OTTAWA, ON – Alex DeBrincat didn’t anticipate being welcomed back with open arms by Ottawa Senators fans Saturday with good reason.
The Red Wings forward got the boos he was expecting in his first trip to Ottawa since being dealt to Detroit last summer, and it wasn't so bad considering the final score.
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Joe Veleno scored his first two goals of the season and Dylan Larkin added a goal and two assists as the Red Wings posted their fourth straight win with a 5-2 decision over the Senators.
Larkin, Shayne Gostisbehere and David Perron added power-play goals for Detroit, which also got a 35-save performance from goaltender Ville Husso.
“It’s pretty much what I expected,” DeBrincat said. “I think it is what it is. You try to, you know, zone it out and just play the game. We’re happy we came up with the win and it’s a tough team to play on the road . . . it’s a big two points for us.”
Jake Sanderson and Ridly Greig scored for Ottawa which had its three-game win streak snapped. Joonas Korpisalo made 18 saves.
“They have a great team in there,” said the 25-year-old DeBrincat, who grew up in the suburbs north of Detroit. “But you know, I’m happy with where I am. I know they’re going to be good for quite a long time so it’s going to be a lot of battles between us.”
DeBrincat had no points but was on the ice for all three of Detroit’s power-play goals. The Red Wings were 3-for-5 with the man advantage, while Ottawa was 1-for-6.
“Definitely not the effort we want, ever,” Ottawa captain Brady Tkachuk said. “I don’t think that will happen again. We’re in the same boat, but they just showed that they’re better than us today. That’s frustrating, disappointing and we’re just going to have to learn from it.”
Detroit scored twice early in the third period to cement the win. Larkin scored Detroit’s final extra-man tally and Veleno got his second on a great pass from Daniel Sprong for a 5-1 lead.
Greig finished the scoring when his first of the season bounced in off Husso’s blocker.
Ottawa outshot Detroit 14-3 in the first but the score was 1-1 on goals by Sanderson and Gostisbehere.
Detroit made the most of its opportunities in the second to take a 3-1 lead.
Veleno made it 2-1 on a nice Christian Fischer drop pass. Detroit followed with its second power-play goal when Perron took the puck off his skate and still got enough on his shot despite Erik Brannstrom being on him in close.
Korpisalo took some of the blame for that, but he didn’t get much support.
“They scored on almost every chance they got there,” said Korpisalo. “They were on the (power play) quite a bit. … I’ve got to provide the team with more saves.”
Velano credited his teammates.
“It was obviously two great players that made two awesome plays for me,” said Veleno. “You know, I was happy I was able to be in the right spot at the right time and essentially just keep working hard.”
NOTES: It was Detroit’s win in Ottawa since Feb, 2, 2019. ... Artem Zub was unable to play for the Senators after taking a puck or stick to the face Wednesday against Washington. ... Defenseman Jacob Bernard-Docker was recalled from AHL Belleville. ... Detroit’s Jonatan Berggren was recalled from AHL Grand Rapids under emergency conditions and Robby Fabbri went on injured reserve retroactive to Oct. 12. Fabbri is expected to miss a month with a lower-body injury.
UP NEXT:
Red Wings: Return home to play Calgary on Suday.
Senators: Host the Buffalo Sabres on Tuesday night.
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AP NHL: https://apnews.com/hub/NHL