With a light two game schedule facing them this week, the Senators recognized the importance of picking up points to ensure they stay in the thick of the Eastern Conference playoff race.
MacLean's group did exactly that in Tampa Bay tonight, playing a textbook road game and scoring a huge 4-0 win over the Lightning. With the win, the Sens have 66 points on the season and will play another big game in Florida tomorrow night.
For what seemed like forever, the Sens consistently found themselves falling behind in hockey games. That is a trend they have been able to reverse as of late, as for the third straight game, the Sens scored the first goal. Erik Karlsson's 10th of the season beat Garon high and have Ottawa a lead just over a minute in.
From that point, and until a second period power play goal by Jason Spezza, Craig Anderson shut the door and was solid in the Ottawa net. He made a number of big stops, including the unconventional double pad stack in the opening frame.
Anderson was a big reason the Sens went into the final period with the lead.
In the third period, the Sens did a good job of tightening up defensively and keeping the chances to a minimum. Moments after a missed penalty shot by Kyle Turris, Jason Spezza scored a beauty to give the Sens a 3-0 lead they would not relinquish. While most of his body of work came in the first period, Craig Anderson played a huge part in tonight's victory, picking up his second shutout of the season.
With a dominant four point night, Jason Spezza now has 60 points on the season, which pulls him even with Phil Kessel for 4th in league scoring. Erik Karlsson racked up a couple points and increased his total to 52 points. When these two guys are firing on all cylinders, the Sens are an extremely tough team to play against.
Quick turnaround for the Sens who play a huge game in Florida tomorrow night. NHL Centre Ice has added the game to their coverage using a combination of the in-house scoreboard feed and the Panthers radio broadcast. Yikes.
- After spending some time in the press box, Bobby Butler has jumped back into the line up and is contributing offensively. Two more assists for him tonight and he now has five since being reinserted into the line up. When his feet are moving and his head is up, Butler can be a dangerous player on that top line.
- Hard not to like the game of Jim Flo'Brien since being called up from Binghamton. MacLean has been giving him increased responsibility each game and he has responded well. O'Brien went 7 for 9 in the face off circle and took a couple shifts on the PK.
- During the second intermission, the Sportsnet Panel discussed the approach the Ottawa Senators could take leading up to the NHL trade deadline. The names suggested include Dustin Penner, Mike Knuble and Ales Hemsky. Penner is considered a cheap option and while he is a player Murray has looked at in the past, I really can't see it. Knuble's availability would depend on where the Caps sit at deadline time and Ales Hemsky will come with a little higher price tag.
