Detroit Red Wings rally from 4 goals down in Sweden but fall to Senators, 5-4, in OT.
STOCKHOLM — Just when it looked like their first game in Sweden would be sour, a Scandinavian front came through.
Lucas Raymond, a Swede, and Olli Määttä, a Finn, starred in the second period Thursday at Avicii Arena, in the Detroit Red Wings' first game of the 2023 NHL Global Series. Raymond delivered the Wings' first goal and Määtta set up another two as the Wings pulled themselves out of an early four-goal deficit. Their rally fell just short when Tim Stützle scored with two seconds left in overtime to give the Ottawa Senators a 5-4 victory.
At least the Wings got a point out of it; that looked in doubt 10 minutes in. But David Perron picked up his fourth goal of the season, and Alex DeBrincat had the satisfaction of scoring on his former team. Shayne Gostisbehere also had a big hand in leveling the score.
Things got dicey in the third period when Dylan Larkin briefly left after appearing to twist a leg on the faceoff right after Jake Walman had taken a penalty to put the Wings down two skaters for 71 seconds. But Larkin returned, followed by a fifth penalty kill, with 5:24 to play in regulation, for too many men on the ice; and a sixth, with 1:31 left, for delay of game when the puck went over the glass.
The Wings play again Friday in Stockholm against the Toronto Maple Leafs (2 p.m., Bally Sports Detroit).
From perfect to predicament
There were cheers when Nicklas Lidström, who earlier in the day was named the first reciepient of the Borje Salming Courage Award (presented to a European NHL alumni who has been a positive influence in their community, performed the ceremonial puck drop. Lidström, known as "The Perfect Human" in his playing days, is a vice president with the Wings. The current Wings were far from perfect in the first period, giving up easy offense that led to Brady Tkachuk celebrating consecutive goals and Jake Sanderson making it 3-0 midway through the period.
The comeback begins
The Wings had a 14-9 edge in shots after 20 minutes but were still down 3-0. Their challenge grew when Josh Norris scored a minute into the second period. (Defensemen Ben Chiarot and Jeff Petry were on ice for all four goals against.) Then Raymond singlehandedly gave the Winged Wheel-wearing crowd something to cheer. He picked up a bouncing puck near his own blue line, wheeled up the middle and into the Senators' zone and fired a wrist shot past Ottawa goalie Joonas Korpisalo. Määttä, the team's lone Finn playing after goalie Ville Husso went back to Detroit to be with his wife and newborn daughter, played a key role in halving the deficit. He fired a shot from the blue line that seemed to bounce off nearly everybody en route into Ottawa's net; Perron touched it last to get credit for the goal.
Gost protocol
Gostisbehere was especially active with the puck, earning the first assist on DeBrincat's marker at 16:33 of the second period — his 11th goal of the season. Before the period was over, Gostisbehere got the puck deep in Ottawa's zone, maneuvered it on net, and fired a shot that went in off Jacob Bernard-Docker. Gostisbehere had a goal, two assists and a plus-3 rating after two periods; his defense partner, Määttä, had two points and the same rating.
Contact Helene St. James at hstjames@freepress.com. Follow her on Twitter @helenestjames. Her latest book, “On the Clock: Behind the Scenes with the Detroit Red Wings at the NHL Draft,” is available from Amazon, Barnes & Noble and Triumph Books. Personalized copies available via her e-mail.
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This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Detroit Red Wings fall to Ottawa Senators, 5-4, in OT in Sweden
