The Ottawa Senators continued their mastery of the Washington Capitals, scoring a nice 2-0 road win to start a four game swing away from Canadian Tire Centre. It was the third time they beat the Caps this season, extending their winning streak against the Capitals to 7 games.
Kyle Turris and Jason Spezza did the scoring, and Craig Anderson had a tidy 34 save performance to earn his third shutout of the season against a Capitals team that looked lost without their Captain, Alex Ovechkin, who missed the game with a lower body injury.
Jan 21, 2014; Washington, DC, USA; Linesman Bryan Pancich (94) and linesman
Michel Cormier(76) separate Ottawa Senators center
Zack Smith(15) and Washington Capitals center
Mikhail Grabovski(84) in the third period at Verizon Center. The Senators won 2-0. Mandatory Credit: Geoff Burke-USA TODAY Sports
GAME RECAP
The first period was a feeling out process, that saw Ottawa carry a lot of the play early on, but missing the net on multiple scoring chances. Both Erik Karlsson and Cody Ceci were active in jumping into the rush, but both missed on quality chances.
Ottawa killed off an early power play in the second, after which Washington gained a bit of momentum, but couldn’t muster much in the way of scoring chances, and the few they did get Anderson turned aside. Ottawa opened the scoring on a 2 on 1 with Kyle Turris carrying the puck and Bobby Ryan on his wing. As Turris closed in on defenseman Connor Carrick he fired a quick wrist shot through Carrick’s legs and seemed to catch Braden Holtby by surprise. The relatively harmless looking shot along the ice went right through Holtby’s legs and put him off balance. Ottawa looked to get a two goal cushion, but once again they had trouble finding the net.
Ottawa got a power play as the third period approached the midway mark after Cody Ceci jumped into the rush to take a nice feed from MacArthur in the slot, getting hooked by Martin Erat. On the power play , Jason Spezza stepped into a slapshot from just outside the top of the circle and beat Holtby on the short side to give the Senators a two goal lead. Shortly after that, a scuffle insued between Mikhail Grabovski and Zack Smith, during which Grabovski seemingly attempted to scratch Smith’s eyes. Washington could never muster anything, and after the Spezza goal the outcome was never in doubt, the only question was whether or not the shutout would be broken. Anderson stood tall, although the total number of scoring chances against was pretty minimal.
SENSHOT’S PLAYER OF THE GAME
Erik Karlsson was back to his usual self after a sub-par performance on Saturday. In almost 30 minutes of action he was all over the ice, leading the rush, making quality passes and playing solid defense. He earned an assist on Spezza’s power play marker, and also made a bone-crushing hit in the neutral zone on Grabovski on the penalty kill.
NOTES & OBSERVATIONS
- Jason Spezza skated much better in this game than he had in the last few. That is a very good sign, if he can continue that trend it will really help the Senators.
- Turris continued his hot streak, scoring his fifth goal in the last 6 games.
- Anderson was strong, although not overly tested. He avoided the weak goal that has plagued him in past games.
UP NEXT
Ottawa heads to Tampa for a Thursday night game against the Lightning.