The Red Wings attempted to snap a 2-game losing streak when they visited the Ottawa Senators for the first of four meetings with Detroit’s Atlantic Division rival.
On Monday night in Ottawa, the Red Wings definitely looked like a team in progress, but it was a team that prevailed thanks to John Gibson’s strong goaltending. Gibson stopped 35 of 38 shots against as Detroit blasted its way to a 3-0 1st period lead, held on as the Sens made it 3-2, and raced away, ultimately winning 5-3 over Ottawa, which has 3 games in hand on Detroit.
I’m going to defer to the game summary for a recap thereof, and leave it to you to read what happened instead of summarizing it here…it’s gotten clunky, so, enjoy!
PREGAME: John Gibson and Leevi Merilainen led their respective teams out onto the ice at the Canadian Tire Centre:
Can we get a LGRW‼️ pic.twitter.com/eiNIEJ0Kkx
— Detroit Red Wings (@DetroitRedWings) January 6, 2026
Ottawa actually posts its projected lineup after their morning skate…
Our projected lines to take on the Red Wings tonight 👊#GoSensGo pic.twitter.com/pva0RaVAAB
— Ottawa Senators (@Senators) January 5, 2026
And the Red Wings’ lineup included their line changes from Sunday’s practice:
Monday night lineup 👇 pic.twitter.com/wqqgqGJiFL
— Detroit Red Wings (@DetroitRedWings) January 6, 2026
Moritz Seider also gave a pregame interview to the Canadian broadcast on Prime Sports:
"He's a hell of a player, but you have to put the friendship aside tonight."
— Sports on Prime Canada (@SportsOnPrimeCA) January 6, 2026
Friendship stays off the ice for Moritz Seider and Tim Stutzle. 👀 pic.twitter.com/tfrt0a5tVF
1ST PERIOD:
The Red Wings and Senators dressed the following lineups:

PENALTY: Marco Kasper sat for tripping at 38 seconds of the 1st.
GOAL: Dylan Cozens kicked home a Thomas Chabot shot via David Perron breaking in wide of Jacob Bernard-Docker, yielding a 2-on-1 down low…And Cozens used his skates to kick the puck past Gibson at 4:06.
GOAL: Cozens (7) from Perron (14) and Chabot (12) at 4:06 1st.
TIMEOUT: Detroit called timeout in order to consider whether challenging the goal.
CHALLENGE: Detroit challenged the goal to determine whether the play was offside.
WAVE-OFF: The play was offside. NO GOAL.
GOAL: Andrew Copp raced into the Sens’ zone and took a pass from Lucas Raymond and a steal at center ice, he raced in on Merilainen and slid the puck home to make it 1-0 Detroit.
COPPERRRRR pic.twitter.com/YrIcuJ3DKN
— Detroit Red Wings (@DetroitRedWings) January 6, 2026
Andrew Copp has the Red Wings in front 🎯 pic.twitter.com/dXTY6BkpVn
— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) January 6, 2026
Copp snipes his 6th of the season 👌 pic.twitter.com/WxMkIa4vEg
— Detroit Red Wings (@DetroitRedWings) January 6, 2026
— Detroit Red Wings (@DetroitRedWings) January 6, 2026
Detroit 1, Ottawa 0: Copp (6) unassisted at 7:06.
PENALTY: David Perron was called for tripping at 13:10 of the 1st.
GOAL: On the power play, Alex DeBrincat shot the puck on Merilainen, James van Riemsdyk took the rebound and pumped it to Dylan Larkin, who ripped the puck through Merilainen at 6:51.
LARKS ON THE POWER PLAY! 2-0! pic.twitter.com/ogQqkyTWAd
— Detroit Red Wings (@DetroitRedWings) January 6, 2026
Dylan Larkin makes it ✌️-0 on the power play. pic.twitter.com/4BLWTbv7Wz
— Sports on Prime Canada (@SportsOnPrimeCA) January 6, 2026
CAT → JVR → LARKS! pic.twitter.com/YS4a0soQZY
— Detroit Red Wings (@DetroitRedWings) January 6, 2026
With :17 left in the 1st, it's JVR! pic.twitter.com/yNMJGQaTtr
— Detroit Red Wings (@DetroitRedWings) January 6, 2026
Detroit 2, Ottawa 0: Larkin (22) from van Riemsdyk (3) and DeBrincat (21) at 13:51 1st.
PENALTY: Ben Chiarot chipped the puck out of play from the Wings’ blueline at 17:10.
GOAL: Very late in the 1st period, James van Riemsdyk took a turnaround shot off a strange turnover in the Sens’ zone and fired it through a two-player screen to make it 3-0 Detroit at 19:43.
JVR ADDS ANOTHER pic.twitter.com/I5kCArTcpj
— Detroit Red Wings (@DetroitRedWings) January 6, 2026
Detroit 3, Ottawa 0: van Riemsdyk (11) from Bernard-Docker (2) and Johansson (6) at 19:43 1st.
1st ✔️ pic.twitter.com/xsZToa55OI
— Detroit Red Wings (@DetroitRedWings) January 6, 2026
End of the 1st. STATS:
— George Malik (@georgemalik) January 6, 2026
Shots 17-9 Ottawa;
They're 0-for-2 in 4:00 PP; Detroit is 1-for-1 in 41 seconds.
Shot attempts 24-12 Ottawa;
Hits 9-6 Ottawa;
Giveaways 6-6;
Takeaways 1-1;
Blocks 4-0 Detroit;
Faceoffs 15-11 Ottawa (42%). pic.twitter.com/9HF82uC59U
2ND PERIOD:
GOALIE CHANGE: Ottawa pulled Merilainen and replaced him with Hunter Shepard.
PENALTY: Tyler Kleven tripped Lucas Raymond in the neutral zone and sat at 4:18 of the 2nd.
GOAL: Ottawa won the faceoff and Jordan Spence fed the puck to Fabian Zetterlund behind the goal, he wrapped around Gibson, who made the first stop, but Claude Giroux rolled off Dylan Larkin and scored on the rebound at 7:33.
2️⃣0️⃣ 👉 2️⃣8️⃣#GoSensGo | @SportsOnPrimeCA pic.twitter.com/WT7TB6wKUZ
— Ottawa Senators (@Senators) January 6, 2026
Claude Giroux gets Ottawa on the board! 🚨 pic.twitter.com/sk2yVbHkvR
— Sports on Prime Canada (@SportsOnPrimeCA) January 6, 2026
Detroit 3, Ottawa 1: Giroux (9) from Zetterlund (9) and Spence (12) at 7:33 2nd period.
PENALTY: Michael Rasmussen sat for a trip at 13:57 of the 2nd.
GOAL: On the ensuing power play, Ottawa won the draw, pumped the puck back to Jake Sanderson, Dylan Cozens got the rebound of the shot and blasted it home at 14:09 of the 2nd.
No time wasted on the power play 🐎#GoSensGo | @SportsOnPrimeCA pic.twitter.com/ylXiBboYhD
— Ottawa Senators (@Senators) January 6, 2026
Dylan Cozens' 12th of the season brings the Sens within one ☝️ pic.twitter.com/XifZxGmjpg
— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) January 6, 2026
Detroit 3, Ottawa 2: Cozens (12) from Sanderson (22) and Stuetzle (25) at 14:10 2nd on the PP.
GOAL: Lucas Raymond afforded the Wings some insurance as J.T. Compher took the rim around off a board battle and reversed flow to Raymond, who deked, dangled and sent a BULLET through Hunter Shepard to score his 12th of the season at 15:42.
RAZOR! pic.twitter.com/9nmkQI9tu4
— Detroit Red Wings (@DetroitRedWings) January 6, 2026
Razor shot. 💪 pic.twitter.com/ov2V7Ocsmm
— Sports on Prime Canada (@SportsOnPrimeCA) January 6, 2026
There you go Ray! pic.twitter.com/YqvjQxBBZr
— Detroit Red Wings (@DetroitRedWings) January 6, 2026
Beauty 🪒 pic.twitter.com/0vV6C7PXb5
— Detroit Red Wings (@DetroitRedWings) January 6, 2026
Detroit 4, Ottawa 2: Raymond (12) from Compher (10) at 15:42 2nd period.
2nd ✔️ pic.twitter.com/HojDgGmaJt
— Detroit Red Wings (@DetroitRedWings) January 6, 2026
2nd period stats:
— George Malik (@georgemalik) January 6, 2026
Shots 9-9 in the 2nd period, shots 26-17 Ottawa overall.
Detroit 1-for-3 in 4:41 PP, Ottawa 1-for-3 in 4:13.
Shot attempts 40-33 Ottawa;
Hits 17-10 Ottawa;
Giveaways 16-11 Ottawa;
Takeaways 2-2;
Blocks 8-5 Detroit;
Faceoffs 30-23 Ottawa (43%). pic.twitter.com/Shynlddv25
3RD PERIOD:
PENALTY: Claude Giroux was very angry after getting called for tripping Dylan Larkin at 2:34…
GOAL: Brady Tkachuk was the beneficiary of a Tim Stuetzle drive through the slot, tapping home Stuetzle’s drive to make it 4-3 at 6:55.
Goal 7️⃣ for no. 7️⃣#GoSensGo | @SportsOnPrimeCA pic.twitter.com/IjwFG5DHve
— Ottawa Senators (@Senators) January 6, 2026
Detroit 4, Ottawa 3: Tkachuk (7) from Stuetzle (26) and Batherson (23) at 6:55 of the 3rd period.
PENALTY: Albert Johansson was called for tripping at 9:03.
PENALTY: Jacob Bernard-Docker sat for the Wings for slashing at 11:09, helping the Wings kill the first penalty and giving them a second PK to kill.
SHORTHANDED GOAL: Michael Rasmussen skated in 2-on-1 with Dylan Larkin after Simon Edvinsson blocked a pass and Rasmussen looked off the pass, Rasmussen fired and scored on Hunter Shepard at 12:53.
BIG RAS SHORTY!!!! pic.twitter.com/B1BQtLHhVY
— Detroit Red Wings (@DetroitRedWings) January 6, 2026
Big Ras. Big shorthanded goal. pic.twitter.com/RNbK9WDWX1
— Detroit Red Wings (@DetroitRedWings) January 6, 2026
Detroit 5, Ottawa 3: Rasmussen (6) from Edvinsson (11) at 12:53, SHG.
GOAL: Ridly Greig tipped home the Sens’ 5-4 goal off a shot from the point, but the refs called the play on the ice for goaltender interference.
CHALLENGE: Ottawa challenged the call at 13:15 of the 3rd.
PENALTY: The goal was denied and Tkachuk sat for delay of game for the team with 6:44 left in regulation. Detroit got a PP.
PENALTY: Simon Edvinsson was called for elbowing Tim Stuetzle at 14:46 of the 3rd.
GOALIE PULL: Hunter Shepard headed to the benh with 3:53 left in the 3rd.
TIMEOUT: Ottawa called a timeout at 18:57 of the 3rd.
SECURED THE DUB IN OTTAWA! pic.twitter.com/7mBOPgX8qH
— Detroit Red Wings (@DetroitRedWings) January 6, 2026
STATISTICS: Here are the Game Summary and Event Summary:


FINAL STATS from Detroit's 5-3 win over Ottawa:
— George Malik (@georgemalik) January 6, 2026
Shots in the 3rd 11-3 Ottawa, shots 38-20 Ottawa overall.
Sens 1-for-5 in 8:11 PP, Detroit 1-for-6 in 9:43.
Gibson 35 stops, Merilainen 5 of 8, Shepard 10 of 12.
Shot attempts 69-55 Ottawa;
Hits 20-13 Ottawa;
Giveaways 18-13…
Very sloppy play for the Wings in the New Year so far. I thought they were over the “getting outshot every night” pattern, but apparently not. They were extremely lucky to come out of the first period up 3-0. I thought all of those goals were on the fluky side, maybe not the PP goal, but the others for sure. Meanwhile, Ottawa was getting high-danger slot shots whenever they wanted, it seemed.