All it took for the Ottawa Senators to win again was their biggest offensive outburst of the season.
The Senators defeated the Detroit Red Wings 5-2 on Wednesday night, putting an end to a four-game winless streak in the process. It was the first time this season that the Senators have scored more than four goals in a game, and it gave them their second win of the campaign.
They really had to work for it, though.
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After Chris Tierney opened the scoring by crashing the net 6:16 into the first period, the Red Wings sprung to life to open the second frame. Darren Helm scored 45 seconds into the period and Tyler Bertuzzi netted less than two minutes later.
At that point, it felt as though it would be another long night for Ottawa, which entered Wednesday's contest with a dismal 1-6-1 record.
The Senators showed uncharacteristic resolve almost immediately after falling behind, however. Mark Borowiecki ripped an equalizer from the slot just 50 seconds after Bertuzzi's go-ahead goal, and then Jean-Gabriel Pageau pulled off a near-carbon copy of Borowiecki's goal with his team short-handed at 5:27 to cap a frantic 282 seconds of hockey.
Anthony Duclair scored near the end of the second and third periods, respectively, to give his beleaguered team a three-goal cushion.
The victory, Ottawa's first since Oct. 12, pulls the Senators level on points with the 16th-place New York Rangers, but the Senators remain last in the Eastern Conference because they have played two more games than New York.