The Ottawa Senators finished the weekend on a positive note finishing with two victories in two nights. Ottawa won its first game that wasn’t decided by one goal in eleven games. It was the Swedes that were the difference makers today as Jakob Silfverberg, Robin Lehner and Daniel Alfredsson, led the Senators to the 4-1 win.
Mar 17, 2013; Ottawa, ON, CAN; Winnipeg Jets centre
Kyle Wellwood(13) and Ottawa Senators centre
Mika Zibanejad(93) face off in the second period at Scotiabank Place. Mandatory Credit: Marc DesRosiers-USA TODAY Sports
GAME RECAP
The Senators dominated the first period, they controlled the play the entire 20 minutes. It showed on the stat sheet as Ottawa led Winnipeg 19-6 in shots on goal. The captain, Daniel Afredsson was basically the reason the Senators took the lead first, as he followed his shot to the net and shot his own rebound which was barely redirected my Guillaume Latendresse. Near the end of the first the home team got a chance to take a two goal lead as Chris Thorburn took a penalty. Jakob Silfverberg was rewarded with his first goal of the game, from a beautiful pass from Sergei Gonchar, who is now on a 7 point streak.
The second period did not generate any scoring from both clubs, but the goaltenders did generate some great goaltending. Both Robin Lehner and Ondrej Pavelec saved multiple scoring chances from both teams.
The third period opened with a goal from the visiting team, Zach Bogosian shot an absolute rocket passed the Senators goalkeeper to bring the Jets within one. It started to look more and more like the Senators would once again be part of a one goal game. About eight minutes later the Sens would take back the two goal lead, as Kyle Turris scored on what looked like an identical goal from his game winning goal last night. Around a minute later Jakob Silfverberg would seal the deal, as he scored his second of the game to lead the Ottawa Senators to a 4-1 final.
OBSERVATIONS
- Patrick Wiercioch seems to be getting better and better with every game. He is skating with poise out there and seems to be shooting more with confidence. He has really emerged as a legitimate threat on the back end, he should only get better with time.
- I thought Guillaume Latendresse played quite well tonight, he was creating chances and played well in front of the net. If he can keep up this play he will really help out his team.
- Kyle Turris kept up his solid play with another great shot on his goal. Just like Latendresse, if he can keep up this play until or passed when Jason Spezza makes his return, this will make Ottawa a tough team to play against.
- Robin Lehner is once again showing management why he should be a regular in this line-up and is making it hard for them to make a decision on him when Craig Anderson makes his return. Kind of hard to send down a goaltender who has posted a .946 SV% and 1.90 GAA.
SENSHOT’S PLAYER OF THE GAME
Jakob Silfverberg played a great game tonight and was really a difference maker. He lead the Senators with 2 goals and 6 shots on goal. Silfverberg is slowly becoming more consistent as a top 6 player, once he plays more around the century mark in games he will be a threat at all times on the ice. Robin Lehner was also an honorable mention with his 25 saves.
UP NEXT
The Ottawa Senators will look to continue their winning ways as they will travel to Long Island to play versus John Tavares and the New York Islanders. Game is at 7PM on Rogers Sportsnet.