Dale Weise The Hero, Ottawa Senators Find Themselves Down 3-0
By Jack Leiper
The Ottawa Senators enter this one fighting for their playoff lives, their fate going one of two ways. A 3-0 series deficit is hardly manageable, but a 2-1 series is the much more desirable outcome.
2. 152. 1. 91. Final
GAME RECAP
The game got off to the pace like the other two. Ottawa controlled play for a while, Montreal responded. Clarke MacArthur opened the scoring for Ottawa (again) with a beautiful move in close on Carey Price. MacArthur remains hot after returning from a concussion as he scored his second in as many games.
That would be the story of the first, where despite some late pressure from Montreal, Ottawa held a 1-0 lead after 20.
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The second was rather quiet, and in a series where Montreal had only found regulation time offence in this time period, it was nice to see Ottawa stop Montreal from getting on the board despite being outshot 16-3 at around the mid point.
The third began with the same story. Montreal and Ottawa had a sequence where they traded penalties, but special teams did not factor into the decision tonight. Ottawa held their 1-0 lead until Craig Anderson was caught at the side of the net and Dale Weise jammed home a loose puck as Anderson’s desperation move wasn’t enough to keep the puck out this time.
Craig Anderson remained the story thought the first 60, as he stopped everything that came at him, minus the Weise goal. 39 saves in total for Andy, who has bought himself another start. It makes the future of this goaltending trio hazy, as Andrew Hammond and Robin Lehner may be competing for one spot in training camp.
60 minutes solved nothing, and for the second night in a row, Ottawa was off to OT. This series has been fairly one-sided, however all of the games have been manageable as Ottawa as lost by just one on each occasion.
Overtime saw a power play for Montreal early on, with Montreal’s power play unit looking atrocious as it did most of the night.
The OT winner came from Dale Weise, a clean shot with Patrick Wiercioch defending the proper side. Craig Anderson is beat by his pad side, as Weise finds himself being the hero in this match.
NOTES AND OBSERVATIONS
- Nice to some good shifts from Bobby Ryan, noticeable improvement over his past few
- Chris Neil’s insertion to the lineup was welcomed. Played well in a 4th line role, but Mike Hoffman isn’t a fit there.
- Future is hazy for Alex Chiasson.. scratched for Chris Neil
- P.K. Subban has a pretty hard shot, apparently.
- Eric Gryba looked atrocious once again. Do the Senators start Jared Cowen in place of Gryba.
- However this series ends up, it’s nice to see how Ottawa got here. A season to be proud of and an off-season to be excited for coming up.
- Dale Weise and Brandon Prust make up a pretty good 4th line. Some nice depth in Montreal with Torrey Mitchell and Brian Flynn also being there as reliable veteran players.
- Craig Anderson had a good game, may have let a weak one in during OT, but was not the problem for Ottawa tonight.
- In fact, the Senators haven’t been bad, it’s not that there are any problems, but perhaps that Montreal has the best goalie in the league. The fact remains that Ottawa has put up a good fight each night.
Next: Ottawa Should Look To Make A Deal With Edmonton