Red Wings score 3 in 1st period, get past Senators

James van Riemsdyk had a goal and two assists for the Detroit Red Wings, who scored three times in the first period in a 5-3 win against the Ottawa Senators at Canadian Tire Centre in Ottawa on Monday.

John Gibson made 35 saves for the Red Wings (25-15-4), who had lost two in a row (0-1-1) but are 6-2-1 in their past nine games.

“I don’t know if we made a statement to anybody,” Detroit coach Todd McLellan said. “We came in here, I still don’t think we played our best game. I thought they played a real good game, but (we) found a way to win.”

Tim Stutzle had two assists to extend his point streak to 13 games (21 points; eight goals, 13 assists) for the Senators (20-16-5), who had won two in a row.

Leevi Merilainen was pulled after allowing three goals on eight shots in the first period. Hunter Shepard made 10 saves in relief.

“We play that game 10 times we might win it eight or nine times,” Ottawa coach Travis Green said. “That’s the reality. We try to deal in reality. We try not to look for something that’s not there. Truth is we played a really good hockey game tonight. ... Could have scored five to seven goals tonight.”

Nick Cousins appeared to give the Senators the early lead at 4:06 of the first period after David Perron’s one-timer deflected in off him near the right post. However, McLellan challenged the play for offside, and the call was reversed after a video review.

Andrew Copp then put the Red Wings ahead 1-0 at 7:06. He scored glove side from the left circle on a breakaway after Tyler Kleven's dump-in attempt hit him in the neutral zone.

Dylan Larkin made it 2-0 on a power play at 13:51. Van Riemsdyk got the rebound of Alex DeBrincat's initial shot in front and passed over to Larkin for a one-timer past the outstretched right pad of Merilainen.

Van Riemsdyk extended the lead to 3-0 at 19:43 on a spinning shot from the right circle.

“I just liked that we just kept playing the whole game,” van Riemsdyk said. “Obviously, maybe not the best start for us, but we got going, I think, after the challenge on the offside. I think we just started to play simple, direct.”

Claude Giroux made it 3-1 at 7:33 of the second period, quickly finishing Fabian Zetterlund’s backhand pass through the crease.

“I feel like it was a weird game,” Giroux said. “We played a pretty good game. If we play like that every night we’re going to win more than we lose, so it’s definitely frustrating.”

Dylan Cozens pulled the Senators to within 3-2 on a power play at 14:10. He got to the rebound of Jake Sanderson's shot in the slot and beat Gibson five-hole.

Lucas Raymond responded at 15:42 to make it 4-2. He poked the puck away from Cozens along the left boards, took a short pass from J.T. Compher, then toe-dragged Thomas Chabot before scoring under Shepard's glove.

Brady Tkachuk cut it to 4-3 at 6:55 of the third period, tapping in a backdoor pass from Stutzle at the right post.

However, Michael Rasmussen scored a short-handed goal on a 2-on-1 rush to push the lead to 5-3 at 12:53.

“I just think it was a resilient game,” Rasmussen said. “Everybody lifted each other up on the bench. Got the win.”

Shane Pinto looked to make it 5-4 just 23 seconds later at 13:16, but the officials ruled that Ridly Greig interfered with Gibson on the play. Green challenged the goaltender interference ruling, but the call stood after a video review.

“We battled really hard,” Stutzle said. “We had a pretty good game as a whole group. I think we were by far the better team tonight.”

NOTES: Stutzle’s point streak is tied for the fourth-longest in Senators history. Dany Heatley holds the record at 22 games (Oct. 5-Nov. 29, 2005). ... The Red Wings were outshot 38-20 after being outshot by the Pittsburgh Penguins 31-12 in a 4-1 loss on Saturday. ... Detroit is 11-1-0 when leading after the first.