Game Summary - Game 71: Sens Do a Thing in a Hockey Game. I Think it's Called "Winning"...?
By Luke Peristy
Hello, Internet.
Since we last talked, the Ottawa Senators lost another hockey game, and they also lost Bobby Ryan to injury, facilitating Mark Stone being called up from Binghamton. It's unknown how long Bobby Ryan will be out for, but if he's in Ottawa recovering and you're not going over to his house to cook him some meals, do his laundry, shovel his driveway, etc., you're not doing your duty as a Sens fan. (Hey, I can't do it! I don't live in Ottawa...)
Anyway, it looks like Mark Stone's going to play in Ryan's spot on the Turris line, so this looks like a great opportunity for him to raise his trade value so Bryan Murray can try to trade him to Buffalo for a 1st round pick in the off-season.
In the nets, Robin Lehner goes up against his old nemesis Ben Bishop for the first time in four days giving this whole game a sort of "pointless sequel that's too soon" feel. What I'm saying is that this might be the Muppets: Most Wanted of hockey games. (Oh, get at me, Disney.)
Anyway, let's see if Ottawa can recapture some of their former glory. To the game!
1st Period
18:55 - Clarke MacArthur strips Radko Gudas and goes in 1-on-1. Having remembered his success going five-hole on Ben Bishop last week, MacArthur tries again, but succeeds only in firing the puck into Bishop's mid-section. They say "Aim for the moon; even if you miss you'll still reach the stars!" Apparently the analogous hockey phrase is "Aim for the five hole; you'll only score if you hit it perfectly so no pressure."
16:03 - Erik Karlsson picks a corner from the high slot on one of his patented rushes that makes you think "What's Karlsson even doing there?" Karlsson works in mysterious ways (just ask Don Brennan...), but his methods are effective. 1 - 0 Senators
14:51 - Ottawa breaks down defensively and gives up a goal on a 3-on-2. Sometimes it seems like this defense might be one of the worst ever, and it seems like I've been saying that all year. I guess that's why they call it the "Broken Record Defense". 1 - 1 Tie
12:09 - Kyle Turris tries "pulling a Hemsky" and goes around some hapless Tampa Bay defenseman, but can't finish the play. Hemsky gives Turris a hard time about it on the bench. "Too much Turris, not enough Finnish" he starts. "Wait, no...Czech yourself before you wreck yourself! Nailed it!" Kyle Turris just shakes his head.
6:36 - Jared Cowen takes a cross-ice feed from MacArthur and totally fans on it. "I haven't seen someone fan on the puck like that since Chara was young!" says some optimist, probably.
1:48 - Chris Phillips takes a hard Malone hit from behind and Colin Greening and Zack Smith immediately jump to Phillips's aid, and Phillips goes off to the locker room. The refs send off four players and Ottawa gets a powerplay for their trouble. Phillips looks a little punch drunk in the sense that he looks like he's had too much Big Rig Punch™.
16:03 - Erik Karlsson picks a corner from the high slot on one of his patented rushes that makes you think "What's Karlsson even doing there?" Karlsson works in mysterious ways (just ask Don Brennan...), but his methods are effective. 1 - 0 Senators
14:51 - Ottawa breaks down defensively and gives up a goal on a 3-on-2. Sometimes it seems like this defense might be one of the worst ever, and it seems like I've been saying that all year. I guess that's why they call it the "Broken Record Defense". 1 - 1 Tie
12:09 - Kyle Turris tries "pulling a Hemsky" and goes around some hapless Tampa Bay defenseman, but can't finish the play. Hemsky gives Turris a hard time about it on the bench. "Too much Turris, not enough Finnish" he starts. "Wait, no...Czech yourself before you wreck yourself! Nailed it!" Kyle Turris just shakes his head.
6:36 - Jared Cowen takes a cross-ice feed from MacArthur and totally fans on it. "I haven't seen someone fan on the puck like that since Chara was young!" says some optimist, probably.
1:48 - Chris Phillips takes a hard Malone hit from behind and Colin Greening and Zack Smith immediately jump to Phillips's aid, and Phillips goes off to the locker room. The refs send off four players and Ottawa gets a powerplay for their trouble. Phillips looks a little punch drunk in the sense that he looks like he's had too much Big Rig Punch™.
2nd Period
20:00 - As the 2nd period starts, Chris Phillips is not on the Senators' bench. Paul Maclean spends the entire rest of the game trying not to look at Patrick Wiercioch who's just staring him down.
13:35 - Mark Stone briefly skates with the puck, almost as if he is also a participant in this particular athletic contest. Guess you could say he's fitting in well, so far.
11:48 - Jason Spezza scores off a scramble on the doorstep. It's his 19th goal of the season, which means that he can go from trying to score his number to trying to score his age. Then again, is there really anybody in the NHL who could score that many? (Oh, get at me, Jason!) 2 - 1 Senators
11:04 - Mark Stone feeds a wide open Kyle Turris in front. Turris ties his skates, makes a pot of tea, does his taxes, fixes the drainpipe of his house, gets his oil changed, does his Christmas shopping, backpacks around Europe, reads a novel, and finds true happiness before tucking the puck past Bishop. Some may ask why he didn't also write a play, but to be fair it's not like he had that much time. 3 - 1 Senators
6:35 - Following a Milan Michalek penalty, Viktor Hedman scores on a blast from the point. "More like 'Victor' Hedman!" says my ghostwriter moments before I fire him. 3 - 2 Senators
13:35 - Mark Stone briefly skates with the puck, almost as if he is also a participant in this particular athletic contest. Guess you could say he's fitting in well, so far.
11:48 - Jason Spezza scores off a scramble on the doorstep. It's his 19th goal of the season, which means that he can go from trying to score his number to trying to score his age. Then again, is there really anybody in the NHL who could score that many? (Oh, get at me, Jason!) 2 - 1 Senators
11:04 - Mark Stone feeds a wide open Kyle Turris in front. Turris ties his skates, makes a pot of tea, does his taxes, fixes the drainpipe of his house, gets his oil changed, does his Christmas shopping, backpacks around Europe, reads a novel, and finds true happiness before tucking the puck past Bishop. Some may ask why he didn't also write a play, but to be fair it's not like he had that much time. 3 - 1 Senators
6:35 - Following a Milan Michalek penalty, Viktor Hedman scores on a blast from the point. "More like 'Victor' Hedman!" says my ghostwriter moments before I fire him. 3 - 2 Senators
3rd Period
16:45 - Jason Spezza and Ales Hemsky can't convert opportunities to restore Ottawa's 2 goal lead. I bring this up for no reason, of course.
14:15 - Robin Lehner makes a great save during an Ottawa penalty kill, only to have Steven Stamkos bat the rebound out of the air and into the net. The play is immediately waved off, so naturally the ref says that the original call on the ice is that it was a good goal and it counts. 3 - 3 Tie Admittedly, the play Stamkos made was amazing and required a prodigious amount of skill, but he plays for Not Ottawa, so I'd prefer not to talk about it.
13:55 - Marc Methot goes coast to coast and draws a penalty. Sure, why not. Waving your arms means good goal, now, so I suppose anything is possible.
7:23 - Jason Spezza receives a penalty for holding the stick. In fairness, he was only holding the stick to remove it from his groin, but rules are rules, I guess. Mercifully, the Sens kill off the penalty keeping the game tied into the last 5 minutes.
3:50 - Robin Lehner denies Valtteri Filppula on a wrap around like he's Peter and Filppula's Finnish Jesus. (Think it's too early for Easter references? Leave a comment!)
0:3.7 - Erik Karlsson takes a tripping penalty for executing a perfect hip check meaning Ottawa starts overtime at a 4-on-3 disadvantage. "No, not Karlsson! It should have been me! IT SHOULD HAVE BEEN ME!" yells an inconsolable Marc Methot.
14:15 - Robin Lehner makes a great save during an Ottawa penalty kill, only to have Steven Stamkos bat the rebound out of the air and into the net. The play is immediately waved off, so naturally the ref says that the original call on the ice is that it was a good goal and it counts. 3 - 3 Tie Admittedly, the play Stamkos made was amazing and required a prodigious amount of skill, but he plays for Not Ottawa, so I'd prefer not to talk about it.
13:55 - Marc Methot goes coast to coast and draws a penalty. Sure, why not. Waving your arms means good goal, now, so I suppose anything is possible.
7:23 - Jason Spezza receives a penalty for holding the stick. In fairness, he was only holding the stick to remove it from his groin, but rules are rules, I guess. Mercifully, the Sens kill off the penalty keeping the game tied into the last 5 minutes.
3:50 - Robin Lehner denies Valtteri Filppula on a wrap around like he's Peter and Filppula's Finnish Jesus. (Think it's too early for Easter references? Leave a comment!)
0:3.7 - Erik Karlsson takes a tripping penalty for executing a perfect hip check meaning Ottawa starts overtime at a 4-on-3 disadvantage. "No, not Karlsson! It should have been me! IT SHOULD HAVE BEEN ME!" yells an inconsolable Marc Methot.
Overtime
3:03 - Ottawa kills off the penalty despite Tampa Bay coming close several times. The Tampa Bay fans, frustrated with their team not winning, throw referee jerseys onto the ice.
0.0 - Let's just say the best thing about this overtime period for Ottawa was when it finished.
Shootout - Jason Spezza is the lone goalscorer and Robin Lehner stops Steven Stamkos to preserve the victory! Looks like Ottawa's back to winning the Ben Bishop trade!
Ottawa Wins 4 - 3 (SO)
The Wisdom
Ottawa got timely goal scoring and timely goaltending and battled through adversity and did a bunch of other stuff that generally leads to wins. Erik Karlsson played a game high 29:35, put up 3 points, and generally was Ottawa's best player. Jason Spezza also had a great night. Mark Stone also had a good evening with Kyle Turris and Clarke MacArthur. Basically what I'm trying to get at is when Ottawa was losing it's because the team was broken, but now that they've won a single game in a shootout, everything is fixed.
Ride the high, Sens fans. Ride the high.
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