Your Ottawa Senators battled the red-hot Pittsburgh Penguins Sunday night in a statement game to the rest of the NHL. Taking on the best team in the league, and the best player in the league in Sidney Crosby, Ottawa took the play to them and showed they can hang with the best in the league. With a playoff atmosphere, Ottawa was led by strong efforts by young stud Erik Karlsson and an amazing 44 save performance by Brian Elliott. However, all was not good as number one centre Jason Spezza left the game with an apparent shoulder injury.
There were many positives Ottawa could take away from this huge win.
Brian Elliott had a monster game as he kept the 4th highest scoring team to one lucky-fluky goal in 45 shots. Coming off two strong performances where Elliott was the difference maker, it seems Elliott is over his rough patch and is providing solid goal tending when Ottawa needs it most. In the last 40 minutes of the game, Elliott stopped 39 shots to preserve the win.
Erik Karlsson continues to prove why he is one of the best young defenceman in the league. Factoring in on all of Ottawa’s offense, Karlsson had two goals and an assist and played a game high 26:16 in ice time. Notching a goal and an assist on the power play, Karlsson is making teams game plan for his canon from the point and is bringing Ottawa’s PP back to respectability. And with his three points, Karlsson now is the team leader in points with 23.
Matt Carkner proved he was the ‘Champ‘ as he destroyed Eric Godard in a great first period tilt.
Ottawa went 2 for 5 on the power play and had great puck movement as they made the Pens penalty killers run around chasing the puck. Ottawa’s PP now ranks tenth in the league and is starting to help them win games. And the summer addition of Sergei Gonchar seems to have had an affect on Karlsson as he is a beast on the PP.
Chris Phillips had a great game as he was tasked with shutting down Crosby all night. He was on the ice every time Sid was and even drew a penalty off him as he frustrated him all night. Phillips seems to have rounded back into form and is returning to his old shut down ways. Good news for Ottawa.
Not all was good as number one centre Jason Spezza left the game with an apparent shoulder injury after he was hit by Kris Letang awkwardly into the boards. The hit was not dirty as Spezza was in a poor position and lost his footing as he went into the boards hard. Spezza left the ice quickly and did not return. Check out the video of the hit.
The Sens were 3:22 minutes away from doing what other teams could not do for 23 straight games. Shutting down Crosby for most of the game, Phillips was at his best in limiting his opportunities. However, Crosby proved why he is the best player in the league as he made something out of nothing. Hat tip to his now 24 game streak.
Here are the game highlights courtesy of NHL.com.
***Three Stars***
First Star: Brian Elliott – earns it with his dominating 44 save performance.
Second Star: Erik Karlsson – with two bombs from the point and an assist for three points on the night.
Third Star: Chris Phillips – for re-gaining his premier shut down ways.
This game sent a message to the rest of the league that Ottawa is not done this year. They took the game to Pittsburgh and battled all night long. The biggest question coming from this game will be ‘how bad is Spezza’s injury?‘ and ‘how will this effect the team going forward?‘ Ottawa needs to build off this game and continue their good effort against the Hurricanes on Wednesday. ‘Til next time, GO SENS GO!!!!!
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