3-0 against his former club. Following a Detroit turnover in the neutral zone, Perron wound up with a breakaway and beat Lyon on the glove side. Lyon was then pulled in favor of Talbot.
The Senators received their first two power plays during the second period but the score didn’t change.
Detroit got its sixth power play with 15:21 remaining in the game. It finally ended Ullmark’s shutout bid, as Kane scored off an Alex DeBrincat feed.
Amadio scored on a 2-on-0 breakaway at 8:41 for a 4-1 Senators lead.
Raymond made it a two-goal game again when he scored off a Marco Kasper feed at 11:50. Tarasenko scored from the slot at 15:30 off a J.T. Compher pass.
–Field Level Media
