Red Wings 5, Senators 2: Power Play and Husso Keep Detroit Cruising

At a stoppage in play nine minutes and 37 seconds into the first period, the Ottawa Senators displayed a message on the scoreboard welcoming Alex DeBrincat back to the arena he called home last season.  As the Jumbotron showed him on the bench, the Canadian Tire Centre erupted in boos, just as it had and would continue to do whenever he touched the puck throughout the game.  

In response to the boos, DeBrincat, who knew what he was walking into, laughed.  By game's end, DeBrincat would still be chuckling, and the Senators faithful would still be booing.

The Detroit Red Wings took a 5-2 decision Saturday afternoon in the Canadian capital for their fourth win in a row.  The game was tighter than the final scoreline might indicate, with the hosts carrying play throughout the first period and for long stretches in the second as well.  

However, a strong performance from Ville Husso between the pipes and another lethal display of power play potency was enough to take the day.  Detroit struck thrice with the man advantage, Husso stopped 36 of 38 senator shots, and Joe Veleno pitched in a pair of goals at even strength to push past the Senators.

In the first period, Ottawa came out flying.  They were quicker and more physical than the Red Wings, and they punished Detroit in transition in the precise manner coach Derek Lalonde wanted to avoid.

After five minutes of hockey, the Senators had the game's only three shots.  After eight minutes and change, they took the lead when a Jake Sanderson point shot snuck through traffic to beat Husso on the power play.

Before Ottawa had the chance to build on its advantage, Ridly Greig went to box for boarding DeBrincat, a culmination of escalating aggression in the period's latter half.  On the ensuing minor penalty, the Red Wing power play maintained its torrid form, luring the Senators PK over to one half of the ice, before Dylan Larkin snapped a seam pass for Shayne Gostisbehere on the opposite side, which the veteran Floridian defenseman fired home to tie the score.

Detroit made it to the locker room on level terms in large part because of Husso.  As Ottawa put the Red Wings under heavy duress with their pace in transition, Husso kept his team alive in a period in which they were outshot 14-3 and out-attempted 29-12.

In the second period, Detroit wasted little time in finding its game.  The top line of Larkin, DeBrincat, and Lucas Raymond delivered an excellent cycle shift to start the frame, producing a point blank look for Raymond before the period was 30 seconds old.

The second line of J.T. Compher, Andrew Copp, and Michael Rasmussen followed it up with a cycle chance of their own, eventually drawing a tripping penalty on Erik Brannstrom.  The Red Wings couldn't strike on that power play, but they did put first five shots on Joonas Korpisalo before the Senators managed one on Husso.

With just under five minutes played in the second, Rasmussen got to work with Christian Fischer on the forecheck.  Their joint effort eventually produced a wide open net for Joe Veleno, after a tidy backhand feed from below the goal line courtesy of Fischer.

At best, the Red Wings had been the better side for about five of the 25 minutes played.  However, Detroit led 2-1, and it wouldn't look back.

10 minutes and 36 seconds later, the Red Wings power play punished Ottawa again, this time with Travis Hamonic in the box for interference.  After Moritz Seider rimmed the puck to Larkin below the goal line, the Detroit captain found David Perron in the slot, who offered yet another reminder that if only one defender is covering him around the net, the Quebecois winger is open.

The Red Wings led 3-1, a margin they would carry into the second intermission, thanks to their second power play goal of the afternoon.  It wouldn't be the last.

It took just 28 seconds of the third for Detroit to complete its power play hat trick.  This time, Larkin did the honors himself.  

The third was the prettiest of the Red Wings' three power play markers for the afternoon, with mesmeric passing and a high work rate to recover pucks allowing the unit to perambulate the full extent of the offensive zone in possession before Larkin connected with a lightning quick wrister from the slot.

Not quite seven minutes later, Veleno provided his second goal of the game.  This time, it was the result of Daniel Sprong's playmaking and Veleno's hustle.  The Amsterdam-born winger led the rush for the Red Wings, managing to outflank Thomas Chabot before playing a lead pass to the back post, which Veleno could tap past Korpisalo for a 5-1 lead.

In striking twice, Veleno benefitted from tremendous assists (first from Fischer, then from Sprong) on each goal.  However, it can't be overstated how valuable Veleno has been for the Red Wings in the season's early stages.  Because of the way he has run with the third center role, Veleno has freed up Copp and Compher to join forces on a shutdown-type line with Rasmussen.  

A one-year RFA contract over the summer made it as clear as it could be that '23-24 would be a "prove-it" season for the 23-year-old pivot, and it would be hard to ask for much more through the team's first five games.  Veleno has brought 200-foot reliability throughout the young season, while also providing some much-needed offense from the bottom six.  He's enjoyed a fantastic start to the young season.

Greig provided a quick answer to Veleno's second, bringing the score to 5-2, but the Senators proved unable to pull any closer.  The third was the only period on the afternoon in which Detroit managed to outshoot their hosts (12-9).

With the sounding of the final horn, the Red Wings officially sat atop the Atlantic Division with four wins in five tries.  With a three-point performance, Larkin leapt into second in the league in scoring.  And with three PPGs in five trips to the man advantage, the Detroit power play stretched its lead over the rest of the league.

DeBrincat didn't feature on the score sheet in his return to Ottawa, though he was at the center of much of the game's extra curricular tension (most notably a tense exchange of words with Brady Tkachuk in the first).  Though held pointless for the first time as a Red Wing, it's hard to imagine that the Farmington Hills native will lose any sleep over the performance thanks to his team's resounding victory.

Yesterday, before the group traveled north, Lalonde told the press that his message to the team was that great goaltending and outscoring defensive warts was an unsustainable formula.

In the long run, he is probably correct.  However, even with defensive blemishes and prolonged periods of Ottawa pressure, the Red Wings' lethal power play and Ville Husso were enough to get the best of the Senators in Ottawa.  It still only counts for two points, but after the way the Sens humiliated Detroit on consecutive nights at the Canadian Tire Centre last February, it tasted just a little bit sweeter.

The Red Wings will return to action tomorrow at 5, hosting the Calgary Flames back at Little Caesars Arena.