WINGS SPOIL PHANEUF’S DEBUT
Sens come up short in Motown
This wasn’t the Dion Phaneuf debut the Ottawa Senators imagined.
But there is no time for self pity. After this tough divisional loss to Detroit, the Senators have another important game Thursday, at home to Colorado. After missing a chance to win three in a row for the first time since late November, the Senators can’t afford to drop two in a row while trying to pursue a wild card spot.
They were oh-so-close to doing something here, but a single sequence sealed their fate. At one end, Kyle Quincy lifted Kyle Tur- ris’ stick, just as Turris was about to tap the puck into an open net. That led to a play the other direction: Pavel Datsyuk tying up Bobby Ryan outside the Ottawa blueline, before Henrik Zetterberg put a move on Phaneuf and then beat Craig Anderson for Detroit’s second goal early in the third period.
The goal was a killer. Not even a trio of power plays could produce an Ottawa goal. They failed to register a shot on any of them. A fourth power play, with a little more than four minutes to go finally produced a Zack Smith goal, a tip of Mike Hoffman’s shot after the Wings failed to clear. There was 2:24 left to go in the third at the time.
Darren Helm ended the drama with an empty net goal with little more than a minute remaining.
The Senators had seven power plays on the night.
Playing in career game No. 802, the newly acquired Phaneuf said he enjoyed “every minute of it, except the outcome.”
Head coach Dave Cameron liked Phaneuf’s leadership, and felt he was very vocal with his teammates.
It wasn’t all smooth sailing, though. In the first period on his second shift, Phaneuf blew a tire on a pivot, allowing Gustav Nyquist to skate in on a partial breakaway. Goaltender Craig Anderson did make the save.
“It was a tough start, I caught an edge,” Phaneuf said. “Andy bailed me out. On the last goal, I would have liked a better stick on it but overall I felt half decent. The disappointing part is we weren’t able to get two points.”
Phaneuf had zero shots and two hits in 20:55 of work, including 4:46 on the power play. He was minus 1. He did settle in and looked more comfortable as the night went on.
A Phaneuf slap shot on the power play in the third period sent defenceman Danny Dekeyser crashing to the ice, after it caught him just above the knee. He had to be helped off the ice and into the dressing room.
The Senators let the Red Wings dictate the pace for much of the first two periods, but regained some momentum on two Detroit penalties in the second period.
“I thought we played a good game,” said defenceman Erik Karlsson. “But they played a good game, too. They do things a little bit better than we do at the right time.”
After a decent start by the visitors, including the game’s first four shots, the Red Wings scored on their first shot of the game, a Dekeyser shot that deflected off Marc Methot’s stick and up and over Anderson’s shoulder at 3:03 of the first period.
From that point on, Anderson was under siege and kept his team in the game. Some of his finest handiwork included saves on Nyquist and Helm. Drifting in from the point, Brendan Smith creased the cross-bar with a shot but the puck stayed out.
Detroit outshot Ottawa 13-10 in the first and held a large advantage in the second until the Senators made a push and the teams ended up with eight shots apiece.
Forward Zack Smith, who had already dented a post in the game, had the best chance of the period, picking up the rebound after Petr Mrazek made a save off Mike Hoffman. Smith looked skyward in disgust as Mrazek stopped him, too. Frattin’s status: Is there no end to this new spirit of co-operation between Ottawa and Toronto? The Senators announced Wednesday that newly acquired Matt Frattin will remain with the AHL Toronto Marlies on “loan.” The Marlies are in contention for a Calder Cup and Frattin is a big part of that team. So the Senators agreed to let him stay. However, if they need a forward and want to promote him to the NHL, Frattin could become the first player to jump from the AHL Marlies to the Senators. Cowen trade request: Jared Cowen told TSN 1200 Wednesday that he had requested a trade from Ottawa earlier in the season, but waited awhile before his wish came true and he was a part of the blockbuster trade with the Maple Leafs that made Phaneuf a Senator.