(source: Doug Murray, Reuters)
Your Ottawa Senators took on the Florida Panthers last night in a battle of two teams in the mist of rebuilding. With Ottawa winning the two previous meetings between the two teams and playing better as of late, Ottawa looked to add another ‘W’ to their record and stay out of the NHL basement.
The first period gave both teams three powerplays each but neither team could capitalize. Ottawa was the more aggressive team as they peppered Tomas Vokoun with 14 shots in the first. The second period was pretty even with both goalies standing on their head. After the second period, Ottawa out-shot Florida 26 – 18.
The third period finally saw some scoring as Erik Karlsson got the puck on the boards and made a nice move towards the net and slipped one through Vokoun on the far side. It was Karlsson’s first goal in nine games and his tenth of the year. Not wanting to wait as long as he did between goals, Karlsson netting his second of the game on a powerplay when he buried a rebound from a Sergei Gonchar blast. Florida made the last few minutes interesting as they got on the board when Clay Wilson slipped one by Craig Anderson to make it 2-1 with four minutes left in the game. But Ottawa closed the door and were able to hang on for the 2-1 win.
The Positives
Erik Karlsson scored two goals last night to push his total to 11 on the year. He not only leads the D-corps in points, but also the team with 37. Karlsson was a man on a mission last night as he fired ten shots on goal, had the most ice time of any player on either team and showed his confidence with the puck.
Craig Anderson continues to amaze Sens Army. Playing in his ninth straight game, Anderson now has a record of 6-3 while donning a Ottawa jersey with a 1.43 GAA and .958 SV%. Somebody put this god’s man’s name on a contract soon.
The Negatives
With the back-to-back win last night, I think we’ll forgo the negatives and just enjoy the positives.
Here are the Game Highlights courtesy of NHL.com.
***Three Stars***
First Star: Erik Karlsson – with two goals on the night, the kid gets a gold star.
Second Star: Craig Anderson– earns it with 33 saves and and his sixth win in nine games.
Third Star: Tomas Vokoun – stood on his head all night with 39 saves.
Ottawa gets no rest as they will travel to Tampa Bay to take on the Lightning tonight. The Sens will look to win three games in a row for the first time in four months. WOW!? The Sens have seemed to find their grove since Anderson showed up and will have a tough test against the playoff bound Lightning. ‘Til next time, GO SENS GO!!!
_______________________________________________________________________________
Thanks for reading and as always, comments are welcomed.
Can’t get enough of SenShot? Here are more ways to get the most info about your Ottawa Senators.
You can follow us on Twitter: follow Tony @13thforward and Jared @alfieisgod.
Visit our SenShot Facebook Page. Like us and post comments, photos and videos.
Please visit our NHL Main Page: Too Many Men On The Site.