The Ottawa Senators were the first to come out on top in the NHL Global Series yesterday. They defeated the Colorado Avalanche in overtime by the score of 4-3 yesterday.
In Matt Duchene’s debut for the Ottawa Senators all eyes were on him. Despite his nerves, he played a decent game, but it was Mark Stone who stole the spotlight with a fantastic game including the overtime winner.
First Period
The first period started with all eyes on Duchene. However, on his first shift his line mate Mike Hoffman took a delay of game penalty and the says had an early penalty kill. They would kill it off but take another a few minutes later. Unfortunately, the second penalty was where the scoring opened and Yakupov gave Colorado an early lead. Fortunately, the Sens responded just 20 seconds later off a slapshot from Fredrik Claesson. Then with five minutes remaining in the period, Stone tipped a shot from Oduya to give the Sens a 2-1 lead heading into intermission.
Second Period
The second period saw the Avalanche tie the game half way through the period. Then Chris DiDomenico scored to give the Sens a lead once again. The final four minutes of the period the Sens essentially spent on the powerplay. As soon as one expired the other began. However, the best scoring chance during that time was by the Avalanche. Matt Nieto got a breakaway on a broken play and was slashed in the hands by Chris Wideman while shorthanded. As a result, he was awarded a penalty shot. Fortunately, Nieto shot the puck wide and the period would end with the Sens leading 3-2.
Third Period
The third period saw the Sens play classic shut down hockey. They clogged up the neutral zone for the entire period an limited Colorado to just five shots. However, that’s all they needed as Mackinnon scored to tie the game. That would be enough, and the game went to overtime.
Overtime
Overtime started and nearly ended in the first 30 seconds as Duchene nearly scored off a pass from Mike Hoffman. However, it would be the next shift that saw Karlsson pass to Brassard who passed to Stone who scored with a wide-open net. This gave the Sens 4-3 victory in overtime.
Matt Duchene
In his first game for the Ottawa Senators Matt Duchene played decently. He had a few moments where he nearly scored including in overtime. However, it was obvious that he was nervous. He passed the puck a little too much when he should have shot. He will likely settle down in the next few games. Despite this he still played very well overall.
Next: Ottawa Senators: Duchene Makes His Debut As Global Series Begins
Next Game
The Ottawa Senators play again today in their second game against the Colorado Avalanche.