What’s that old saying about “good teams find ways to win hockey games?” It wasn’t pretty on Monday night but the Sens managed to steal two points from the Habs.
Fresh off being named the league's third star, Ben Bishop played his best game in the National Hockey League, steering aside 44 of 45 shots and 4 of 5 Montreal shooters in the shootout, leading Ottawa to a 2-1 shootout victory. The win was the fifth in a row for the Senators.
The Montreal Canadiens certainly looked the part of the top team in the Eastern Conference, taking the play to the Senators for large stretches of last night’s game. They checked extremely well and really didn’t allow Ottawa to generate much in the way of offence while consistently controlling the puck in the Senators’ end.
The Habs did everything right on Monday night but they just couldn’t find a way to beat Ben Bishop. Bishop turned in one of the more impressive goaltending performances at SBP in recent memory, stealing two points for Ottawa in a game they had no business winning.
The only shot that got by the Sens netminder was a rocket from Andrei Markov late in the second period that tied the game at 1-1 heading into the final period. David Dziurzynski scored the only goal for Ottawa, beating Price on a long slap shot the Habs netminder would love to have back.
Peter Regin would score the eventual shootout winner, as he got Carey Price to bite on a fake shot and easily tucked it past the sprawling Habs netminder. Regin just about ended the game in overtime too, as he rung a shot off the crossbar behind Carey Price.
The win gave Ottawa a perfect 4-0 record on a crucial home stand. These will be huge points for the Sens as they now embark on a tough stretch that will see them play 8 of 10 away from Scotiabank Place.
The Sens have an off ice workout today and a couple days until their next game on Thursday night. A showdown with the red hot Boston Bruins.
- Jakob Silfverberg continued his dominance in the shootout, scoring for the third time in as many tries. Silfverberg has now beat Martin Brodeur, Henrik Lundqvist and Carey Price in the shootout. Not a bad way to start his NHL career.
- Peter Regin looked like he was going to miss another game on Monday night. That was until he marched into Paul MacLean’s office and told the Sens Head Coach he was ready to return. Really liked what I saw from Regin on Monday night. He played 14:18, registered a few shots on goal, made a couple excellent defensive plays and nearly ended the game late in the overtime session. Here’s hoping Regin can build on that performance heading into Thursday night.
