Senators Fall Flat in Overtime

SensChirp January 4, 2018 2,430

FIVE QUICK THOUGHTS

-The Ottawa Senators continue to find new and record-setting ways to lose hockey games. This time, letting an acceptable sixty minute effort slip away in six seconds of garbage in extra time. It was the fastest goal from the start of overtime since the NHL has changed to the 3 on 3 format. Honestly, it’s impossible to imagine any team ever scoring faster than that. It’s not that Ottawa deserved to win this game necessarily but they did enough good things to have a chance. And as has so often been the case recently, it slipped through their fingers, and their defensive zone coverage, at a critical moment in the game. The Senators sit 11 points back of the final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference with a game in hand. Meanwhile they are 10 points out of dead last.

-Damn shame they came up a goal short because if nothing else, Craig Anderson deserved to come away with a win in this one. He was clearly the best player on the ice for the Senators and with breakaway save after breakaway save (and a penalty shot), kept Ottawa in a game that could have got away from them on a few occasions. It wasn’t that the Red Wings dominated this game by any stretch but the quality of their scoring chances was was extremely high and Anderson stoned them all night long. Andreas Athanasiou torched Ottawa’s defence with ease but couldn’t find a way to beat Anderson until overtime.

-There was a sequence in the second period where the Senators were shorthanded but the Red Wings took a penalty and it resulted in more than a 80 seconds of Ottawa playing keep-away. The Red Wings fans in attendance hated it but it was a remarkably smart thing for the Senators to do and it meant Ottawa ultimately got almost the full two minute power play. The consensus from people watching the game was that it may have been the most entertaining thing the Senators have done all year, which says a lot about this season. The Red Wings almost immediately scored shorthanded which would have been just perfect.

-The first goal of the game turned into a fascinating edition of the blame game. The unique combination of players on the ice meant that it was most of the lightning rods for criticism out there with fan-favourite Erik Karlsson. Oduya was slow getting back and threw the puck into an open corner. Thompson made a bad decision and forced a pass to Karlsson. Gabriel Dumont was also there, in poor position to receive a breakout pass. Oduya, Thompson and Dumont all took heat from fans watching the game yet Karlsson, who kicked the puck directly to the opposition and then floated back, seemed to receive the least of the blame. In my opinion, ranking most responsible to least responsible on that goal- Karlsson, Thompson, Oduya, Dumont. How did you see it?

-Some good news down in Belleville at least as Marcus Hogberg turned in another solid performance, earning 2nd star honours in a 3-2 shootout win over the Binghamton Devils. Hogberg has now won both his starts and by all accounts, looked damn good in those two games (1.90 GAA, .939 sv%). Andrew Hammond was called up by the Avalanche yesterday which hopefully should mean more opportunities for Hogberg to play in the second half of the season. With their goaltending future anything but secure, the Senators need to have a better idea what they have in Hogberg and they won’t know unless they give him a chance to carry the mail a bit in the American Hockey League. Speaking of good news in Belleville, Gabriel Gagne is having himself a season.