Senators 5, Red Wings 2
It was a victory worthy of a salute.
After learning they’ll be without two of their top centres for an extended period, the Ottawa Senators dug down deep at the Canadian Tire Centre on Wednesday with a 5-2 win over the Detroit Red Wings, ending a four-game winless skid on Canadian Armed Forces Appreciation Night.
Opening a three-game homestand in front of 11,026, the Senators deserved the victory with a solid effort against the Wings. Anthony Duclair, Thomas Chabot and Chris Tierney led the way with two-point efforts while Jean-Gabriel Pageau and Mark Borowiecki chipped in with goals to make life difficult for Detroit goalie Jonathan Bernier.
Making his second straight start, Anders Nilsson was solid in the club’s first win since Oct. 12 against the Lightning at home. Only Tyler Bertuzzi and Darren Helm were able to reply for the Wings as Nilsson shut the door while Detroit pressed in the third. Duclair put it away with an empty-netter.
Ottawa GM Pierre Dorion told reporters before the club’s morning skate centre Colin White (hip flexor) is out three to five weeks with a hip flexor injury while Artem Anisimov is also gone for at least two weeks with a lower body injury. Both tried to play through the ailments, but have been placed on injured reserve.
“We weren’t too pleased with what happened on the road trip and one point out of six isn’t good enough,” said Duclair. “There’s games where you’re going to lose, but you’ve got to make sure the effort level is there. Coming back home, in front of the fans, we wanted to make sure we had a good effort and we had a solid 60 minutes.”
Centre Logan Brown, who played 12:09 with 19 shifts, was summoned from the club’s AHL affiliate in Belleville for his seventh NHL game while minor-league forward J.C. Beaudin made his NHL debut. This stretch is going to put the club’s depth to a test and coach D.J. Smith pointed out that it’s an opportunity for somebody else to step up.
“When you say you’re in a rebuild, and you’re starting with a bunch of young guys and a couple of your main cogs get hurt, you’re relying a lot on guys that were maybe depth guys to start the year,” Smith said before facing the Wings.
“Everyone sits in their stall and says: ‘Why not me? Give me my chance.’ So here’s your chance,” Smith said. “If you want to play all the minutes, you have to prove you deserve them. Now’s the perfect time for some guys to say:
‘Hey, look at me and look what I can do,’ and for guys coming up from the minors this is their shot.
“Everyone wants to play all the minutes and this is a perfect opportunity for our team (to step up).”
And, some of the Senators were able to take advantage in this one.
The second period featured a flurry of action. The two teams combined for four goals in a span of 4:32 to start the frame as Duclair’s second of the season at 17:09 gave the Senators a 4-2 lead going into the third.
Pageau scored a beauty shorthanded by firing it past Bernier glove side to give the Senators the lead at 5:27.
The Senators must have had the book on Bernier because Borowiecki’s first of the season at 3:15 beat him in the same spot. Borowiecki’s first goal in 21 games tied it up 2-2 just when it looked like Ottawa was in trouble.
“It was really nice to stand back there today and see how hard the guys worked in front of me,” said Nilsson, who stopped 34 shots. “We outworked them from the first minute to the last. It was a very solid game from our point. It was nice to see we got rewarded with the hard work.”
Said Borowiecki: “You watch that game and maybe they’re a little tired on the back-to-back but we just kind of smothered them. That’s the type of hockey we have to play to be successful and we’re going to slowly figure that out.
“If we can bring that kind of effort from everyone, we’re going to put ourselves in a good spot.”
BROWN’S BIG CHANCE
There were no shortage of eyes on Brown because there was plenty of debate when he was sent to Belleville at the end of camp.
Dorion and Smith wanted the 21-year-old to have the opportunity to go down there and play big minutes before returning to the NHL. Of course, the injuries altered that timeline.
“I thought he had a good camp, but we wanted him to play a lot of minutes,” Smith said before facing the Wings. “To start the year with all the centres we had, we didn’t see an opportunity for him to play more than 10 minutes a night and we didn’t think that was any good for his development.
“We’re in a situation where we have two centres down, we were trying to hold him there as long as possible so he could play and develop. Fortunately for him, and I guess unfortunately for us, he’s coming up. My job is to make sure he gets an opportunity to play. This is about development and making sure these young kids are better. My responsibility is to give him an opportunity to succeed and get some development.”
Smith said he has no doubt in his mind that Brown eventually will be in the NHL for good.
“He’s going to be an NHL player. It’s just a matter of when he can handle the pace of a 60-minute game every night. It’s not just one night,” Smith said. “If he shows he’s ready to be a full-time NHLer, I see no reason why he can’t be. It’s a hard league and we have lot of young kids in the lineup, so it’s not like he’s going into a veteran team that has the puck the whole game and he can just be on offence.
“He’s going to have to play in his (defensive) zone and he’s not going to have as many offensive opportunities, but he’ll also be on the power play and he’ll get some of those chances.”
REUNITED AND IT FEELS SO GOOD
Brown and Tkachuk grew up in the St. Louis area together where their respective fathers, Jeff and Keith, both spent part of their careers with the Blues.
“We were pretty young,” said Tkachuk. “I think we played together from 8 to 12 years old so there were some good times and some good memories.”
No, they didn’t think they’d play together in the NHL.
“We had a really good team and (Brown) was always our top player,” Tkachuk added. “It’s pretty fun and it’s pretty cool to see the St. Louis youth hockey really grow.
“We were always hanging out together off the ice. On the ice, he was always getting goals and I was always getting the hits. There’s a lot of good memories.”
The good news for Brown is he’s back and he’s looking at this as a chance to cement himself in the NHL. Dorion said Brown wasn’t happy when he was given the news at the end of camp that he was headed back to Belleville.
“That really sucked,” Brown said. “Like I said, my whole life all I’ve dreamed about is to play in the NHL so I really felt this was my year. To get sent down it hurt, but I used it as motivation and took it as a challenge.”
OFF THE GLASS
Nobody was more excited to make his debut than Beaudin. Acquired in the deal that sent Max McCormick to the Colorado Avalanche last year, Beaudin, 22, was thrilled to make his debut. His family made the trip from Montreal to Dallas on Monday knowing there was a chance he wouldn’t play if Anisimov was ready. He had no shortage of family and friends in the audience. “It’s nice. I’m really excited. I’ve dreamed about this my whole life so I’m ready and hopefully I’ll get a win with them,” said Beaudin. “It’s close to home so I’ll have some family in town and we’ll enjoy it. There’s a lot of hard work behind this so I’m proud of myself and excited. Hopefully I can have a good game and prove myself here.” … There was no surprise that Smith decided to stick with Nilsson for a second straight start. “They’re going to split a lot of the starts. This is the first time that he’s going to back-to-back and let’s see if he can get into a groove,” said Smith.
THE LAST WORDS
The Senators held their 16th annual Canadian Armed Forces Appreciation Night on Wednesday.
The club welcomed thousands of members of the Canadian forces and their families to the game and afterwards they went down to the ice to pose for a picture with the team. More than 33,000 members of the forces have attended games since the program started in 2004.
“The annual event is about showing support for the women and men serving our country and giving back to those who protect and preserve our way of life,” said owner Eugene Melnyk in a statement.
“We’re bringing together people who may not otherwise have the opportunity to show their support and respect for the Canadians who protect our rights and freedom.”
General Jonathan Vance, the chief of the defence staff, dropped the puck at centre ice while three members of the Canadian forces sang the national anthem. The players wore special jerseys in the warmup that will be auctioned off online with the proceeds going to Support Our Troops.
FIVE THINGS WE LEARNED
1. There’s no doubting Thomas
If you want to see what Thomas Chabot means to this team go watch his perfect pass to set up Anthony Duclair’s goal in the second period.
2. Perfect timing for Borowiecki
Mark Borowiecki doesn’t score a lot but his second period effort was nice because he does a lot of work for Soldier On.
3. Time to step up for Nick Paul
Nick Paul was given more ice time as a result of the injuries and he stepped up with one of his best efforts in the NHL. Now, he has to continue to get it done.
4. Old teammate in town
Chris Tierney and Vladislav Namestnikov were junior teammates in with Detroit’s Andreas Athanasiou with the OHL’s London Knights.
5. Going it alone in warmup
The Senators respected the tradition of letting J.C. Beaudin do a solo lap in the warmup before joining him on the ice. The 22-year-old centre was called up Monday.
Twitter: @sungarrioch
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