Ottawa Senators posted their second win of the season last night when they defeated Detroit Red Wings. The result was 5-2 for the hosts who got all three periods in this match.
The Senators were very aggressive and physical, but they managed to set the tempo and break the poor red Wings who are struggling to find the chemistry on the ice. The Canadian team knew that the guests from Michigan are playing their second of back-to-back games, following a home event versus the Vancouver Canucks. So, they wanted to crush the rival early on, which eventually happened.
Ottawa’s defenseman Mark Borowiecki revealed that at the media session.
“Maybe [the Red Wings] were a little tired on a back to back, but I think we just kind of smothered them,” Senators defenseman Mark Borowiecki said.
Chris Tierney was the first one to score, with 6:16 into the contest, by tapping a cross-crease assist sent by Bobby Ryan. That was the only goal in the first period, while the second one saw fireworks of goals. And it didn’t start very well for the hosts.
The Red Wings caught the Senators off guard early on, netting twice in the opening 2:25. At first, it was Darren Helm with his fourth goal of the season. Hsent a one-timer beside Anders Nilsson, the Senators’ goalie just 45 seconds into the period. Tyler Bertuzzi pushed the visitors ahead with a rebound goal, and at that point, the entire Canadian Tire Centre was a bit worried about what happened to their favorites.
Fortunately for all of them, that feeling didn’t last for too long, due to Borowiecki’s equalizer, some 50 seconds following Bertuzzi’s score.
Two minutes afterward, Jean-Gabriel Pageau ignited the crowd, as he scored a shorthanded goal for the hosts, which turned the tide in their favor.
From that moment on, Anthony Duclair took over the wheel, and with two goals, he sealed the Senators’ win in this event. First of his two came 2:51 until the end of the middle sequence, and the second came late in the period too; only it was the third part of the contest.
“Coming back at home in front of our fans, we wanted to make sure we had a good showing, and I think we had a solid 60 minutes tonight,” Duclair said.
The Senators came back to Ottawa following three straight losses on the road, and they wanted to snap that negative series. The Red Wings, who are in an even worse situation, were the perfect prey for the Canadian side. Right now, Detroit has six straight defeats, and things aren’t looking good for one of the most recognized hockey teams in the world.
“I thought tonight was the worst defensively we’ve played in a while,” Red Wings coach Jeff Blashill said. “I don’t want to take anything away from Ottawa, they played hard, but we were loose.”
Their next game is against the Buffalo Sabres this Friday, while Ottawa plays against the New York Islanders on the same day at the Canadian Tire Center.
