By Ken Hawkins (a.k.a. khawk)
When the Senators traded for G Linus Ullmark, you could pretty much auto-circle the first game vs. BOS as an important game on the schedule. Unfortunately, heading into this game OTT was riding a disappointing 2-game losing streak, and knew that a better effort would be needed if they were going to have any road success vs. the Bruins. Well, it was definitely a better effort on Saturday night, and the Senators showed they could hold their own in a tough road game vs. a notoriously physical team. Josh Norris opened the scoring late in the 1st with his first goal of November, Michael Amadio scored his first goal as a Senator, and Brady Tkachuk capped it off with a dramatic OT game-winner.
OTT 3 - BOS 2 (OT) (NHL Game Highlights)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yFuVUhclCM4/
Despite the Ullmark-Swayman storyline, it wasn’t really a goaltender duel. In fact, both goaltenders surrendered key momentum-shifting goals at different times, but otherwise provided enough saves at key moments to keep their respective teams in the game. However, it did feel more like a playoff match in terms of pace and physical intensity. The teams combined for 77 hits, and it was impressive to see the Senators control play as the game progressed to the extent that they outshot the Bruins by a 12-0 margin in the third period. It was maybe the best glimpse so far of the kind of team GM Steve Staios was trying to build when assembling this roster, and they certainly showed they could play that style effectively against a playoff-tested roster.
The Good - Brady Tkachuk was the best player on the ice, and finished the game with 1G-1A, 8 hits, and an astonishing 12 shots on goal. It was one of the first times we’ve seen him reunited with Josh Norris since his shoulder injury problems, and it certainly led to some very positive outcomes. Thomas Chabot and Nick Jensen had another strong game, and combined for 1A, 5 shots, 3 hits, and 2 block shots. Linus Ullmark wasn’t great, but made a critical game-saving stop in OT to earn the win in a game with significant personal importance for him.
The Bad - Despite having scored in the last minute of the 1st period to take a 1-0 lead, the Senators gave up 2 goals in rapid succession in the 2nd period to allow the Bruins to gain a huge momentum advantage. To the Senators’ credit, they responded by outshooting BOS by a 21-2 margin for the rest of the game and winning the game in OT, but giving up multiple goals in short periods of time has become an unsettling habit. It suggests a persistent degree of fragility that the team absolutely needs to move away from, and Travis Green should make more effective use of his timeouts to calm things down after a critical goal against.
The Ugly - For this game it has to go to the Bruins for how they played in the second half of the game. The Senators deserve a lot of credit for keeping the pace and physical intensity up throughout the game, but the shots went from 10-7 and 10-8 in the first two periods to 12-0 in the third period. Jeremy Swayman may not have been standing on his head, but he certainly had to be on his game and was the Bruins’ best player on this night. For a team with playoff expectations playing on home ice on Saturday night against a key divisional rival, it was an undeniably poor performance.
With this important win, the confusing nature of the Senators season rolls right along - having now returned to a .500 mark that keeps them tied with the BOS/BUF, and just 1 game back of TBL. Unfortunately, it still only has them keeping pace with their 7-7-0 record from last season, which obviously leaves a lot of room for improvement. Regardless, the priority now has to be preparing for another big divisional rivalry game vs. the Toronto Maple Leafs. They’re now 3-0 against the Atlantic Division playoff teams this year (FLA/TBL/BOS), and it will be another important chance to see how they measure up with one of the best teams in the Division.
What did you think about the Senators’ OT win vs. the Bruins? Please leave your comments below, and as always thanks for reading!
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