OTTAWA — Alex DeBrincat didn't anticipate being welcomed back with open arms by Ottawa Senators fans Saturday afternoon.
The Detroit Red Wings forward got exactly what he was expecting.
Senators fans gave DeBrincat the gears, routinely showering him with loud boos. But that didn't stop Detroit from earning a 5-2 win over Ottawa.
The contest was DeBrincat’s first in the Canadian capital since being dealt to Detroit this summer. The hometown gathering of 18, 834 made sure to let DeBrincat know it wasn't impressed that he didn’t want to be a part of the Senators moving forward.
"It's pretty much what I expected," said DeBrincat. "I think it is what it is.
"You try to, you know, zone it out and just play the game. We're happy we came up with the win and it's a tough team to play on the road . . . it's a big two points for us.”
Joe Veleno scored twice while Dylan Larkin added a goal and two assists for Detroit (4-1), on a four-game win streak after dropping its season opener to New Jersey. Shayne Gostisbehere and David Perron also scored while Ville Husso was solid in goal, stopping 35 shots.
Jake Sanderson and Ridly Greig scored for Ottawa (3-2-0), which had its three-game win streak snapped. Joonas Korpisalo made 18 saves.
While many want to portray DeBrincat, who spent just one season in Ottawa, as the villain, the reality is the 25-year-old never thought he had a long-term future with the Senators. He's thrilled to have the opportunity to play in his hometown team.
"They have a great team in there," he said. "But you know, I'm happy with where I am.
"I know they're going to be good for quite a long time so it's going to be a lot of battles between us."
DeBrincat had no points but was on the ice for all three of Detroit's power-play goals. The Red Wings were 3-for-5 with the man advantage, while Ottawa was 1-for-6.
"Definitely not the effort we want, ever," said Ottawa captain Brady Tkachuk. "I don't think that will happen again.
"We're in the same boat, but they just showed that they're better than us today. That's frustrating, disappointing and we're just going to have to learn from it."
Ottawa outshot Detroit 14-3 in the first period but the two teams were tied 1-1, each scoring on the power play.
Sanderson opened the scoring, converting a nice pass from Tkachuk. But with less than two minutes remaining, Larkin found Gostisbehere in the slot to make it 1-1.
Detroit made the most of its opportunities in the second to take a 3-1 lead.
Veleno made it 2-1 on a nice Christian Fischer drop pass. Detroit followed with its second power-play goal when Perron took the puck off his skate and still got enough on his shot despite Erik Brannstrom being on him in close.
Korpisalo took some of the blame for that but he didn't get much support on this night.
"They scored on almost every chance they got there,” said Korpisalo. "They were on the (power play) quite a bit. … I’ve got to provide the team with more saves."
But Ottawa head coach D.J. Smith his team also must be more disciplined.
"They're not great penalties; they’re stick penalties, they’re some lazy penalties," he said. "We did such a good job the previous two games in staying out of the box and (Saturday) it killed us.”
Detroit put the game away with two goals within the first seven minutes of the third.
The Red Wings registered their third power-play goal just 28 seconds in when Larkin scored. Then Veleno recorded his second of the game on a great pass from Daniel Sprong.
"It was obviously two great players that made two awesome plays for me," said Veleno. "You know, I was happy I was able to be in the right spot at the right time and essentially just keep working hard."
Greig got his first of the season when his shot bounced in off Husso’s blocker. But he was more concerned with his team's poor played.
"Both our power play and penalty kill need to be better, I'll leave it at that,” said Greig. "The discipline in our game has probably got to be better.
"Lazy penalties can cost our team quite a bit."
INTERESTING FACT OR STAT
Detroit's win was its first in Ottawa since Feb, 2, 2019.
NOTES: Artem Zub was unable to play for the Senators after taking a puck or stick to the face Wednesday against Washington. Defenceman Jacob Bernard-Docker was recalled from AHL Belleville. Detroit’s Jonatan Berggren was recalled from AHL Grand Rapids under emergency conditions and Robby Fabbri went on injured reserve retroactive to Oct. 12. Fabbri is expected to miss a month with a lower-body injury.
UP NEXT: The Senators will host the Buffalo Sabres on Tuesday night. Detroit is home to the Calgary Flames on Sunday.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 21, 2023.
Lisa Wallace, The Canadian Press