RECAP: DeBrincat nets overtime winner as Red Wings rally past Senators, 4-3, and 'keep this rolling'

DETROIT -- Reaching the 30-win mark through their first 50 games this season, the fastest they’ve reached the plateau since 2011-12, the Detroit Red Wings rallied from an early two-goal deficit for a 4-3 overtime victory over the Ottawa Senators at Little Caesars Arena on Sunday evening.

“A huge two points,” said Alex DeBrincat, who scored the game-winning goal 36 seconds into overtime. “Obviously, not the start we wanted, but to be able to battle back and win in overtime is huge. It’s huge for us to keep this rolling.”

Netminder John Gibson stopped 19 shots to notch his sixth consecutive win and 19th of the campaign for Detroit (30-16-4; 64 points), which also improved to 7-2 in games decided in overtime. Ottawa (22-19-7; 51 points) had a familiar face between the pipes, with goalie James Reimer making 30 saves in his first NHL start since April 17, 2025.

“We knew it would be a tight, heavy game,” Red Wings head coach Todd McLellan said. “That’s the game it ended up being, and we’re fortunate to be on the winning end of it.”

Detroit and Ottawa combined for three goals -- two through the power play -- on nine shots within the first eight minutes of the first period.

First, Drake Batherson snapped home the rebound of Fabian Zetterlund’s shot that caromed off Gibson’s right pad at 4:26 to put the Senators up 1-0, and less than a minute later, Dylan Cozens got captain Brady Tkachuk’s behind-the-net pass and lifted it in on his backhand to make it 2-0 at 5:05.

“It’s not an ideal start for us for sure,” James van Riemsdyk said. “But I think from there, we really got to our game and started to play the way we’re capable of, to our identity and standard.”

Slicing the Red Wings’ deficit in half, Axel Sandin-Pellikka was above the right face-off circle when he zipped a wrist shot behind a screened Reimer on the power play to make it 2-1 at 7:16 of the first period.

Patrick Kane had the primary assist – he’s now two points shy of Mike Modano’s record of 1,374 career NHL points by a United States-born player – and Andrew Copp, who provided the screen, earned the secondary on Sandin-Pellikka's sixth goal of the season.

The lamp didn’t light up again until 6:06 of the second period. Marco Kasper fed Lucas Raymond speeding through the neutral zone, and the Swedish forward continued forward into the high slot where he sniped one top shelf to tie it for Detroit 2-2. Picking up the secondary assist on Raymond’s 15th goal of the campaign was Ben Chiarot.

With Ridly Greig in the penalty box after being assessed for interference on Raymond, who left the game but later returned, van Riemsdyk's jaw-dropping goal gave Detroit a 3-2 lead at 16:53 of the middle frame.

“He’s a huge part of our team,” DeBrincat said of Raymond. “During the game, you got to be next man up and keep rolling. We’re glad he came back.”

In front of the Senators’ crease, van Riemsdyk pulled the rebound of captain Dylan Larkin’s shot between his own legs and finished it in no-look fashion. DeBrincat earned a secondary assist on van Riemsdyk's 14 th goal of the season.

“I felt like the power play, especially that one, did a good job of just getting pucks to the net,” van Riemsdyk said. “There was obviously a lot of chaos going on around the net. It’s just my job to find a way to get a stick on it, get a whack on a rebound and do what I can to score a goal.”

With 55 seconds to play before the second intermission, Ottawa countered with a power-play goal of its own as Shane Pinto tipped in Claude Giroux’s shot from the middle of the right face-off circle to tie it 3-3.

Following a scoreless third period, DeBrincat snapped Copp’s pass past Reimer on an odd-man rush for his team-leading 26th goal of the season and 14th career NHL overtime tally.

“It was coming around the boards, and I had a step on [Tim Stützle],” DeBrincat said. “I knew Copper was in front of me. He made a great play to sauce it back to me. I think [Stützle] lost an edge or something there. A 2-on-1, I was able to shoot it far side.”

NEXT UP: The Red Wings will kick off a three-game road trip and play the front half of a back-to-back set when they visit the Toronto Maple Leafs at Scotiabank Arena on Tuesday night.

WHAT WAS SAID

McLellan on playing divisional games

“I think our guys have been coming to the rink with a lot of juice for all the games, which is a real good sign…They understand the standings and circumstances of wins and losses. We talk about winning season series – we’ve got four points against this team now. We can’t quite have the series in the bag, but it certainly helps.”

DeBrincat on van Riemsdyk’s goal

“It’s pretty impressive what he does in front of the net. It seems like when he’s there he’s always scoring. He’s great on the power play in that spot. He’s been great for us.”

Van Riemsdyk on matching Ottawa’s physicality

“You got to have a pushback. You can’t get pushed out of games like that. I thought our team responded well for that. That’s something you’ll need down the stretch. The games get a little more competitive and contested out there, and you got to stick together. I thought we did that today.”