Red Wings 5, Senators 3: Larkin returns and Detroit scores five to win its first
Alex DeBrincat had two goals and an assist, including the empty-netter, as Detroit built a 4-1 lead in the second period and held off Ottawa for its first win of the season.
The Detroit Red Wings beat the Ottawa Senators 5-3 on Tuesday for their first win of the season, improving to 1-2-0. Ottawa, playing the second night of a back-to-back after a 4-1 win at Boston, fell to 2-1-0, according to NHL.com.
A fast start, then a flip
Tim Stutzle put Ottawa ahead 1-0 at 2:44 of the first period with a snap shot past John Gibson's blocker. Detroit answered 32 seconds later, when Alex DeBrincat tied it off a pass from Nate Danielson. Dylan Larkin then scored from the top of the crease at 13:14 to give the Red Wings their first lead of the season.
The second period belonged to Detroit. Viktor Arvidsson scored on the power play at 2:01 by putting in the rebound of Larkin's shot, and Justin Faulk made it 4-1 at 4:30 with a wrist shot from the high slot after a stretch pass from William Wallinder. Drake Batherson pulled one back on the power play at 6:08, cutting it to 4-2.
Ottawa pushes, DeBrincat closes it
William Eklund made it 4-3 at 10:30 of the third period from a tough angle, but Ottawa could not find the equaliser. DeBrincat scored into an empty net at 19:10 for the final margin.
Gibson made 22 saves for Detroit and Samuel Ersson made 31 for Ottawa. DeBrincat finished with two goals and an assist, Larkin, Arvidsson and Faulk each had a goal and an assist, and Lucas Raymond had three assists, per NHL.com. Wallinder and rookie Carter Mazur each recorded their first NHL point.
Larkin's night
It was Larkin's season debut. NHL.com reports he requested a trade away from Detroit, gave up the captaincy and suffered an upper-body injury before training camp, and that he was booed on his first shifts before that stopped once Detroit started scoring. His point in a season opener was the 11th of his career, tying Sergei Fedorov, Alex Delvecchio and Nicklas Lidstrom for third-most in franchise history behind Gordie Howe (18) and Steve Yzerman (12).
What it means
Detroit coach Todd McLellan said the team was "a lot heavier and harder" than in its first two games, NHL.com reported. Ottawa captain Thomas Chabot was blunt about his side's start, saying the Senators "didn't really play for the first 25 or 27 minutes" and took "not-so-great penalties."
For Ottawa, Stutzle had five points (three goals, two assists) across the back-to-back, per NHL.com, joining Brady Tkachuk and Dany Heatley as Senators players with multiple goals on consecutive days.