WIN KEEPS ELUDING SENS
Lose 5-4 to Wings in shootout
The return of captain Erik Karlsson helped the Ottawa Senators make their point Monday night. And it could turn out to be big. The club dropped a 5-4 shootout decision to the Detroit Red Wings Monday night in Ottawa’s final visit to Joe Louis Arena.
Yes, the Senators saw their losing streak extended to five games, but they picked up a point in the process and that could turn out to be huge when they’re counted up at the end of the season.
The point gives the Senators 92 points, one back of the Toronto Maple Leafs in the battle for second place in the Atlantic Division. The Leafs beat the Buffalo Sabres 4-2 on Monday. Boston also has 92 points.
Making a surprising return after missing two games with a foot injury, Karlsson had a twopoint effort. Evgeny Svechnikov scored the winner in his NHL debut in the seventh round of the shootout while Colin White, making his debut, was denied to give the Wings the extra point.
Centre Kyle Turris, who has been one of the club’s most consistent performers, had a three-point effort, while Fredrik Claesson and Alex Burrows also beat Petr Mrazek during regulation. Gustav Nyqvuist had two for the Wings against Sens goalie Craig Anderson while Dylan Larkin and Frans Nielsen also chipped in for Detroit.
The action in overtime was frantic but the Senators were playing the 3-on-3 period without winger Bobby Ryan, who left in the third.
Still they were happy to get the point.
“It was good,” Karlsson said. “We battled hard. A couple of bad goals with the puck bounces, but we did everything we could to come back and I think we controlled the most part of the game.”
Karlsson skated in Ottawa at 10 a.m., felt good and told GM Pierre Dorion he wanted to play. He flew on a small jet to Detroit and even his teammates didn’t know he was coming until he arrived at the rink at 5:05 p.m.
“I felt good enough to play. I got here as soon as I could. Nobody really knew anything until I showed up here,” Karlsson said.
Claesson tied it up 4-4 at 12:31 with only his third of the season to erase a two-goal deficit for the Senators and send it to overtime.
The goals came fast and furious in the third. Only moments after the Wings pulled out to a two-goal lead, Turris scored his 27th of the season at 8:22 to cut Detroit’s lead to 4-3. Twenty-two seconds earlier, Nyquist tipped the puck by Anderson to give the Wings a 4-2 lead.
It was Nyquist’s first of the game at 5:53 of the frame that gave the Wings a 3-2 lead.
“It was huge (to get the point). It kind of stops the slide and gets us going the other way,” Turris said. “It’s easy to get caught up on the losing. We really just want to stop it. It was a big comeback point for us and we just want to carry some momentum into tomorrow night.”
The Senators tied it up 2-2 only 51 seconds into the third on a goal Mrazek probably couldn’t believe he allowed. Karlsson’s shot from the corner below the goal-line bounced off Mrazek and by him.
Ottawa needed that badly. That was Karlsson’s 16th of the year, his 70th point this season. Anderson even got an assist.
The Senators had Karlsson back, but they’re still missing big pieces. Blueliners Marc Methot and Cody Ceci are both sidedlined, while winger Zack Smith is out for the balance of the regular season. That’s no excuse and, as alternate captain Dion Phaneuf noted before the game, injuries can’t be a crutch.
Though he got off to a strong start, Anderson gave up a horrible goal to Larkin with the club short-handed. His backhander from below the goal-line somehow bounced off Anderson and into the net to give the Wings a 2-1 lead at 6:57 of the second period. That just can’t happen in crucial games like these.
Both teams had a quick start to the second.
Only 1:06 after the Wings opened the scoring, Burrows tied it up with his first goal in 10 games at 1:46. His shot from the circle beat Mrazek on the glove side. It was Burrows’ fifth goal since he was dealt to Ottawa from Vancouver at the deadline.
That helped soften the blow of the opening goal by the Wings. Trying to make a pass out front, Nielsen got a fortunate bounce off the skate of Binghamton callup Ben Harpur to open only 40 seconds into the period. The puck bounced up and beat Anderson high on the glove side.
With the shootout extended to the seventh round of shooters, White said he was on the bench when he got word he was going to participate.
“Someone told me I was going to go then,” White said. “I thought I had it upstairs. There was some tough luck there. It kind of rolled on me,” White said.
It would have been quite a night if Karlsson came back and White was able to extend the shootout, but the Senators will take the point and prepare for the rematch with the Wings Tuesday night.