Mark Stone, Lord And Savior Saves Ottawa Senators’ Season

After being down 3-0 more than half-way through the game, somehow the Ottawa Senators came back against the Pittsburgh Penguins to win 4-3 in overtime. Mark Stone had the second and fourth goals, further putting emphasis on the fact that he is in fact the Senators Lord and Savior.

GAME RECAP

Let’s just say the game didn’t start out as we had planned. Just 10 seconds into the game Sidney Crosby crept in behind Erik Karlsson on the far side, got a cross ice pass and wired it passed Andrew Hammond for an easy 1-0 lead. It didn’t get much better from there.

Just five minutes later, there was a massive defensive breakdown, and the Penguins took advantage. Mike Hoffman failed to clear the puck near the blueline, and right after Beau Bennett was left wide open at the side of the net for an easy goal to make it 2-0. The entire sequence was horrendous to watch, and the Penguins were walking all over the Senators.

With over five minutes to play in the period, it got worse. A Sidney Crosby shot caught Hammond in the shoulder as he was sprawling across, and then it went straight up into the air. Hammond had no idea where it was, and it landed right in the crease and a streaking Patric Hornqvist had to simply tap it in to give Pittsburgh a three goal lead.

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The second period Ottawa looked much better, and they came out to play like they should have from the get-go. Despite all their efforts, with under six minutes left in the period, it was still 3-0 and Pittsburgh had a power play. Luckily Jean-Gabriel Pageau was out there, and he was magic for Ottawa. He went on a short-handed break with Erik Condra, beat the defenseman wide and threw the puck out intending to get it to Condra. The next best thing happened as it went off Derrick Pouliot‘s skate and in, giving the team a sliver of hope before going into the third period.

The next period couldn’t have started any better, as Mark Stone scored his 23rd of the season just 34 seconds in after a small turnover in the offensive zone. All of a sudden, it was game on. The rest of the period, Ottawa dominated. The shots in the period were 18-3, and the attempts 30-11. Yet, it came down to the wire. With about two minutes left, Dave Cameron pulled the goalie, and their season was essentially on the line.

But of course, Ottawa is full of heroes. Hoffman was a partial hero for tonight, as he beat Marc-Andre Fleury glove side with 1:48 to go. It was certainly a surreal moment, and you got the sense that the Senators were going to win. With 29 seconds to go, Pittsburgh took a too many men penalty, and Ottawa had a huge chance in overtime. Unfortunately they could not convert.

Luckily for them, Stone is on their team. Karlsson broke up a play in the defensive zone, and he, Stone and Turris went on a 3-2 rush into the zone. Karlsson passed to Stone, who then shifted around the defense and had a clear lane for an easy game-winning goal. With two goals on the night, Stone saved Ottawa’s season, and that’s not a hyperbole. Re-watch all the glory here.

NOTES & OBSERVATIONS

• Nice to see Hoffman score a huge goal for the team, and he should be out on the ice in the last minute or two of a game while down. Keep him in the top six, please.
• Although this is a fantastic win, Ottawa needs some help still. They will need to finish 2-0, and hope Pittsburgh drops two points (out of four), or Detroit drops three points (out of four), or Boston drops three points (out of six). Boston does have one less point than Pittsburgh, but they also have a game in hand. So the Penguins seem more likely to catch now, and they will essentially have to lose to the Islanders on Thursday.
• This season is pretty amazing isn’t it? Even if they don’t make it, this run has been pretty fun. This will help in the long-term for the organization.
• Stone now has 61 points, tied with Filip Forsberg and one behind Johnny Gaudreau. Now can he be a Calder candidate? Pretty amazing that he can dominate the NHL just like he did in the WHL.
• This tweet looks hilarious now:

• Also this one:

• In case you didn’t notice Steve, Karlsson set up the game winner to keep their season alive. Is that Norris worthy?
• Senators haven’t won in regulation in eight games. They sure have been living on the edge, which is entertaining. However, they’ve been giving away points to teams like Detroit, Washington, and Pittsburgh, which hurts a bit.
• All in all, I’m just happy I wasn’t writing Ottawa’s obituary tonight. I had to scrap the original title and I was happy to do so. Hopefully they can go all the way and sneak in.

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UP NEXT

There’s only two games left for the Senators, and it goes without saying that he have to win both. Next up is the New York Rangers in New York on Thursday, but they might not be such a hard matchup considering they’ve already clinched everything possible. Then after that it’s the season finale in Philadelphia on Saturday.