Super Sergei!

The Red Wings and their power play are right back into the game after last night’s slightly embarrassing loss to the Columbus Blue Jackets, taking a 3-2 victory over the Senators at the Corel Centre in Ottawa.

Scotty Bowman chose to start the game with the old Grind Line of Kirk Maltby, Kris Draper, and Darren McCarty on the ice, and the Red Wings applied strong offensive pressure from the beginning of the game. Most of the first period was spent in the Senators’ zone. However, Ottawa played a strong defense in front of the net and kept many of the Red Wings’ shots from getting through to goaltender Jani Hurme.

Dominik Hasek showed off his new decorated helmet for the first time while making a few big saves to keep the game scoreless through one. Detroit ended the period on a good note when Ottawa’s Jody Hull took a hooking penalty with only ten seconds left.

Ottawa kept the Detroit power play from getting very organized for most of the minute and fifty seconds carried over into the second period, until Igor Larionov carried the puck into the zone and passed along the blue line to Chris Chelios at the right point. Chelios drew the Senators’ defensemen towards him, then quickly passed the puck up to Steve Duchesne at the left side. Duchesne’s quick wrist shot went past Hurme with only three seconds left on the power play.

The Senators came back before very long. Radek Bonk fished the puck out from a tangle of players along the right boards and sent a centering pass across for Marion Hossa, who flipped the puck into the net.

Ottawa was attempting to score once more, trying to bang the puck into the net, but Draper knocked it free to Sergei Fedorov, who took off down the ice alone. An Ottawa defenseman attempted to force Fedorov wide of the net, but Fedorov put a backhand shot past Hurme’s far side to score his 350th career goal.

Jody Hull took another penalty, this time for holding the stick, with five and a half minutes left in the period. The power play was unable to score, and just as Hull stepped back onto the ice, Daniel Alfreddson carried the puck towards Detroit’s end. Brett Hull was knocked down and out of the play, giving the Senators a three-on-one rush. Alfreddson’s shot from point-blank range went past Mathieu Dandenault and Dominik Hasek to tie the game.

Fedorov came to the rescue before the second period was over. Brendan Shanahan carried the puck into the zone on a three-on-two rush with Fedorov and Draper. He flew up the right wing side, just past the net, and angled a pass back to Fedorov who put the puck right through Hurme.

The Senators turned up the offense through the third period, trying to come back once more, but Detroit played a careful defense, and Hasek made all the saves that were required of him. Ottawa pulled their goaltender for the sixth skater with forty seconds left to play, but it was to no avail- Fedorov’s second goal stood up as the game winner.

Shots on net were twenty-six to twenty-two in the Red Wings’ favor. Half of the Red Wings’ shots came in the second period, and half of Ottawa’s came in the third. The Wings’ next game will be Monday night in Montreal.

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Fedorov’s scoring appears to be good luck for the Wings: they have a record of 29-2-1 in games in which he has at least one point. Their overall record is 39-11-6-2, giving them a total of eighty-six points on the season.