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Alex DeBrincat’s Pair of Powerplay Goals lead the Senators past the Ducks

Talbot stood tall, but the Sens lost both Stützle and Motte

It was overall a pretty dominant night for the Sens. They outshot the Ducks, won 3-0, were the best team at 5-on-5 and on special teams, and got solid goaltending from Cam Talbot when necessary. The only big problem was the loss of Tim Stützle, and also Tyler Motte, and we’ll see how much this hangs over the Sens moving forward.

The night started with a video tribute to Wade Redden as part of his induction into the Ring of Honour. If you were a fan of the Sens through those early-2000s years, it’s well worth a watch.

The Sens got on the board first with a goal by Parker Kelly, who tipped in a Nikita Zaitsev point shot. It’s hard to imagine a combination of goalscorer and primary assister that would cause more frustration on Sens Twitter. It was actually a very nice display of hand-eye from Kelly to get his first of the year.

The Sens killed the first powerplay of the game (a tripping call against Erik Brännström), and then earned a powerplay of their own but lost top-line centre Tim Stützle on the same play. Stützle went straight to the dressing room, holding his right shoulder, and didn’t return. The Sens scored a few seconds into the ensuing powerplay with Alex DeBrincat somehow left wide open in his wheelhouse.

The Sens carried most of the play through the rest of the period, getting another powerplay and outshooting the Ducks 12 to 5. It was nice to see them carry the 2-0 lead, even if suddenly the centre depth was looking reeeeeaaalllly thin. To make matters worse, Tyler Motte had been shaken up in the first, and though he played a couple more shifts that period, he did not return afterwards. The Sens were down to 10 forwards for the final 40 minutes, and one of them was Rourke Chartier, in his 14th NHL game, and first in 1,488 days.

After looking like the much better team in the first, the Sens let Anaheim back into the game flow in the second, allowing them the bulk of the shots. In fact, just over 13 minutes into the period, the Ducks surpassed the Sens in shots. Cam Talbot stood tall though, and kept it a two-goal lead. Getting outshot seemed to wake the Sens up, and especially Brady Tkachuk led the way in righting the ship. This was probably best seen in the incredible 3-on-0 the Sens got, but Lukas Dostal played it very calmly and waited out the pass.

The third period saw some more run-and-gun hockey, and some more scrums. The most notable came just over halfway through, when Travis Hamonic and Frank Vatrano took offsetting roughing minors, but Vatrano got the extra 2 for repeatedly cross-checking Hamonic in the throat. The Sens made the Ducks pay on the powerplay, with DeBrincat scoring his second PPG of the night on a gorgeous redirect. It agrees with everything I’ve been saying — this guy does not look to me like a guy who’s struggling with anything except for luck. That’s a goalscorer’s goal right there.

Rourke Chartier, while killing a penalty no less, nearly scored the funniest goal of the year, in that he bowled over Dostal after he made the save and then the puck trickled in. We all knew it was goalie interference, but technically because the whistle hadn’t been blown, the refs only looked to make sure the puck crossed the line before the whistle blew (it did). Coach Dallas Eakins immediately challenged, and of course it was disallowed. Trevor Zegras had taken it upon himself to cross-check Chartier’s ear after the goal, which ended the Sens’ penalty kill. That kind of did it for the game, with the Sens earning a tidy 3-0 victory.

Some Thoughts:

  • Cam Talbot was solid when relied upon. A very good game for his first home win.
  • Talbot definitely came out on top of the Battle of the Cams (TM)
  • Speaking of Cam, Cam Fowler is the kind of guy I’d believe you if you said he was 28 or that he was 40. Turns out he’s 31.
  • Brady Tkachuk just makes things happen. I love this guy. He was always fun, but this season his puck-handling and his playmaking are on another level.
  • It’s hard to believe the Sens were playing with 10 forwards for 40+ minutes./

Game Flow:

Shot Chart:

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