The Craig Anderson era continues to take the Eastern Conference by storm! Although the team might not be headed to the playoffs next year, another victory on Thursday night gives the team some real hope heading into the off-season. Tonight's 3-2 win over the Montreal Canadiens was yet another feather in Ottawa's proverbial cap, but the difference maker turned out to be the unlikeliest of candidates.
This wasn't playoff caliber hockey, with both teams frantically rushing up and down the ice and playing a ton of one-on-one hockey, but it did provide the fans in Scotiabank with plenty to cheer about. Jason Spezza and Brian Gionta had the early goals to keep the score even at 1-1, but it was the two ensuing goals that almost took the roof off of the arena. Bobby Butler's incredible shake-and-bake on Hal Gill is almost certainly going to pass around the hockey blogosphere for the next couple of months, and had it not been for Michael Cammalleri's equalizer with just eleven seconds left, we'd be praising his play as the exclamation point of a rather lackluster season.
Below, video of Butler's beauty:
It was in overtime, of course, that the hockey gods decided to play a little prank on the fans of the Senators. With fans on their feet, it was none other than Filip Kuba himself who found the back of the net, beating a screened Alex Auld from just inside the blue line. Credit Ryan Shannon for a ton of work in front, as he continues to make a real case for a new contract in the off-season. Again, though, let me repeat - Filip Kuba was tonight's hero.
It's even more ironic when you consider that it was Kuba's egregious play late in the third that eventually led to Cammalleri's goal, but it's been that kind of season for the Senators all season long.
As for Montreal's play - eh. I'm not sure if this is a trend we're seeing regarding some of the Eastern Conference playoff teams as they coast into the post-season, but the Canadiens looked a lot like the Flyers and Lightning of games past, taking a young Senators team for granted and just hoping that showing up would result in a victory. I was moderately impressed with the defense and thought Auld played well, but the offense, especially Scott Gomez, continues to look out of sync. The Habs now have 94 points, two ahead of Buffalo and three ahead of New York. They cannot finish lower than seventh or higher than sixth.
Regarding Ottawa, only bad news on the standings front. The team continues to climb the rankings at the worst of times, and now sits in the five spot in the lottery race. With the win, they jump ahead of the New York Islanders and sit in the five spot(third in the East). Senators fans will now have to hope that the Panthers and Islanders, both with two games remaining, play better to end the year.
Don't let that news sour your evening, though. This team continues to play excellent hockey and it's only unfortunate for the club that they'll have to wait out an entire summer to play meaningful hockey again.
Ottawa's season finale comes against the Boston Bruins Saturday on HNIC.
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