Dylan Larkin pulled his team within a goal, but once again the Detroit Red Wings came up short.
Two nights after falling to the Ottawa Senators at home, the Wings lost by the same score, 5-2, Sunday at Canadian Tire Center, extending their winless streak to six games.
Larkin netted his 29th goal with 7:25 to play in regulation, taking a feed from Filip Hronek and driving to the net to score on a backhand to make it 3-2. Thomas Greiss was pulled for an extra attacker with 1:48 left, and the Wings used their timeout. The Wings then gave up two empty-net goals in the final two minutes after outshooting the Senators, 17-8, in the third period.
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Josh Norris, an Oxford native who played at Michigan, collected his first career hat trick, adding to the goal he scored on his hometown team Friday. (The Wings passed on Norris in the 2017 draft, taking Michael Rasmussen at No. 9. The San Jose Sharks drafted Norris at No. 19, and traded him a year later as part of the price for defenseman Erik Karlsson).
Greiss gave up one goal on six shots in the first period and three goals on 34 shots. Rasmussen contributed his 10th goal of the season. Lucas Raymond, Filip Zadina and Pius Suter were thwarted on prime scoring opportunities by Anton Forsberg, who was back in net after 21-year-old Mads Søgaard earned Friday’s win in his NHL debut.
The Wings (26-34-9) next play Tuesday at home against the Boston Bruins.
Patching lines
Forwards Sam Gagner (non-COVID illness) and Tyler Bertuzzi (unvaccinated) were unavailable, leading the Wings to call up Kyle Criscuolo and move defenseman Jordan Oesterle up front, pairing them on the fourth line with recent call-up Taro Hirose. Adam Erne moved up to play with Dylan Larkin and Lucas Raymond, and Rasmussen moved onto a line with Suter and Jakub Vrana, slotting Joe Veleno with Zadina and Oskar Sundqvist. The Senators were down to 10 forwards in the third period after losing two to injury.
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Scoring first
For the first time in four games, the Wings scored first. Vrana and defenseman Michael Del Zotto were battling for the puck at Ottawa’s blue line when it came loose, and Rasmussen swooped in and scooped the puck around Tim Stútzle, strode to the right circle and sent a rising shot into Ottawa’s net. The Senators tied the game late in the period, when Brady Tkachuk passed the puck from the goal line to Artem Zub at the top of the right circle. Zub fired the puck, and though Greiss saw it coming the whole way, the puck went right through his legs. The Senators had a 14-6 edge in shots in the first period.
Taking penalties
Early in the second period, defenseman Gustav Lindstrom left his leg extended as he collided with Tyler Ennis, leading to an interference call. While he was serving his second penalty of the game, Drake Batherson got the puck in his own zone and transported it into Detroit’s zone before passing to Tkachuk, who centered a pass to Stútzle. He found Norris in the right circle for a power play goal, Norris’ second in the two games against the Wings. Lindstrom also took two penalties March 30 against the Rangers, and was in the box when the Rangers scored a tying goal with 3:38 to play in regulation.
Contact Helene St. James at hstjames@freepress.com. Follow her on Twitter @helenestjames. Read more on the Detroit Red Wings and sign up for our Red Wings newsletter. Her book, The Big 50: The Detroit Red Wings is available from Amazon, Barnes & Noble and Triumph Books. Personalized copies available via her e-mail.