Ottawa Senators Comeback To Win In Dramatic Fashion

The Ottawa Senators played one of their best games of the season against the St. Louis Blues tonight, and they eked out a 3-2 shootout win in dramatic fashion. The Senators now sit at 10-7-4 and  sit tied for the last wild card spot.

Game Recap

Just eight minutes into the game, it looked like the Blues had struck first thanks to Jaden Schwartz on the power play. However, the referee called it off because of incidental contact with Robin Lehner, and even I can say it was a weak call. Lehner was out of his crease, and Jori Lehtera didn’t make a whole lot of contact. Nevertheless, it was still scoreless.

It didn’t matter because with 5:37 left in the period St. Louis took the lead for real this time. In the first there was also another disallowed goal, but this time it came at Ottawa’s expense. Erik Condra was driving the net looking for the puck, and he saw it sitting behind Brian Elliott. It was clearly lose and he put the puck in, but the ref had already blew his whistle very quickly, and Condra was denied a goal. The refs owed both teams after that period.

In the second it looked like Ottawa was not going to win this game at all. The only goal of the period came from Alex Steen on the power play, and St. Louis looked to have the better chances. It was also a period filled with extreme frustration for Senators fans. There was yet another disallowed goal, and Condra was involved on the play once again. There was a mad scramble in the crease, but the puck was never covered. Someone on Ottawa eventually put in the net, and the ref even blew the whistle just after it had gone in (as shown on the replay). However, the call on the ice was no goal, and the reasoning to uphold that was because of “unintentional goalie contact” once again this time because of Condra.

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The call was laughable as he was knocked over by Barret Jackman right into Elliott, but the refs were adamant that this was no goal. Further adding to the frustration was the three penalties that Ottawa took (and the subsequent two in the third) were very questionable. Not all of them were bad, but it certainly felt like a few of them were borderline penalties at best. The Senators headed into the third down by two against one of the best teams in the West on the second half of a back-to-back. There was no way they had a chance.

That’s what I thought, but then they came storming out in the third. It didn’t look like they were about to give up, which is impressive considering they had “played” the night before. Erik Condra was able to finally get a goal that counted with 12:05 left, and just like that Ottawa had life. The rest of the game Ottawa continued the pressure, but they just could not find an answer against Jake Allen (who had earlier replaced Elliott due to injury).

In the last 7:05 of the game, Ottawa out-attempted St. Louis 17-1. I knew it was a barrage of shots, but I did not know it was that much. They had two posts late in the game, and finally with only 41 seconds left Alex Chiasson was able to bury home a loose puck right behind the pads of Allen. The game was headed to a shootout, to the surprise of many.

In the shootout, Robin Lehner stood tall, although he didn’t have to make a huge effort. Two of the shots he saved were weak shots along the ice, but he stopped all three like he needed to. The first two shooters for Ottawa in Kyle Turris and Mike Hoffman had missed, and Bobby Ryan had a chance to win it. He made no mistake, and he sent the Senators leaving the rink happy.

Game Notes/Observations

• Bobby Ryan looked like a Norris candidate. You read that right. He made some fantastic defensive plays late in the game, but he also had some nifty plays offensively. He’s looking like the player we traded for recently.
• Good to see Robin Lehner go 3/3 in the shootout even if they were easy saves. He usually struggles in the skills competition.
• Erik Condra had a great game as well, posting a 77% corsi, and somehow was able to carry David Legwand and Chris Neil. He’s a great 3rd/4th liner, and he’s much more valuable than a few players on the team right now.
• Against one of the best teams in the West, Ottawa out-attempted St. Louis 74-47. The lowest individual corsi on Ottawa was 52%, and the highest on St. Louis was 55%. Somehow they actually played extremely well before even considering other factors like fatigue and poor reffing.
• I still have major issues with Paul MacLean‘s lines and his line usages. I’ll repeat this one more time: David Legwand should not be on the power play. Also, Ryan has done enough to prove that he should be playing with Clarke MacArthur and Kyle Turris. Mika Zibanejad needs to be in this lineup as well, because Colin Greening doesn’t bring a thing.
• The last 10 minutes of the game and overtime was some of the best hockey this season from an entertainment standpoint. There was non-stop action, with Ottawa getting so many chances. The shootout really blew that momentum, which is why 3 on 3 overtime would be amazing.
• I hate complaining about refs, but it’s becoming a real issue for me. Such small things are being called that don’t even affect the game. It’s frustrating to watch the game when a little tug is an easy hooking or holding penalty.

Up Next

The Senators continue their road trip, as they head down to the Sunshine state for a back to back against the Florida Panthers and Tampa Bay Lightning on Friday and Saturday.