With a goal from the new guy and a vintage (2023) Linus Ullmark in net, the Ottawa Senators came away with a much-needed win against the Detroit Red Wings last night, March 10th.
In an in-division tilt at the Canadian Tire Centre, Ottawa faced Detroit, two teams in the tight Eastern Conference Wild Card Race.
The Senators were coming off back-to-back 4-3 overtime wins, which gets the job done, but they couldn’t afford to give the Red Wings even a single point in this one.
While the Senators are heating up, Detroit was on a five-game losing streak heading into the Monday night match-up.
A tale of two teams fighting for a wild card spot.
Related Post: Ottawa Senators Acquire Dylan Cozens from Buffalo Sabres
After a scoreless first period, fans were already ready to give Ullmark his flowers as he kept his team in it despite the constant firepower of the Red Wings.
Cam Talbot was doing the same on the other end of the ice.
David Perron would finally break through in the second period though, scoring a power-play goal to put the Sens up 1-0. Special teams were the name of the game in this one, and whether that was the penalty kill or the power play for Ottawa, they were both working.
Ottawa was 2/4 on the power play and held Detroit scoreless on the three man advantages they gave up.
That penalty-killing success was mainly due to the incredible game of Linus Ullmark. He tallied 48 saves on 49 shots, only giving up a goal to the red-hot Dylan Larkin to start off the third period.
But no matter because the new guy, Dylan Cozens, recently acquired at the deadline, cashed his first in the red and black.
Cozens was playing on the first power play unit, and boy, did he look good there. His goal came on a textbook play from Jake Sanderson and Brady Tkachuk with the man advantage.
All night, the newly acquired forward was buzzing around the ice, making the plays he needed to and being a big body in the offensive end.
Another standout player for the Sens last night was another deadline piece they added. Fabian Zetterlund looked great on the fourth line alongside Matthew Highmore and Adam Gaudette.
While he may not stay on the fourth line long-term, they were able to get some quality scoring chances and win the wall battles that Ottawa needed. This gritty line gained a bit of finesse and more hustle with the addition of Zetterlund, and that is the depth they will need if they want to make a run at these playoffs.
Despite a near buzzer-beater from the Red Wings at the end of the third, Ullmark and the Senators held on to their one-goal lead and secured a much-needed victory that propels them to first in the wild card race.
With both of their deadline pickups performing well and Linus Ullmark quite possibly returning to where he was before his injury over the winter holidays, this team is right where they want to be heading into the final stretch of the season.
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