Sogaard wins NHL debut, Senators defeat Red Wings

Mads Sogaard won his NHL debut, and Mathieu Joseph scored his first NHL hat trick in the Ottawa Senators' 5-2 victory against the Detroit Red Wings at Little Caesars Arena in Detroit on Friday.

"That's not something you can do every day in this league, so it feels good," Joseph said.
Sogaard made 27 saves, and Joseph had an assist for the Senators (24-37-6).
"I tried not to think about the game too much during the day," Sogaard said. "Obviously, it's hard to do that when you are making your NHL debut, but after the first media timeout, I just realized it is still hockey. It isn't like they have magic powers up here."

If Sogaard was nervous, Ottawa coach D.J. Smith said he couldn't tell.
"He just looked so calm for a young guy," Smith said of the 21-year-old. "You don't want to get too excited, because he's really young, but as he gets older and really learns the position, he can bring a lot to this organization."
Lucas Raymond scored twice for the Red Wings (26-33-9), who lost their fifth straight. Alex Nedeljkovic made 27 saves.
"We were 0-for-5 on the power play, and they were [1-for-2] with a shorthanded goal," Detroit coach Jeff Blashill said. "That's tough to overcome in a game when you aren't getting many chances at 5-on-5."
The Red Wings have been outscored 65-34 in their past 13 games, losing 11.
"It is really tough to go through a stretch like this, but we have to find a way to dig ourselves out of it," Detroit forward Sam Gagner said.

Austin Watson gave Ottawa a 1-0 lead with a shorthanded goal at 5:07 of the first period.
Senators forward Alex Formenton had a goal overturned at 6:07 when Detroit challenged for goaltender interference.
Raymond tied it 1-1 at 2:37 of the second period when he tapped in a rebound after Jake Walman's shot deflected off Sogaard's glove.
Detroit started the third period with 33 seconds of 5-on-3 but didn't have a shot on goal, and Raymond took a hooking penalty with the Red Wings on the power play.
"It's a tie game and we've got a 5-on-3, but we don't get anything and they end up on the power play," Gagner said. "Obviously, that's a huge factor in the game."

Josh Norris took advantage, giving Ottawa a 2-1 lead with a power-play goal at 2:25 before Joseph made it 3-1 at 3:36 when he poked the puck in through the legs of Detroit defenseman Gustav Lindstrom.
"[Norris] really broke the game open for us," Smith said. "He's a legitimate NHL player and he keeps getting better and better. His scoring keeps helping us."
Joseph pushed the lead to 4-1 at 13:19, but Raymond cut it to 4-2 at 13:59 with a one-timer in the slot with Nedeljkovic pulled for the extra attacker.
Joseph completed the hat trick and made it 5-2 at 16:05 by scoring into an empty net.
"This morning, I missed six or seven times shooting at an empty net from my own blue line," Joseph said, "so I wasn't really confident about taking that one."
NOTES: Joseph played his 226th NHL game. … The Red Wings have lost all three games of their games this season against goalies making their NHL debut. They were shut out 2-0 by Zach Fucale (21 saves) and the Washington Capitals on Nov. 11 and lost 4-3 in the shootout to Lukas Dostal (33 saves) and the Anaheim Ducks on Jan. 9. … Walman had an assist for his first point in six games since being traded from the St. Louis Blues on March 21. … It was the first of a home-and-home; the teams play again at Ottawa on Sunday.