After six straight on the road, the Ottawa Senators returned to Scotiabank Place and picked up a solid, hardworking 4-3 win over the Carolina Hurricanes.
The offence came from Jason Spezza who scored twice, David Rundblad's first in the NHL and the game winner from Zack Smith. Excellent bounce back performance after an ugly loss in Pittsburgh on Friday night.
There were some tense moments in the third period as the Hurricanes fought their way back into the game with a power play goal from Alexei Ponikarovsky. A late high-sticking call to Zack Smith gave the Canes a chance to tie this one but the Sens were excellent on penalty kill preserved the two points.
The win pulls Ottawa back above the .500 mark and within a single point of the final playoff position in the Eastern Conference.
The NHL leader in assists, Erik Karlsson, picked up helpers on both Spezza goals and was one of the better players on the ice for the home side. What is most amazing about Karlsson this season is how much better he looks in his own end of the rink. He has really learned how to make up for a lack size by getting good body position and having an extremely quick stick.
Congratulations to Sens defenceman David Rundblad who registered his first goal in the NHL on a second period power play. Thought Rundblad had a strong game overall and looked like a more confident player than we have seen at other times this season.
With the end of the month looming, Bryan Murray and the Senators made the decision to call up Nikita Filatov and give him another shot with the big club. Unlike previous call ups, Filatov was given an opportunity to skate on the top line with Spezza and Greening. This was Filatov's fourth game in four nights and he did look a little fatigued at times. Overall I liked what I saw from Filatov in his 15:07 of ice time. Still looks a little bit tentative out there but he should loosen up a little bit once he gets a few games under his belt.
The Filatov call up means that Stephane Da Costa has been sent to Bingo. He is going to have a good opportunity to play big minutes with the BSens and will be a better player for it. Doesn't make much sense to have him playing fourth line minutes in Ottawa.
The Sens are next in action on Tuesday night when they visit the Winnipeg Jets for the first time this season.
Mentioned this in the comment section of the last post but apologies for the couple days of silence around here. Was out of town this weekend and haven't had a chance to get on the computer until now. Good to see the discussion carried on without me.
