The Ottawa Senators (11-12-2) defeated the Detroit Red Wings (10-12-4) by a score of 2-1.
On the night the Senators were celebrating the reunion of the “Pizza Line” consisting of Dany Heatley, Jason Spezza, and Daniel Alfredsson, they managed to pull away with a low-scoring win with a goal from Josh Norris in the final minute of the game.
Game Recap
The Senators took a 1-0 lead as Norris scored his 10th goal of the season midway through the first period, and held the Red Wings to just eight shots in the opening frame.
Moving into the second period, there was a lot of slow play and good defensive efforts from both sides, and the Senators held the Red Wings to just 12 shots through the first 40 minutes.
It was the third period where the game got interesting. With many controversial calls going both ways, special teams was the ultimate factor in this game. The Senators took four penalties, and the Red Wings took three. A majority of those penalties were met with distraught from announcers and fans, and both head coaches.
The Red Wings would tie the game with a power play goal from Alex DeBrincat, who was met with a loud boo from the Senators fans each time he touched the puck. The Red Wings would then take a lot of momentum from the Senators and play some very strong hockey for most of the remained of the third period.
With just 50 seconds to go, Norris, who took a pass from Drake Batherson, entered the Red Wings zone and while it didn’t look like much of a scoring opportunity, he wired the puck over the shoulder of Ville Husso to seal the game.
Husso made 30 saves on 32 shots against for a strong .938 save percentage, and kept the Red Wings in the game during the first two periods.
Linus Ullmark made 19 saves of the 20 shots the Red Wings had, and Ullmark has had a save percentage of .950, .912, and .923 in each of his last three starts.
The Senators will host the Nashville Predators on Saturday (Dec. 7) and look to climb back into the playoff conversation and the Red Wings will look to rebound from this game on Saturday as they head to Colorado to face the Avalanche.
