Since the NHL released the draft lottery odds earlier this week, the race for the bottom has really heated up. Before puck drop at Little Caesars Arena this afternoon, the Ottawa Senators were four points behind the Red Wings in the standings. While both teams are still “trying to win”, this was one of the bigger lottery division games of the season. Ottawa has had a dramatically bad season, while Detroit’s was just bad. Today, Ottawa pulled themselves a little closer to winning Rasmus Dahlin as the Wings downed them 2-0.

The first period didn’t have much going for it. Both teams got off to a lackluster, unmotivated start. Detroit took two penalties that they managed to kill off and Ottawa took one. The Wings were out-shot 10-5, but had the better 5-on-5 shot attempt percentage, setting them up nicely for a push in the second period.

Their strong 5-on-5 play finally paid off four minutes into the second period as Anthony Mantha and Dylan Larkin had a wide open 2-on-1. Mantha fooled Condon and beautifully set-up Larkin so that all D-Boss had to do was tap it in.

Not much else got going in the second, but the Wings looked much better than they did in the first.

In the third, Detroit added to their tally when Andreas Athanasiou scored off a quick play following a faceoff.

This goal really came down to Evgeny Svechnikov’s work in front of the net. He did a great job of screen Condon. The Sens actually challenged the play for goaltender interference, but it was determined that the call on the ice would stand. Detroit went up 2-0.

Shortly after the goal, Ottawa was back on the powerplay and Jimmy Howard really stepped up. He made big saves on Erik Karlsson and Mike Hoffman, keeping his team in the game and his shutout alive.

He managed to shut them out as the Wings won this one 2-0.

It was a pretty tight game overall, but not very exciting. Ottawa played a better third period, but couldn’t claw their way back onto the scoreboard. Jimmy Howard played a fantastic game in net and was the primary reason the Sens were held scoreless in the third period.

The second period was easily Detroit’s best and it’s no surprise that’s where the game winning goal was scored.

Tonight’s Motor City MVP is the duo of Larkin and Mantha for their beautiful work on the game winning goal. It was Dylan Larkin’s 14th goal and 59th point. He’ll hit the 60 point milestone before the end of the season. What a bounceback season it’s been for the young center.

The season’s really winding down now and the Wings have a couple of days off before jumping back into action in Columbus for the first of the final three games of their season. The Blue Jackets have yet to clinch a playoff berth, so this will be a big game for them. Puck drop will be at 7:00 P.M. ET and you’ll be able to watch on Fox Sports Detroit.

As always, we’ll have your pre-game report up early Tuesday afternoon.