DETROIT (AP) - Evgeni Svechnikov won’t soon forget his NHL debut.
Svechnikov scored the only goal of the shootout in the seventh round, lifting the Detroit Red Wings to a 5-4 victory over the Ottawa Senators on Monday night.
“Coach (Jeff Blashill) just pointed at me and he said just go and the guys just started telling me ’do your thing,’” Svechnikov said. “I just wanted to score so bad. It was so loud and I was excited, and just did my thing.”
Svechnikov went to his backhand and slid the puck between the pads of Ottawa goalie Craig Anderson.
Tomas Tatar had a goal and an assist, and Frans Nielsen, Gustav Nyquist and Dylan Larkin scored in regulation for Detroit, Nick Jensen had two assists and Petr Mrazek stopped 41 shots.
Kyle Turris and Fredrik Claesson scored 4:09 apart in the third period to tie the score for the Senators, who earned a point to pull into a tie with Boston for third place in the Atlantic Division. Ottawa is technically ahead at the moment with a game in hand on the Bruins, but if the teams finish tied Boston is assured of having the edge with more regulation and overtime wins.
“At 4-2, our guys are battling and fighting and clawing, and that’s our season right there,” Ottawa coach Guy Boucher said. “That’s us. It’s been tough, it’s been all kinds of stuff happening to us and we battle back.
“That was a crazy overtime, a crazy shootout. Obviously for fans it’s great. We got an important point and we’ve got to keep moving.”
Erik Karlsson had a goal and an assist, Alexandre Burows also scored and Turris also had two assists for the Senators.
Karlsson, who had missed two games with a left foot injury and was thought to be unavailable for the game, surprised his teammates team when he decided to join them in Detroit and play.
“I skated at 10 this morning in Ottawa, and it felt good, so I called (general manager) Pierre (Dorion) and told him I thought I could play,” said the defenseman and captain who leads the team in scoring with 70 points. “I didn’t tell anyone I was coming, not even my teammates.
“I just jumped on a plane and got here as fast as I could. I don’t think anyone knew until they saw my jersey hanging in my locker.”
Boucher, who learned of Karlsson’s plans after the morning skate, felt that seeing that No. 65 jersey hanging in Karlsson’s stall gave his struggling team, with just one point in their previous four games, a significant confidence boost.
“If he says that he’s going to be there, he’s going to be there,” Boucher said. “We knew he wasn’t coming just to be there half. He had a big impact on the game. It lifted our team. It created a lot of enthusiasm.”
The teams complete the home-and-home set Tuesday in Ottawa.
The Red Wings ended a three-game losing streak with the win but it didn’t come easily as the Senators rallied from three deficits to tie it.
After a scoreless opening period, the goals came quickly in the second. Nielsen’s pass from behind the Ottawa net hit the skate of Senators defenseman Ben Harper and bounced through Anderson’s legs to give Nielsen his 16th of the season at the 40-second mark.
The Senators tied it 1:46 as Burrows’ seemingly harmless wrist shot bounced off the top of Mrazek’s glove and into the net.
Detroit regained the lead short-handed at 6:53 as Larkin sent a backhander from the side that found a way in between Anderson and the post.
Ottawa tied it on a power play just 56 seconds into the third as Karlsson lifted the puck from the corner to the front of the net and it hit the back of Mrazek’s stick and skidded in through his legs.
The Red Wings went back ahead on their power play at 5:53 as Tatar lifted the puck over a diving Anderson. Detroit added another power play-goal at the eight-minute mark to take a 4-2 lead as Mike Green’s point shot deflected off the blade of Nyquist’s stick and fluttered past Anderson.
Turris snapping a wrist shot past Mrazek on the stick side at 8:22 to pull Ottawa within one, and Claesson’s point shot beat Mrazek on the glove side with 7:29 remaining.
NOTES: Senators C Colin White also made his NHL debut. White, who signed a three-year entry-level deal on Sunday, won a gold medal with Team USA at this season’s world junior championship. … Red Wings LW Justin Abdelkader (United States) and both of the team’s goaltenders, Jimmy Howard (United States) and Mrazek (Czech Republic), confirmed that they will play in the world championship. Red Wings equipment manager Paul Boyer will serve in that role for Canada at the worlds.
UP NEXT
Senators: Host to Detroit on Tuesday.
Red Wings: At Ottawa on Tuesday.
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