OTTAWA - With talk of a goalie controversy after just two games for the Ottawa Senators, things didn't get any easier for Martin Gerber on Saturday night in Game 3 of the season.
Johan Franzen scored twice in the third period, including the winner with just 1:17 to play, as the Detroit Red Wings fought back from two one-goal deficits to defeat the Ottawa Senators 3-2 Saturday night.
With the Senators up 2-1, Franzen beat Gerber over the shoulder at 11:01 to tie the game. Then, with little time left in the game, Franzen took a shot from along the boards that Gerber got a piece of but not enough as the puck just trickled over the goal line in back of him.
"The first one I was dead tired so I only made it to the circle but I saved enough energy to get a good shot away," Franzen said.
"The second one was a lucky one. It got deflected. I was shooting for the first post but it got deflected to the other post. That was a tough play for him."
Valtteri Filppula also scored for the Red Wings (1-1-0), who lost their season opener Thursday to the Toronto Maple Leafs.
The Senators (1-1-1), who started the season with a win and an overtime loss to the Pittsburgh Penguins in Sweden last weekend, got goals from Alexandre Picard and Nick Foligno.
Gerber was certainly the busier of the two goaltenders as the Red Wings outshot the Senators 41-22. Gerber was forced to make 16 first-period saves alone while Chris Osgood made just five saves in the opening period.
"We came out flat in the first period but I think we were able to play more of our game over the next two periods," Gerber said, adding he didn't have much of an opportunity on the winning goal.
"It looked like an easy shot but it bounced twice and the second bounce popped over my stick. It's over now though and there's nothing you can do about it."
The Senators came on harder in the second period, forcing Osgood to be sharp in order to keep his team in the game. They had just four shots in the third.
Foligno scored the nicest goal of the game to give the Senators a 2-1 at 18:01 of the second period. He split through Filppula and Niklas Kronwall before firing a low shot past Osgood.
"I tried to make a move and luckily it squirted through and I was able to get my stick free," said Foligno, who is in his second NHL season.
"It's one of those things where I was happy to help the team, it's just unfortunate that we got the loss. We learned a lot of things and we'll come back with a better effort Friday."
The teams had entered the second period tied 1-1. Picard scored his first goal in a Senators uniform when his shot from the top of the faceoff circle got past Osgood at 6:22 while the Senators were skating five-on-three.
"I think we started the first period the way we wanted and we outshot them," Red Wings forward Marian Hossa said.
"The second period was a little bit slower but in the third we found a way to score a couple of goals and win the game."
The Senators are off until Friday when they host the Phoenix Coyotes. The Red Wings will be in Carolina Monday to face the Hurricanes.
Notes: The Detroit Red Wings are the only NHL club that Dany Heatley has never scored against . In 22 lifetime meetings the Red Wings have never shut out the Senators while the Senators have shut out the Red Wings once . Red Wings defenceman Brett Lebda played his 200th career NHL game Saturday . The Red Wings haven't lost back-to-back games to open a season since 1989-90