Patrick Kane threaded the needle with a man advantage in overtime, and the Detroit Red Wings had the last word on the Ottawa Senators by winning 4-3 on Tuesday night.
The Wings, who have found new life since the hiring of Todd McLellan as head coach, won a fifth consecutive game.
For their part, the Senators lost a third game in a row, their two previous losses having been suffered in regular fashion.
The Ottawa team finished a nine-game trip to opposing ice rinks in Detroit, while the World Junior Hockey Championship was taking place at home.
The Sens’ collection of a point nevertheless allows them to get back in front of the Montreal Canadiens (19-18-3). Both clubs have the same number of points, 41, but Ottawa (19-18-2) has one more game to play.
As for the Wings (18-18-4), they came within just one point of their two rivals, while many teams are crowded together in the Eastern standings.
Moreover, this result combined with that of the duel between the Columbus Blue Jackets and the Pittsburgh Penguins – a shootout victory for the Jackets – means that the CH fell to 11th place despite its inactivity.
In addition to Kane, Dylan Larkin and Joe Veleno also scored for the “Motown” team, which saw its starting goalie Alex Lyon leave with an injury after the first period.
Desperately searching for a goal for more than seven periods, a span of 145 minutes and 6 seconds, the Sens finally scored at 12:25 of the second period, and they benefited from a little chance to put a stop to their offensive failures.
While the Wings had just spent the last seconds of a numerical inferiority, a slap shot from Thomas Chabot hit the stick of a rival before ending its trajectory in the top corner, over the shoulder of Cam Talbot .
The Sens had not scored since the first period of last Thursday’s game against the Dallas Stars.
Travis Green’s men continued in this vein seven minutes later, and this time, it was captain Brady Tkachuk who sounded the charge, 55 seconds before the second intermission.
Tkachuk scored his 18th goal this season, and his ninth in a power play situation.
Montreal’s Veleno scored at the expense of Anton Forsberg at exactly 5:00 of the final period to reignite the suspense.
Forsberg then made one of his most spectacular saves of the year, midway through the third, stealing a goal from Marco Kasper with the glove to preserve the tie at 2-2.
A penalty imposed on defenseman Jake Sanderson at 2:50 of overtime, however, opened the door for the Wings, and Kane played the hero only eleven seconds later.
