The Ottawa Senators overcame a late 3-1 deficit to edge out the Detroit Red Wings 4-3 in overtime on Friday night. Noah Gregor took a pass near the crease and shoved in the overtime winner, his second goal of the game.
It came after a lengthy review for goalie interference, but it was evident that Wings’ captain Dylan Larkin had pushed Gregor into goalie Alex Lyon.
Ridly Greig and Carter Yakemchuk set up both of Gregor’s goals. Yakemchuk now has 7 points in 4 games, which puts him among the NHL pre-season leaders. We’re not talking about rookies or defencemen. We mean everyone. We’re now at a point where it will be a surprise if the 19-year-old doesn’t stick with the team for at least a nine-game audition.
“I’m happy for our group tonight,” head coach Travis Green told TSN 1200 after the game. “I thought in the first period we came out and looked like we had a few nervous players. We weren’t very good with the puck and turned over a few.
“But we hung in there in the first and slowly started to get some momentum in the second period and battled our way back.”
Detroit took an early 2-0 lead with two goals from Marco Kasper in the first. That held up for a long time until midway through the third when NHL hopeful Adam Gaudette buried his fourth goal in as many games. Like Yakemchuk, Gaudette may have the inside track now on one of the final roster spots.
Ottawa’s momentum appeared to be quickly snuffed out by former Senator Vladimir Tarasenko. With under five minutes left, Tarasenko got loose down the left wing and ripped one in, glove side on Anton Forsberg, who stopped 30 of 33 shots on the night.
But to their credit, the Sens came back on goals by Gregor and Donovan Sebrango. Tyler Boucher did great work with the puck before hitting Sebrango in the high slot. Boucher also had the confidence to start getting chippy near the end. It was a positive development, and perhaps the former first-rounder will still be one to keep an eye on in Belleville this season.
The Senators are now 4-1-1 in pre-season and close out their 2024 exhibition schedule tomorrow night at home against the Montreal Canadiens.
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