Detroit Red Wings shuffle lines, deal themselves 5-3 win over Senators

The new looks – and an old hand – helped the Detroit Red Wings right themselves against a divisional opponent.

The Wings outlasted the Senators, 5-3, at Canadian Tire Centre in Ottawa on Monday, Jan. 5, to move back into first place in the Atlantic Division.

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The Wings (25-15-4) came into the night needing to distance themselves from sleepwalking through their prior game, a performance so uninspired it led to all but one line getting makeovers. It seemed to work, though the Wings also benefited from the Senators having to rely on an inexperienced goaltender.

Detroit Red Wings playoff position

The win gives the Wings 54 points, one up on the Tampa Bay Lightning and two ahead of the Montreal Canadiens (both of whom were off on Monday) in the Atlantic. Next up, the Wings will face a Western Conference cellar dweller as the Vancouver Canucks (16-20-5) visit Little Caesars Arena on Thursday (7 p.m., FanDuel Sports Network Detroit).

JvR with a three-point night

James van Riemsdyk, at 36 one of the oldest players on the team, had a goal and an assists as the Wings scored three times in the first period. He had another assist when Lucas Raymond scored in the second period.

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A two-goal lead was cut to one to one when Brady Tkachuk was wide open to score seven minutes into the third period. The Wings had to kill off back-to-back penalties just past the midpoint of the period, but that's when Michael Rasmussen delivered the team's first shorthanded goal of the season, ending a 77-game streak without one. Ridly Greig put the puck in Detroit's net at 13:16, but officials immediately waived off the goal because of goaltender interference. The Senators unsuccessfully challenged, putting Detroit on a power play.

MIXING IT UP: Detroit Red Wings shuffle lines heading into Ottawa matchup

An early lead vetoed

The Senators thought they'd be the ones to start with a lead when ex-Wing David Perron fired a shot that hit Nick Cousins and slipped by John Gibson (35 saves) at 4:06 of the first period. But the Wings successfully challenged the puck left the attacking zone before Thomas Chabot played it back into the offensive zone, and therefore, the play was offside.

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Instead the Wings went up 1-0 when Andrew Coop stripped the puck off Tler Kleven at center ice and tore in on Ottawa's net and fired a wrist shot behind Leevi Meriläinen, the Senators 23-year-old backup goaltender who has carried the load (Monday was just his 27th career appearance) since Linus Ullmark took a leave of absence in December.

The WIngs took a 2-0 lead at 13:51 during a power play while Perron was in the penalty box for tripping Mason Appleton. Van Riemsdyk was in front of the net when he caught Alex DeBrincat's rebound and tapped the puck over to Dylan Larkin, who picked up his 22nd goal of the season.

Van Riemsdyk collected a goal of his own, his 11th of the season, when he spun around and fired the puck from the right circle, with 17 seconds to go in the first period.

The Senators chipped away at the Wings' lead in the second period. First, Claude Giroux got the inside position on Larkin just outside Detroit's crease, in perfect position to redirect Fabian Zetterlund's pass at 7:33. The lead shrunk to one goal at 4:10 when Dylan Cozens connected on Jake Sanderson's rebound.

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Raymond restored the two-goal cushion when he scored his first goal in eight games (he has six assists in that stretch).

Contact Helene St. James at hstjames@freepress.com.

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This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Detroit Red Wings stump Senators with 5-3 road victory