Red Wings too loose defensively in 6-2 loss to Senators

The Detroit Red Wings were too loose defensively Monday, and the Ottawa Senators capitalized.

Ottawa scored four goals in the second period to take control and defeated Detroit 6-2 at Canadian Tire Centre.

The Red Wings (28-23-8, 64 points) have lost back-to-back games in regulation for the first time since Jan. 27-Feb. 7. The Senators (29-24-4, 62 points) closed the gap on Detroit in a multi-team race for the two wild-card playoff spots in the Eastern Conference.

Red Wings coach Derek Lalonde opted to start backup Magnus Hellberg, who usually plays the second night on back-to-backs. Hellberg allowed all six goals, facing a career-high 42 shots.

Ville Husso will start Tuesday when the teams meet again in Ottawa. Monday’s game was a makeup of a Dec. 23 game postponed due to a snowstorm.

It was only Hellberg’s second appearance in a month, his first since a 5-2 victory at Calgary on Feb. 16.

Claude Giroux had a goal and three assists and Thomas Chabot contributed a goal and two assists for the Senators.

Tyler Bertuzzi and David Perron scored for the Red Wings.

Bertuzzi opened the scoring at 11:48 of the first period with his fourth goal in 28 games as he took a pass from Pius Suter and slipped behind the Ottawa defense to beat Cam Talbot.

Perron’s power-play goal, his 15th, put the Red Wings ahead 2-1 at 5:11 of the second.

It was all Ottawa after that.

Lucas Raymond returned after missing eight games with a lower-body injury. He did not figure in the scoring, registering two shots and a minus-2 rating.