RECAP: Red Wings push, but can’t finish third-period comeback in 4-3 loss to Senators 

DETROIT -- Missing out on an opportunity to gain some ground in the Eastern Conference’s Wild-Card race, the Detroit Red Wings nearly completed a spirited third-period rally but fell short, 4-3, to the Ottawa Senators at Little Caesars Arena on Thursday night.

“Home ice is big for us with the crowd behind us,” Lucas Raymond said. “That gives us that edge every night and obviously we want to perform well in front of them and get wins, especially this time of the year. We haven’t been good enough [at home], and we know it. It’s about taking care of those opportunities and building off it.”

Several factors led to the Red Wings (33-33-6; 72 points) not getting the result they wanted against the Senators (38-28-5; 81 points), but one that perhaps stood out the most was going 1-for-6 on the power play.

“We have five power plays in the first 22 minutes of the game and don’t score, a couple things happen,” Detroit head coach Todd McLellan said. “The other team gets a lot of confidence, the other goaltender starts to feel real good and you wonder if it will ever happen.”

Thomas Chabot gave the Senators a 1-0 lead 5:49 into the game, finishing a pass from Fabian Zetterlund on the rush just 12 seconds after the Red Wings’ first power-play opportunity of the period.

As Ottawa captain Brady Tkachuk was wrestling down Raymond in the neutral zone, Tim Stutzle took advantage of the chaos and sped down the left side of the ice before he beat goalie Alex Lyon to double his club’s lead to 2-0 at 13:01 of the first period.

Tempers flared in the closing minutes of the first period, as they tend to do between these Atlantic Division rivals. Not backing down, Simon Edvinsson dropped the gloves against Tkachuk at 18:47.

“I think we needed that spark,” Edvinsson said. “We got some of it.”

Following David Perron’s goal on a partial breakaway at 1:33 of the second period, which gave the Senators a 3-0 advantage, goaltender Cam Talbot replaced Lyon in the Red Wings’ crease. Talbot went on to make 21 saves, while Lyon finished with seven.

Finally breaking through for the Red Wings on their sixth man-advantage chance of the night, Patrick Kane tapped in a cross-crease pass from Alex DeBrincat to make it 3-1 at 5:25 of the third period. Raymond recorded the secondary assist on Kane’s 19th goal of the season.

Detroit and Ottawa traded goals around the halfway point of the third period. After Michael Amadio lit the lamp at 8:44, Raymond slipped the puck through netminder Linus Ullmark’s pads to cut the Red Wings’ deficit in half 4-2 at 11:50.

Marco Kasper was credited with the lone assist on Raymond’s 25th goal of the season.

Vladimir Tarasenko’s 10th goal of the season, assisted by J.T. Compher and Craig Smith, made it a 4-3 score at 15:30 of the third period. Unfortunately, Detroit couldn’t get the fourth goal it needed despite pulling Talbot late.

Ullmark turned aside 31 shots for Ottawa, which moved six points ahead of the Montreal Canadiens for the Eastern Conference’s first Wild-Card spot. Because the Canadiens also lost on Thursday night, a 6-4 road decision to the Philadelphia Flyers, the Red Wings remained three points behind them for the second Wild-Card spot.

“Getting pucks in net and building off of that,” Raymond said about generating some confidence late in the third period. “Getting the crowd into it. I think we made a hell of a push, but we didn’t put ourselves in a good enough position coming into the third [period] to get it done. We know that. It’s on us. It’s about growing and moving on.”

POSTGAME QUOTES

Raymond on Detroit’s power play

“Obviously, getting a lot of power plays very early and didn’t connect the way we wanted to. You start forcing plays that aren’t there, and the execution level wasn’t there. We know we got to be better and look to do so as well.”

Raymond on the silver lining despite Thursday’s loss

“We’re going to do everything in our power to put ourselves in as good of a position as we can. Obviously, it feels like a little bit of a repeated record talking about that and where we want to go. I think now, it’s about getting it done. You can say however many times you want. We’re going to do everything in our power to get there, but it’s about digging, getting it done and keeping that belief in ourselves. It’s fun hockey to play this time of the year.”

Edvinsson on falling to Ottawa

“Every loss is pretty hard right now. Everybody knows how important every game is. Of course, we’re close. We had some chances all over the game. We couldn’t get the puck in. The last goal wasn’t there for us.”