Game Recap: Senators fall 2-1 to the Jets in a shootout

The Senators lost 2-1 in a shootout, which went six rounds before being decided. While Craig Anderson was again stellar, Winnipeg’s Ondrej Pavelec was just as good. This comes after much talk, at least from outside the Jets organization, that Pavelec was the Jets’ weakest link last season.

While Pavelec blanked every Ottawa shooter in the shootout, Anderson was beaten by Mathieu Perreault. Still, the Sens remain unbeaten in regulation at the Canadian Tire Centre so far this season.

GAME RECAP

Things started out well for the Sens as they carried the play early. Unsurprisingly, the kid line of Mike Hoffman, Curtis Lazar, and Mark Stone was buzzing off the hop, and often caused the Jets to run around in their own end. It was nice to see in light of Bobby Ryan and Alex Chiasson being scratches, resulting in Erik Condra and Colin Greening playing, the latter in just his third game of the season. Mark Borowiecki had a spirited tilt with Winnipeg’s Chris Thorburn after the Jets’ forward delivered a heavy hit to Milan Michalek moments earlier. Give Borowiecki the decision as he landed most of the blows.

Then the Sens got offence from an unlikely source. Chris Neil tucked a puck past Pavelec on the powerplay, taking a feed from Mika Zibanejad. It was Neil’s first powerplay marker since the 2011-12 season, and for Zibanejad it was his first assist in what has been a slow season for him offensively. However, after the goal the Jets started carrying the play. The Sens didn’t have a shot attempt for the final 6:47 of the period, while the Jets managed 11 more in that time. Overall, they would manage to outshoot the Sens 14-7 in the opening frame, and got even with a Tobias Enstrom point shot at 17:49 on a powerplay of their own.

The rest of the game remained scoreless, but that doesn’t mean it wasn’t exciting. The Jets and Sens traded chances throughout the next two periods, with Ottawa’s kid line again looking impressive but being stoned by Pavelec the entire night. Not to be outdone, Anderson had some amazing saves of his own, including a right pad save in the third to keep things tied.

Before getting to OT, it should be noted that Ottawa coach Paul MacLean, looking for some extra scoring, was back to old habits by constantly mixing up his lines. Seeing Stone with Kyle Turris and Clarke MacArthur isn’t all that surprising as its been done before, but we also saw Lazar on Zibanejad’s wing, and the latter on the right side with various centres.

Then came the extra frame where the generally Sens carried the play, outshooting the Jets 6-4. Still, Pavelec stood tall for the full five minutes. In the shootout, we got to see an extra three shooters go for each side, as both goalies continued their strong play. David Legwand had the best chance for the Sens trying to go backhand over Pavelec’s glove, but couldn’t elevate it enough over the sprawling Jets goalie. Perreault ended the game with a low stick-side shot that fooled Anderson, sending the Jets off with a win.

I have to ask what Paul MacLean, or whichever coach decides the shooters for the shootout, was thinking. Ottawa’s first three shooters were Zibanejad, Karlsson and Turris. Even with Zibby’s struggles, I can understand putting him in there as he’s shown offensive flair at points this season. Karlsson and Turris are proven scorers, so no issue there. But then we saw Michalek, who has been struggling to even be noticeable this season, David Legwand, who admittedly got the Sens their best chance in the skills contest, and regular healthy-scratch Colin Greening. Meanwhile, the aforementioned kid line and Sens leading goal-scorer Clarke MacArthur were left sitting on the bench. Greening had a shootout goal back in the preseason, which is the only thing that comes to mind for the coaches justifying putting him out there (asides from giving a confidence boost the a player MacLean has often made extra effort to praise when he does play) over the likes of MacArthur, but he was again just okay at best this game, and did nothing to show he should stay in the lineup once Ryan and Chiasson are ready to go.

GAME NOTES

Quiet Night for Karlsson: Sens captain Erik Karlsson had an unusually slow night. Not that he was a defensive liability, but he failed to generate scoring chances the way he usually does, and didn’t register a shot until the third period. Still, he logged 26:03 over the course of 65 minutes, and was chosen to shoot second in the shootout by the coaching staff. It’s also worth noting that he didn’t lead the team in ice time. Speaking of…

Cowen Surprises with Solid Play: Jared Cowen logged more ice time than any player on either side this game, with a total of 27:59. And you know what? He was remarkably solid, consistently in good position, and used his physical play to make life difficult for opposing forwards both in the corners and in front of the net. After getting scratched for five consecutive games, Cowen has looked better but tonight was something else. He also helped carry the play and finished with a 53% Corsi at even strength despite only 43% of his starts being in the offensive zone. Hopefully his upward trend can continue as it would make life much easier for the Sens, especially with Marc Methot still sidelined.

Kid Line Continues to Impress: Despite failing to score, the Hoffman-Lazar-Stone line was great again, and frankly the Sens best line last night. Hoffman continues to show  his speed and get his hard shot off quickly, while Stone uses his smarts and slick hands to make great plays in tight and frustrate opposing players. Lazar, well, he just keeps playing his hard-nosed, two-way game, which has been written about ad nauseam. Not that I’m complaining, it’s just that there’s nothing new to say.

The Sens’ next game goes tonight against the Maple Leafs, which was originally supposed to be played back on October 22 before the tragic shooting in downtown Ottawa forced the NHL to reschedule the game. Puck drops at 6:00 pm. Thanks for reading, and enjoy your day.