Red Wings take Senators to a shootout but lose again, 4-3

Kanata, Ontario — It was a better effort, could have — maybe should have — been a victory, but it ends up another Red Wings loss.

Nothing new in that regard this season.

It took a little while longer, went all the way to a shootout, but the Red Wings lost yet again, 4-3, Saturday to the Ottawa Senators.

Ottawa’s Artem Anisimov, who had two goals in regulation, scored the lone goal from either team in the shootout.

The Red Wings (15-47-5) have now lost five consecutive games.

But there was this important point to be made concerning the Red Wings.

Given the last two losses, both lethargic and uninspired losses at home since the trade deadline, the Wings made a determined effort to put together a quality 60-minute effort.

As it turned out, the game went 65 minutes and some change, but the effort never wavered.

BOX SCORE: Senators 4, Red Wings 3, shootout

“We talked about it after the last game, we felt a little bit ashamed,” said goaltender Jonathan Bernier, who stopped 36 shots and was arguably, again, the Wings’ best player. “We’re professional and it’s been a tough season obviously, but you just have to compete and come in and give your best effort. That’s all you can do.

“Obviously we put ourselves in this position, but we just have to compete until the end.”

Sam Gagner tied the score 3-3 on the power play, his first as a Wing and sixth of the season, at 7:46.

Gagner deflected Filip Hronek’s shot, just after Ottawa had taken the lead with two early third-period goals.

“The power play especially, we were a little more cohesive as a unit,” said Gagner, who was acquired in the trade from Edmonton for Andreas Athanasiou. “It’s a process and you just have to keep building with a new team, and I have more than I did tonight. But you just keep pushing forward and help the group and hopefully we can get some wins here.”

Scott Sabourin and Artem Anisimov had Senators goals in the third period, erasing a 2-1 Wings lead.

But unlike so many other games this season, the Wings dug in, came back, and tied it on Gagner’s tally.

“Our response was great tonight,” said forward Dylan Larkin, who had a goal and assist. “We just have to find a way to bottle it up and limit their chances and find a way to get out of here with two points on the road.”

Frans Nielsen had the other Wings goal.

The Red Wings are winless nine of their last 10 and 19 of their last 22.

But they’ll take a lot more positives out of this game, which hasn’t been the case much lately

“We did some good and bad, but better than the last couple of outings for sure,” Red coach Jeff Blashill said. “We dug in better. I liked the fact we scored a power-play goal after we gave up the lead. I didn’t like the fact we gave up the lead, both were preventable plays.

“We can still be better, but we took some steps forward. We need to win, and it’s disappointing not to get the win. But certainly it was a better effort than the last couple nights.”

ted.kulfan@detroitnews.com

Twitter.com:: @tkulfan