The Ottawa Senators ended their 4 game road trip with a win over the Phoenix Coyotes 4-2. Two third period goals by Dany Heatley and Antoine Vermette were the difference as the Sens played their 4th game in 6 nights on the road.
Mike Fisher had a SH and PP goal to lead the way. It was Fisher who elevated his game tonight and carried the team on his shoulders. He finished with 5 SOG, 3 BS, 3 hits and a takewaway to go with his +1 rating and two goals.
Bryan Murray distributed the icetime evenly tonight and it paid off. It all started on the blueline tonight with Chris Phillips and Anton Volchenkov, this duo was fantastic all game long. Wade Redden had a solid game but his defense partner Andrej Meszaros struggled at times. Mike Commodore had one of his better games as a Senator, leading the team with 5 hits and 2 SOG. Luke Richardson on the other hand, stuggled once again and it really is time Murray sat Richardsons and moved Schubert back to the blueline on a fulltime basis.
Martin Gerber was great in goal in his 5th consecutive start while stopping 33 of 35 shots. Gerber made key saves to keep his team in the game while they struggled to find their legs in the 2nd period. There is no doubt who is the number one goalie....that title belongs to Martin Gerber which is nice to see. His solid work all season long is finally paying off. His confidence is at a season high!
A few things transpired at the forward position tonight. Fisher was incredible but Martin Lapointe who started the game on the second line was benched in the third period. Lapointe needs to bring more than he has recently to be effective. Dean McAmmond bounced back with a huge game and was rewarded with over 15 minutes of icetime. Vermette had a goal and an assist to go with his 3 SOG. Nick Foligno was effective in the icetime he received tonight....he had a little under six minutes of icetime and managed to register 2 SOG and 2 hits......nice to see! Jason Spezza and Dany Heatley still need to elevate their games. Both of these players have demonstrated on this road trip that their lazy habits are starting to become a problem. They both had season lows in icetime and Murray has to be sending them a message that their lazy play will NOT be tolerated.
Overall, it was nice to see the Sens play hard for one another. If not for a second period lapse, Ottawa would have led from start to finish. This was a good character win and hopefully will go a long way in getting things back on track. Next up is a big divisional game on Tuesday against the Boston Bruins at Scotiabank Place.
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Two powerplays....two goals for the Sens. Heatley does nothing all game long and then he scores a quick one. Now only if he would bring some sort of consistent effort he could light up the scoreboard even more. Big goal early in the period. Now lets see the Sens skate with some authority this period.....initiate and dictate the play.
Heatley needs to keep his feet moving....another lazy penalty....this guy needs to start to lead WAY more!
Great shorthanded chance by Kelly, but he failed to finish on the ealier opportunity on a beautiful feed from Vermette.
Lapointe and Stillman set up Fisher for a great scoring chance but he fans on it.
A little puck luck for the Sens on the Vermette goal.....good things happen when you work for it.
Big PK coming for the Sens. Great work by Commodore on the PK!
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Two nice pad saves by Gerber to start the period.
Spezza had a nice scoring chance to start the period too.
The Lapointe/Fisher/Stillman line has been super so far. They bring everything at you every shift.
Huge hit by Commodore, nice to see him bring the physical side. Richardson is still struggling though, they have to move Schubert back to the blueline.
4 straight penalties to the Sens.....they have to stay out the box, this will bite them in the playoffs if it continues.
Sens need that killer instinct.....Vermette needs to finish that breakaway!
Okay.....enough is enough.....Richardson was slow in the neutral zone.....Yotes blew by him.....scratch him already! Phoenix scores, what a huge momentum changer. Vermette misses on the breakaway and then Phoenix scores a minute later.
Phoenix scores again on a beautiful goal by Mueller on a breakaway. Gerber is usually better one on one but they beat glove side again for the second time to take the lead.
Lazy hooking call by Heatley. Just terrible. Come on Heatley!!
Great first period and the Coyotes make adjustments and dominate the second period.
It would be nice if the Sens had a PP or two. 5 straight penalties to the Sens. Ottawa has stoppped skating the way they were in the first period.
Great game by Phillips so far! He has hit everything in sight and made smart plays all game long.
HUGE save by Gerber off Hanzel....to keep his team in the game. Great to see!
Then Fisher scores his second of the game, this time on the PP. Very nice to see!
Sens need to get back to forechecking and skating hard through the neutral zone in the third period.
Sens outshot 13 to 8 in the second period. Shots even after two periods.
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Great scoring chance by Fisher just seconds into the game. Nice save by Bryzgalov.
Big save by Martin Gerber very early on. Nice chance by Martin Hanzel.
Terrible penalty by Stillman, lazy play.
Sens have controlled the play early in the first period and nice PK as well.
Huge hit by Stillman, playing with an edge, that is what Sens fans want.
Great SH chance by Ottawa, Fisher should have shot, Volchenkov almost scored though.....puck just layed in the crease. Strong PK by the Sens.
Mike Fisher scores shorthanded on a nice feed by Dean McAmmond. First goal in 19 games. Huge sigh of relief for Fisher. Gerber got the 2nd assist.
There seems to be alot of sharp and crisp passing by Ottawa, something that has been missing recently.
Strong play in the neutral zone by Ottawa is something that has been lacking on this road trip. They are creating turnovers and have the ice tilted in the first period. Coyotes can't seem to establish any flow.
Coyotes will start the period on the PP for 54 seconds.
Sens outshot Phoenix 14 to 9 in the first period. Solid period for the Sens to build on. Sens outhit the Coyotes 14-13.
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Well, here we go. Can the Sens get one win on this road trip? Both Montreal and Boston won this afternoon so now lets see if Ottawa can come up big for a change! Here are the standings entering tonight's game.
1 Montreal 85
2 New Jersey 84
3 Carolina 77
4 Pittsburgh 83
5 Ottawa 81
6 Boston 79
7 NY Rangers 79
8 Philadelphia 76
Predictions for tonight's game anyone?
Back for puck drop in 20 minutes. No excuse, just get the job done tonight Ottawa!
Kevin
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