Carter Yakemchuk scores in NHL debut as streaking Senators top Red Wings, 3-2

DETROIT (AP) — Carter Yakemchuk scored a second-period goal and also had an assist in his NHL debut as the streaking Ottawa Senators edged the Detroit Red Wings 3-2 on Tuesday night.

Yakemchuk, the No. 7 overall pick of the 2024 draft, had been playing for the American Hockey League’s Belleville Senators. He was called up earlier in the day with defensemen Thomas Chabot, Dennis Gilbert, Nick Jensen, Jake Sanderson and Lassi Thomson sidelined by injuries.

Yakemchuk, a 20-year-old defenseman from Alberta, had 10 goals in 50 games with Belleville.

Brady Tkachuk scored his 20th goal of the season for the Senators, who have won four straight and nine of their last 11 games. Lars Eller scored the other goal for the Senators. Linus Ullmark made 32 saves as the Senators continued their late push for an Eastern Conference playoff berth.

Red Wings captain Dylan Larkin scored on a third-period power play in his first game since missing seven games with a lower-body injury.

Dominik Shine had the other Red Wings goal while John Gibson stopped 18 shots. Detroit had won its three previous meetings with Ottawa this season.

Alex DeBrincat seemingly gave the Red Wings the lead late in the first period. His power-play goal was challenged by Ottawa and the officials ruled that Detroit was offside.

The Senators converted on a power play with 2:45 remaining in the period when Tkachuk tipped in Tim Stutzle's shot.

Yakemchuk scored at 9:28 of the second period. He skated in from the point to the right circle and beat Gibson on the glove side.

Eller made it 3-0 less than two minutes later.

Senators: Host Pittsburgh on Thursday night.

Red Wings: Visit Buffalo on Friday night.

AP NHL: https://apnews.com/hub/NHL

Ottawa Senators left wing Brady Tkachuk (7) checks Detroit Red Wings right wing Alex DeBrincat (93) off the puck in the first period of an NHL hockey game Tuesday, March 24, 2026, in Detroit. (AP Photo/Paul Sancya)

Detroit Red Wings goaltender John Gibson (36) stops a Ottawa Senators right wing Drake Batherson (19) shot as Jacob Bernard-Docker (25) and Albert Johansson (20) defend in the first period of an NHL hockey game Tuesday, March 24, 2026, in Detroit. (AP Photo/Paul Sancya)

Ottawa Senators defenseman Jorian Donovan (56) defends Detroit Red Wings right wing Patrick Kane (88) in the second period of an NHL hockey game Tuesday, March 24, 2026, in Detroit. (AP Photo/Paul Sancya)

Ottawa Senators left wing Brady Tkachuk, right, celebrates his goal with Carter Yakemchuk, left, against the Detroit Red Wings in the first period of an NHL hockey game Tuesday, March 24, 2026, in Detroit. (AP Photo/Paul Sancya)

Ottawa Senators' Carter Yakemchuk celebrates his goal against the Detroit Red Wings in the second period of an NHL hockey game Tuesday, March 24, 2026, in Detroit. (AP Photo/Paul Sancya)

BOGOTA, Colombia (AP) — Colombian President Gustavo Petro on Tuesday questioned the use of secondhand planes by the country's armed forces, as officials investigate the crash of a military transport plane that killed dozens of soldiers in southwestern Colombia.

“An army cannot defend its own people with crappy gifts,” Petro wrote on X in reference to the Hercules CJ-130, which was donated to Colombia by the United States. “They give away whatever is useless to them — and the 'gift' ends up costing more than buying it new.”

On Monday a military transport plane crashed shortly after taking off in Colombia’s Putumayo province, with the Defense Ministry reporting Tuesday that 67 members of the armed forces and two policemen were killed in the accident. Officials said that 57 soldiers were rescued alive from the crash site in the remote municipality of Puerto Leguizamo, and were being treated for their injuries in the capital, Bogota and elsewhere.

The Hercules CJ-130 was donated by the U.S. to Colombia in 2020 under a cooperation agreement that also included the donation of two other used Hercules planes.

In 2023, the plane went through a detailed revision known as an overhaul, in which its engines were inspected and key components were replaced.

Erich Saumeth, a Colombian aviation expert and military analyst, said that investigators must now determine why the four-engine Hercules failed so shortly after takeoff.

“I don’t think this plane crashed because of a lack of good parts,” Saumeth said.

Former Colombian President Iván Duque, who was in office when the Hercules was donated, urged Petro in a message on X to “calm down and breathe.”

“You should conduct a rigorous investigation that looks at how much weight the plane was carrying compared to the length of the runway,” Duque wrote.

The airport in Puerto Leguizamo has a short runway that is just 1.2 kilometers (less than one mile) in length. Officials said that the plane crashed in a field less than 2 kilometers away from the airport.

Petro has seized on the accident to promote what he calls his longtime campaign to modernize planes and other equipment used by his country’s military, saying those efforts have been blocked by “bureaucratic difficulties” and suggesting that some officials should be held accountable. “If civilian or military administrative officials are not up to the challenge, they must be removed,” Petro said Monday on X.

Critics of the president have pointed out that there has been a lack of execution of military contracts under Petro’s administration, as well as fewer flight hours for military planes due to cuts in Colombia’s defense budget.

On Tuesday evening, Petro declared a three-day national mourning period for the 69 dead in the plane crash.

Follow AP’s coverage of Latin America and the Caribbean at https://apnews.com/hub/latin-america

Yeferson de la Hoz, the cousin of soldier Mauro Penaranda who was on the cargo plane that crashed the previous day after take off in Puerto Leguizamo, stands at the military hospital where his cousin is being treated in Bogota, Colombia, Tuesday, March 24, 2026. (AP Photo/Fernando Vergara)

In this photo distributed by Colombia's Armed Forces press office, people who were injured on a military cargo plane that crashed shortly after takeoff in Puerto Leguizamo, arrives at a military base for treatment in Bogota, Colombia, Monday, March 23, 2026. (Colombia's Armed Forces press office via AP)

Manuel Lopez, a relative of soldier Antonio Lopez who was on a cargo plane that crashed shortly after take off the previous day in Puerto Leguizamo, arrives at the military hospital where he is being treated in Bogota, Colombia, Tuesday, March 24, 2026. (AP Photo/Fernando Vergara)

Yeferson de la Hoz, center, the cousin of soldier Mauro Penaranda who was on the cargo plane that crashed the previous day after take off in Puerto Leguizamo, arrives at the military hospital where he is being treated in Bogota, Colombia, Tuesday, March 24, 2026. (AP Photo/Fernando Vergara)