Sens extinguish Flames, losing streak in 4-3 win

OK Sens fans, deep breath. We still win games. We still score goals before the final three minutes of a game. We still get key saves. Anton Forsberg was full marks for the win tonight, making 24 saves along the way. Brady Tkachuk and Drake Batherson both had a goal and assist, while Ridly Greig and Jake Sanderson notched a pair off assists each in getting Ottawa their first win in 6 games. Also of note, rookie Cole Reinhardt potted the first goal of his NHL career.

The Flames opened the scoring, off the stick of Jonathan Huberdeau on the powerplay. Not long after, the Flames seemingly doubled the lead, and it felt like things might get out of hand early, but then something miraculous happened: the refs called off the goal for goalie interference. Even more surprising, after a full TV timeout, the Flames challenged the call, which seemed like a terrible call to me, with how many goals have been called back this year. Yes, Kirkland didn't initiate contact, but then he made zero effort to get out of the crease after the contact was removed. I ended up being correct, and the Flames would go on the PK after nearly having taken a 2-0 lead. You be the judge if this should've counted:

This felt like a bonafide Good Break that Ottawa desparately needed. The Sens turned to where they have all season when they need a big goal: Adam Gaudette, who scored 8 seconds after the powerplay ended.

The Sens then appeared to take a 2-1 lead thanks to a goal from Brady Tkachuk, but this one was called off for goalie interference, this time on Drake Batherson. Another correct call in my opinion.

In the second, the Sens did something they haven't done in what feels like 20 years: they took a lead! Batherson tipped a puck past Dustin Wolf that had already been tipped on the powerplay.

And wouldn't you know it, Ottawa even extended their lead, this time with Cole Reinhardt scoring his first career goal (and breaking his stick in the process).

Maybe putting him at #21 in our Top 25 Under 25 wasn't giving him enough credit. The Flames would get one back, after a complete comedy of errors in the Sens' zone.

So many things went wrong for the Sens to make that happen. That one probably had most fans that were watching living feeling not-so-great about the prospects of hanging onto this lead. But then, something amazing happened again: when the Flames subsequently had a glorious opportunity to tie things up, Anton Forsberg made a couple of great saves that in prior games almost certainly would've gone in.

Scarily for the Sens, Thomas Chabot left the ice after blocking a shot off his foot, but he returned to start the third period, so hopefully it's not another broken foot on Ottawa's back end (please, please, please). The third period saw the Sens gifted a powerplay when Yegor Sharangovich "elbowed" (it looked like a headbutt to me) Batherson, and Tkachuk slotted it home on said powerplay.

It's worth noting that Brady took accountability for his behaviour last game, saying his actions displayed a lack of maturity. It's nice to see him stay composed and scoring, because we know that almost all the time he's a captain who gets this team going. Nick Cousins took his patented third period penalty not long after that, but then Claude Giroux made a veteran play and forced Mackenzie Weegar into taking a tripping penalty at the Sens' blue line, negating it. The Flames kept taking penalties, with Ryan Lomberg first knocking out some of Chabot's teeth to give Ottawa a 4-min PP. Then Sharangovich took another dumb penalty, and suddenly Ottawa had a full 2 minutes of 5-on-3 in the middle of the double-minor to Lomberg. Of course they didn't score — these are still our Sens, they can't suddenly be scoring on 5-on-3s — but it did kill lots of valuable comeback time for Calgary.

The Flames actually managed to get one back late with the goalie pulled, from Nazem Kadri, and then things got really scary when Sanderson bobbled the puck in trying to play keepaway to give Calgary another great chance but the puck stayed out and the Sens did hold on for the 4-3 win.

Game Thoughts:

• Deep breath: Sens win!
• Anton Forsberg was sharp tonight. I wondered if there'd be rust, given the pressure and his lack of recent play, but he looked good. His performance wasn't so good as to lead to a goalie controversy, but if he can give the Sens solid starts in 30 games, that's what the team needs.
• Sanderson had a much-needed good game tonight (scary end of game giveaways aside). Yes he had two points, but he also seemed more comfortable in his own end and generally looked like the dominating force he was in the latter half of last season. This is the way we know he can play most of the time.
• Josh Norris was a little unlucky tonight, getting a few high-danger chances that he just couldn't bury.
• Batherson did look strong tonight, and I think it's telling that Green put him out with Giroux and Norris to defend, right after the commercial break, with the Flames net empty, with 3 minutes left. Most of the time, a coach would stick to his more "defensive" guys in that scenario, but I guess he saw the value that Batherson was bringing tonight and decided he'd earned some of that responsibility.

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