Ottawa Senators Beat Flyers In Shootout

The Ottawa Senators picked up a huge win tonight against the Philadelphia Flyers. The Senators now sit five points out of the 8^th and final playoff spot. The Senators have been on a miraculous run, which thanks in large part is to goaltender Andrew Hammond. Will the playoff push continue? Will he keep up his remarkable play? Time will only tell but Hammond and the Senators looked great against the Flyers.

GAME RECAP

The first period was well-played by both teams. The shots in the first period were seven for Philadelphia and eight for Ottawa. Senators picked up a penalty at the 10:21 mark when Mika Zibanejad tripped Jakub Voracek but killed off the penalty. Hammond looked great on the penalty kills tonight stopping all six shots he faced as the first period saw good action from both teams.

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The second period saw Flyers’ goaltender Ray Emery having to face several Senators power plays. The Flyers were short-handed three times in the second period. Emery was strong on the penalty kill. The netminder stopped five of five shots he faced during Ottawa power plays. The Senators scored the first goal of the game at the 5:19 mark with Jean-Gabriel Pageau tipping the puck out of the air into the Philly goal. The goal was assisted by Mark Borowiecki and Erik Condra.

Pageau looked very good all game, tying Bobby Ryan and Kyle Turris with a team leading four shots while he drew two penalties in the second period. The Flyers got onto the scoreboard at the 12:12 mark when Voracek fired a rocket past Hammond.

The third period was closely contested like the other two as the shots were an even eight to eight in the third as the period saw Patrick Wiercioch and Zac Rinaldo receive equalizer penalties at the 9:35 mark. As a result, both Ottawa and Philadelphia exchanged two minutes of very exciting four on four play.

Shortly after even strength play resumed, Karlsson picked up a delay of game penalty for a puck over the glass at the 12:06 mark. The Senators killed the penalty and both teams seeing scoring chances through the remainder of the period as both sides had near goals with great chances from Matt Read and Vorachek for the Flyers, and Curtis Lazar, Milan Michalek and Turris for the Senators.

Overtime saw the Senators with two shots and the Flyers with one. This game seemed destined to finish with a shootout and it did which saw stellar performance’s by both goaltenders. Hammond had saves on Voracek, Wayne Simmonds, and Claude Giroux while Emery had saves on Turris and Zibanejad but could not stop Ryan as the Senators won the game 2-1 off Ryan’s shootout goal. The home crowd was extremely happy, with someone even throwing a hamburger in the direction of Andrew “Hamburglar” Hammond on the ice.

NOTES AND OBSERVATIONS

• Hammond delivered another solid performance. He is now 10-0-1 with a .955 save percentage this season. I wrote an article discussing how I would have liked to have seen Hammond play against Boston. The Senators not playing Hammond against Boston is water under the bridge. I hope they continue to roll him out and that he continues his historical hot streak.
• Pageau was a force to be reckoned with as he had 15.4 minutes of ice time, four shots, drew two penalties, and was the Senators best player (not named Andrew Hammond) tonight. Pageau is listed at 5 foot 9 inches, 175 lbs. I am not sure if 5 foot 9 inches is generous in terms of his actual height, but he plays much bigger than his listed or actual height. Pageau constantly goes to the net and to the other tough areas on the ice.
• The Senators are in the most important stretch of their season sitting five points out of the final playoff spot with 14 regular season contests remaining. The Senators play the Boston Bruins on Thursday which could be the most important of the season. A win will help the Senators playoff chances immensely.
• How much longer can the Senators keep up this amazing level of play as they are 8-1-1 in their last ten games. Their only regulation loss came when they chose to start Craig Anderson against Boston. Was Anderson the reason they lost? Not entirely. The Senators hit posts and had some bad bounces. With that being said, you must keep playing Hammond while he is on a historical run. Here’s to hoping that Hammond keeps playing well and the Senators slide into the 7^th or 8^th playoff spot.

UP NEXT

The Senators next game will see them travel to PNC Arena to play the Carolina Hurricanes. Puck drop is at 7 PM on Tuesday, March 17^th. This is a must win game for the Senators. What else is new? Every game in their miracle run has been a must win and they have been able to go 8-1-1 in their last ten games as the Senators must keep winning to make the playoffs.