OTTAWA- Maybe it\u2019s something about their bullish personalities, but whenever Detroit and Ottawa see red on the other team, they seem to get extra testy. The Red Wings and Senators combined for nearly 30 penalty minutes in the second period as they resumed NHL action for the first time in a month, with the Red Wings beating Ottawa 2-1 in overtime.<\/p>\n
Running it down<\/p>\n
Detroit came back out of the break and the \u201cmini training camp\u201d that coach Todd McLellan<\/a> held over the Olympic Break with a lot of energy, and in the first period, that wasn\u2019t always the best thing. The Red Wings looked and felt disorganized, with the Senators breaking apart their rushes and several players whiffing on a check they were perhaps a little over-eager to finish. Micheal Rasmussen thought he had the first goal of the game early in the first, but an offsides penalty from Elmer Soderblom negated the goal, and it would be Brady Tkachuk, late in the first who opened scoring with a power play goal.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n However, the Red Wings responded with a power play goal from their own Olympic gold medal forward.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Dylan Larkin, faceoff extraordinaire, snapped the puck in from inside the red circle and got it past Linus Ullmark<\/a> to tie the game 1-1 in the second and it would take the extra frame for the teams to decide. Ultimately, Larkin was able to take a breakaway chance and put it between Ullmark\u2019s legs in overtime to score the game winner, giving Detroit and their no.1 center two points on the night.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Takeaways<\/p>\n The Red Wings played with a lot of energy tonight, but not a lot of focus. Larkin\u2019s goal seemed to re-center the team, and they played a more disciplined game coming out of the first half of the game. The physicality and urgency was up and down the lineup, and Marco Kasper in particular stood out for several effort plays made throughout the game, including helping shut down Ottawa\u2019s first power play.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Key Moment<\/p>\n Goaltender John Gibson<\/a> made several impressive saves tonight, but perhaps one of his most impressive was when he managed to keep the puck out of the net while his equipment was literally falling off. After getting tangled up making a save just moments earlier, the netminder\u2019s pads appeared to come loose as he hobbled with one leg to keep Ottawa from getting up 2-1, staying that way until play was stopped on the opposite side of the rink.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Key Stat<\/p>\n Larkin\u2019s\u00a0 had both goals for the Red Wings tonight, with his first goal came from his own face off win during the power play. Before tonight\u2019s game, Larkin<\/a> had won 103 of 202 faceoff opportunities in his last ten NHL games. However, he closed out the Olympics with a 69.6 FO win %, and that seems to have carried over tonight.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Up Next:<\/p>\n