For the third time in 2026, the Ottawa Senators lost to the Detroit Red Wings, and goaltender John Gibson played a massive role.
The Sens generated a ton of chances all night, but Gibson was better yet again.
No time to waste. Let’s get to grading.
ForwardsBrady Tkachuk: A-
The captain was no worse for wear after partying with Team USA non-stop for three days after their Olympic win. He had one of his strongest periods of the season in the first frame, getting open for multiple one-timers in the slot, and fighting like hell down low, once protecting the puck for a solid 15 seconds with two Red Wings draped all over him and then finding Thomas Chabot for a quality shot. Parked at the top of the slot on a power play late in the first, the puck found Tkachuk and he ripped it home to give Ottawa a 1-0 lead. He was a force out there, and totally energized. After a bad hit from Simon Edvinsson in the second, Tkachuk saw red and took a misconduct, which meant the Senators lost him for half a period in the middle of one of his better games of the season.
Ridly Greig: A-
Greig was the best player on the ice most of the night, but ran into some penalty trouble. He had numerous rush chances, battled to bring pucks to the net, and fed linemates for what should’ve been two or three goals. He took a hooking penalty when it was clear the refs were looking to give Ottawa the next one, and he could’ve been a little more cautious on his goalie interference minor. Nonetheless, that’s an encouraging start to the final stretch.
Fabian Zetterlund: B
Zetterlund’s game picked up in the second. He wired a one-timer from the top of the right circle late in the period and then went out and flattened two Red Wings players. He finished with
Dylan Cozens: A-
Cozens had a ton of scoring chances in the middle of the ice, doing a great job at shaking defenders and finding cracks in the Red Wings’ defensive structure, but this high grade is mostly for his willingness to step up physically. He stuck up for the captain, fighting Edvinsson after a blatant interference. Cozens had a game-high seven hits. He leads the Sens in that category by a mile with 155 on the season. Cozens also drew a hooking call, which led to Ottawa’s 1-0 power-play goal.
Drake Batherson: B-
That must’ve felt like such a frustrating game for Batherson. He had numerous quality scoring chances, but was either robbed by John Gibson or couldn’t quite handle a bobbling puck.
Shane Pinto: B-
Pinto restarted the season they same way he left off before the Olympic break — incredibly snakebitten. He had glorious chances, a breakaway where he was half obstructed, a Grade A opportunity on the door step in the third, down on one knee to try to shovel in a cross-crease pass, and a wrist shot into Gibson’s right shoulder in the dying seconds of regulation. Dylan Larkin got behind Pinto in overtime and scored the game-winning goal on a breakaway.
Claude Giroux: B-
Giroux made some smooth plays with the puck on the rush, once juking a defender to gain the middle and throwing an impressive backhander off the cross bar. He had one shot and a giveaway in 13:55 of ice time.
Tim Stutzle: B+
After missing the past few ice sessions, including Thursday’s morning skate, due to an illness, Stutzle looked mostly like himself against the Red Wings. He made some dynamic offensive plays with the puck in the first, spinning off of defenders and making passes on his knees, and threw a few hits in the middle frame. His game faded a little bit as the game went on, but he gave the team all he had and more in 17:58 of ice time.
Michael Amadio: B-
Coach Travis Green mentioned post-game that he liked his team’s offensive game, but he wanted to see the forwards bear down a little more to capitalize on chances. That’s the story of Amadio’s season, and partially his game against the Red Wings. He steals a ton of pucks in the O zone and is able to locate them in clogged slots, but can’t quite put the finishing touches on those chances. Eight goals through 58 games is simply not enough.
Stephen Halliday: B+
In just 6:38 of ice time, Halliday was able to set up three solid scoring chances with spectacular vision. He used his speed to beat a Detroit defender to a puck and feed the trailer in the first, he snuck a pass under a stick in tight to Pinto on the power play, and he threaded a seam pass over to Lars Eller on the rush in the third.
Nick Cousins: B
For the first time in a while, Cousins was difficult to notice on that shutdown trio, but he quietly had a strong game, racking up two shots, two blocks and one hit in 17:42.
Lars Eller: B
Eller’s D zone takeaway led to Pinto’s breakaway in the second, and he had a good opportunity to break the 1-1 tie on the rush in the third. Every Olympian had a respectable first game back, including the Dane.
DefencemenJake Sanderson: A-
Sanderson seemed to have a hand in half the offence Ottawa generated in the first period. He got the primary assist on Tkachuk’s 1-0 goal, and nearly scored on a point-blank slap shot that beat Gibson five-hole but somehow didn’t go in. Early in the third, Sanderson performed a McDavid-like one-man regroup in the neutral zone, heading back into the O zone on a mission, deking a defender and firing a snap shot from the left side. Sanderson had his defensive lapses, but he was really strong overall, once going down on one knee to block a cross-ice pass attempt on a Detroit rush in the final minute of regulation. No rest for the wicked: Sanderson played 26:39 a few days after taking home gold in Italy.
Artem Zub: B
A miscue between Zub and Sanderson left Larkin partially uncovered in the low slot, and the Detroit captain was able to get a one-timer off for the 1-1 goal. Zub had a solid defensive game overall, though, blocking three shots in 23:05 of ice time.
Thomas Chabot: B-
Chabot activated well from the blue line in the O zone, and did a good job at transporting the puck to safety at the other end. The overtime goal is mostly on Pinto, but perhaps Chabot could’ve noticed earlier and played the rush more conservatively. A bit nit-picky, I know.
Jordan Spence: B
Spence had some poor decisions with the puck, but he was strong in 1-on-1 defence, getting as mean as his D partner at times, and handing out crosschecks like they had a Feb. 26 expiry date.
Tyler Kleven: B+
Kleven asserted himself well, stepping up in the neutral zone to force weak Detroit dump-ins, which were easily handled by his D partner. Kleven made it tough on the Red Wings forwards, racking up five hits. He went slightly over the line with a cross-check to the back of Alex DeBrincat, who is surprisingly still getting mercilessly booed at Canadian Tire Centre. Surely, Sens fans will give Kleven a pass for that.
Nick Jensen: C+
Jensen stuck to making the easy pass and got the puck to his D partner when pressured. He got lost a couple times in his own end at the tail end of a few shifts, but had a good active stick, once in the third period preventing a cross-ice pass and what would’ve been an easy goal.
GoalieLinus Ullmark: B
It has been preached from the mountain tops that the Senators just need average goaltending and they will have a shot at making the playoffs. Well, Ullmark gave them a .900 on Thursday, and the skaters in front of him couldn’t quite get it done. The Larkin winner seemed a little too obvious of a move to be beaten by, but Ullmark was good, and flashed the leather several times.
Now it’s time for your take; tell us in the comment section which Senators impressed you and who needs to improve their game.