With the NHL's regular season nearing a conclusion, every point is huge for the Ottawa Senators.
While the Montreal Canadiens got the best of the Sens in the shootout, Ottawa was able to earn an important single point in tonight's 3-2 loss to the Habs. The point allows the Sens to pull within a single point of the Boston Bruins for the Northeast division lead.
And for those fans that can't help but look in the rearview, the Senators hold a seven point lead over the the ninth place Buffalo Sabres.
The Sens came out flying in this one and looked fantastic in the opening frame. Unfortunately the Sens were unable to sustain that pressure over the full sixty and found themselves down 2-1 after an early third period goal by David Desharnais.
Ben Bishop was strong in the Ottawa net and kept the Sens in the hockey game with a number of key stops.
With less than nine minutes left to play, it was Erik Karlsson that beat Carey Price with a perfectly placed wrist shot that ensured the Senators would not leave Montreal empty handed. The goal was Karlsson's 19th of the season, tying him with Steve Duchesne for the franchise record. It was also Karlsson's 70th point on the campaign.
The Sens had a couple fantastic chances to win the game in the extra frame, including a missed open net by Matt Gilroy. Carey Price stopped all three Sens in the shootout to secure the extra point for the home side.
For those of you that were not following along on Twitter, I was unable to update the site the past couple days while I was in Toronto. Had quite the experience at Pearson Airport as I was the last person to board the flight after getting caught up in the end of the Sens game. Considering I had already switched to a later flight to watch the game, it's a good thing this game didn't go to extra shooters!
We'll get back on track around here tomorrow as the Sens get set for back to back home games against the Canadiens and Maple Leafs.
- I can see it was discussed in the last comment thread but the Senators dipped into the NCAA free agent pool, signing forward Cole Schneider to a two year, two way contract. Schneider will report to the Binghamton Senators an an amateur tryout.
- More good news on the prospect front as Jakob SIlfverberg was named MVP in the Swedish Elite League. Silfverberg finished the season with 24 goals and 54 points in 49 games. As we mentioned earlier in the week, Silfverberg is interested in returning to Ottawa for the playoffs when his SEL season wraps up.
