Ottawa Senators Beat Bruins In High Scoring Battle

The Ottawa Senators faced off against the Boston Bruins in what could be the most pivotal game of the season as the Bruins narrowly hold onto the final playoff spot and the Senators are on a ridiculous hot streak trying to make the playoffs as they went on winning 6-4. The Senators sit four points out of the final Wild Card spot going into the game.

GAME RECAP

Ottawa opened the scoring quickly as they surged into the zone and Kyle Turris banged home a rebound to put the Senators up 1-0. The Bruins then answered quickly with a Carl Soderberg goal assisted by Loui Eriksson and Dougie Hamilton as the first minutes of the game saw two goals. The Bruins scored again at the 4:04 mark with Ryan Spooner scoring off assist’s from Milan Lucic and David Pastrnak. Andrew Hammond let in two goals on the first four shots he faced but he returned to great form afterwards and saved every shot he faced for the rest of the period.

More from SenShot

• Crunch. Crush. Grind. Mash. The Tyler Kleven Story
• Belleville Senators: What To Expect In 2023-24
• Daniel Alfredsson and Marian Hossa Hit The Ice One Final Time
• Ottawa Senators: Something’s Got to Give
• Hot Pierre Summer 2.0? Let’s Talk About The Ottawa Senators Offseason So Far!

The Senators then tied the game up 2-2 at the 15:03 mark by Milan Michalek with assists from Mark Stone and Turris. Adam Mcquaid and Bobby Ryan got tied up in the Boston zone but no penalty was called, as Mcquaid after picked up a penalty for hooking Erik Condra at the 16:54 mark.The Senators nearly scored on the delayed penalty in the final minute of the period as Mike Hoffman read a Tuukka Rask pass and missed a wide open cage. It was gut wrenching to see Hoffman narrowly missing the Boston net as the period saw both teams taking 14 shots.

The second period saw the Senators score at the 3:11 mark. David Legwand scored with assists coming from Condra and Alex Chiasson. The middle frame was very intense with plenty of hits that were thrown as I was extremely impressed to see Curtis Lazar deliver one to Zdeno Chara. Lucic then went after Chiasson near the Boston bench and Riley Smith then was on the receiving end of another big hit. Everyone was getting into it!

Turris received a hooking penalty on Eriksson at the 10:33 mark but I personally didn’t see any infraction that should have resulted in a penalty. Eric Gryba caught Eriksson with a high stick which saw Eriksson throw his head back like he had been shot. The Bruins scored on the ensuing power play at the 11:42 mark with Spooner picking up his second goal of the game.

The Senators quickly answered with an amazing short handed goal. After pressuring the Bruins by forechecking extremely hard, it resulted in a Jean-Gabriel Pageau goal as he and Condra worked wonderfully well together. Boston then bounced right back scoring at the 13:17 mark with Torey Krug scoring with Pastarnak and Soderberg assisting.

The score became 4-4 while the shots stood at 25-25 after the period, with both teams tallying eleven shots. The period ended with Lucic going after Peagau and a bunch of pushing and shoving with the atmosphere that resembled a playoff game.

Play went back and forth until a referee injury at the 18:02 mark of the third period. Francis Charron was down for several minutes but returned to the game. A very gutsy performance as he had just taken a hard shot off the knee. Hoffman then took at huge hit halfway through the period after dangling near the net. The third period was like the second in that it had tons of physical play.

The Senators went up 5-4 with 8:32 left in the third period as Cody Ceci knocked a puck down with his hand and helped move it up ice to Ryan as he then got on the score sheet with his shot trickled by Rask. Matt Puempel had a great crash in front of the net which contributed to the goal. The play went back and forth until the 4:02 mark when it appeared as if Condra had taken a penalty but Dennis Seidenberg went off with a closing the hand on the puck penalty.

The Bruins pulled their goalie with two minutes remaining. The Senators came up with big shot blocks, some big saves and great defense. The Senators got the puck into the Bruins end and Stone threw an excellent backdoor pass to Turris who scored into the empty net as the Senators picked up a huge win against Boston!

NOTES & OBSERVATIONS

• Curtis Lazar ate a hamburger that was thrown onto the ice for the “Hamburglar”.
• Both goalies had sub .900 save percentages. Rask had a save percentage of .839 while Hammond had one of .886. It was not the prettiest game by the goalies but it was extremely exciting. How often do you see a 6-4 hockey game?
• Hoffman stick handled brilliantly near the net before getting absolutely decimated. I hope the Senators are able to lock him up for quite sometime as he is a brilliant player.
• The Senators now sit two points out of the final Wild Card playoff spot. I hope they can keep up this miracle run and make the playoffs.

UP NEXT

The Senators play the Toronto Maple Leafs on Saturday March 21st at 7:00 PM. This is a key game if they hope to make the playoffs. Every game has been a key game in the Senators miraculous streak. The Senators are 12-0-1 with Hammond in net as they look to go to 13-0-1 against the struggling Leafs.