Red Wings Re-Energized by Olympic Break, Win in Overtime at Ottawa

Maybe it’s something about their bullish personalities, but whenever Detroit and Ottawa see red on the other team, they seem to get extra testy. The Red Wings and Senators combined for nearly 30 penalty minutes in the second period as they resumed NHL action for the first time in a month, with the Red Wings beating Ottawa 2-1 in overtime.

Running it down

Detroit came back out of the break and the “mini training camp” that coach Todd McLellan held over the Olympic Break with a lot of energy, and in the first period, that wasn’t always the best thing. The Red Wings looked and felt disorganized, with the Senators breaking apart their rushes and several players whiffing on a check they were perhaps a little over-eager to finish. Micheal Rasmussen thought he had the first goal of the game early in the first, but an offsides penalty from Elmer Soderblom negated the goal, and it would be Brady Tkachuk, late in the first who opened scoring with a power play goal.

However, the Red Wings responded with a power play goal from their own Olympic gold medal forward.

Dylan Larkin, faceoff extraordinaire, snapped the puck in from inside the red circle and got it past Linus Ullmark to tie the game 1-1 in the second and it would take the extra frame for the teams to decide. Ultimately, Larkin was able to take a breakaway chance and put it between Ullmark’s legs in overtime to score the game winner, giving Detroit and their no.1 center two points on the night.

Takeaways

The Red Wings played with a lot of energy tonight, but not a lot of focus. Larkin’s goal seemed to re-center the team, and they played a more disciplined game coming out of the first half of the game. Said John Gibson, “I think after the first period we found our game, and I think it was evident there the last 40 minutes that we just kept getting stronger.”

The physicality and urgency were up and down the lineup, and Marco Kasper in particular stood out for several effort plays made throughout the game, including helping shut down Ottawa’s first power play.

Key Moment

Gibson made several impressive saves tonight, but perhaps one of his most impressive was when he managed to keep the puck out of the net while his equipment was literally falling off. After getting tangled up making a save just moments earlier, the netminder’s pads appeared to come loose as he hobbled with one leg to keep Ottawa from getting up 2-1, staying that way until play was stopped on the opposite side of the rink. Said McLellan, “He knows that sometimes goaltenders have to buy you some time to find your game. Tonight was definitely that case.”

Key Stat

Larkin had both goals for the Red Wings tonight, with his first goal coming from his own face-off win during the power play. Before tonight’s game, Larkin had won 103 of 202 faceoff opportunities in his last 10 NHL games. However, he closed out the Olympics with a 69.6 FO win %, and that seems to have carried over tonight.

Up Next:

The Red Wings next face off against the Carolina Hurricanes at 7:00 PM Eastern on FanDuel Sports Network. They complete a three-game road trip Monday afternoon at Nashville. The Red Wings return home to LCA on March 4th to face the Golden Knights, two days before the trade deadline.