Sens show up in third period, beat Utah 3-1

Ridly Greig hadn't scored in 13 games. Claude Giroux hadn't scored in 14. And captain Brady Tkachuk hadn't scored in 11. Those three were the goal scorers tonight, as the Sens beat Utah 3-1. Leevi Meriläinen made 34 saves in the win, and deserves the lion's share of the credit for tonight's win.

Ottawa came to play to start the game, taking 5 of the first 6 shots in the game, but then seemed to fall asleep. I'm surprised the shot clock only read 13-9 for Utah. Thankfully, Leevi Meriläinen came to play after a couple of less stellar efforts, and was lights-out for the first period and some. The lone penalty of the period was a very soft tripping call on Michael Amadio that Travis Green absolutely unloaded on the refs about. Late in the period, Artem Zub set up a 3-on-2 thanks to a huge hit, but Amadio absolutely whiffed on the pass from Ridly Greig.

The second period again saw Utah come out strong, and again Meriläinen show off his athleticism. The Sens actually got two powerplay chances of their own, but did absolutely nothing with them. The powerplay is starting to look like an offensive black hole for this team. Thankfully, their PK remains good, and it good them on the board. The Pinto/Greig chemistry on the PK is off the charts, and the two combined for a turnover and a little offensive magic to set up a 2-on-0 and bury it.

Unfortunately, The Hockey Club ™ ® (patent pending) tied it up on the weirdest, flukiest goal you'll see. Clayton Keller's attempted pass to the point hit Claude Giroux's stick, then Greig, and tipped past a stunned Meriläinen. Thankfully it didn't rattle Leevi, because he made a sprawling save on a late Logan Cooley breakaway. It set up a tie game going into the third.

The third period was a tight-checking affair. Green mixed up the lines to have a "responsible player" or whatever on each line (i.e., Drake Batherson on the fourth line), and it choked most of the life out of the game. Until midway through, when Tim Stützle made a spectacular backhand pass to Giroux, and then Giroux made an amazing backhand deke to score. It was vintage Claude and it was beautiful.

Ottawa would get another powerplay and again get nothing going. Then Claude Giroux again showed his veteran savvy, waiting patiently before feeding Stützle backdoor. Karel Vejmelka made the save, but Brady Tkachuk got the rebound and buried it. The celly showed everything about how much relief he felt about finally getting one.

And that essentially did it. Meriläinen had to make a couple more big saves with the opposing goalie pulled, but they couldn't solve him. The Sens won big 3-1, and moved into third-place in the division (though Tampa's just a point behind with a game in hand). Still, this team is looking good in the standings. Next game comes Thursday against the Capitals.

Game Thoughts:

• Claude Giroux is really talented. We forget sometimes since he has aged and is a little slower, but he showed sweet, sweet hands in the third and got the game-winning goal plus the game-sealing assist.
• Leevi Meriläinen continues to mostly look strong. His glove hand never ceases to amaze me, and he is athletic without looking scrambly. This guy will get a real NHL shot next season I'm sure. This game could easily have been out of hand without his efforts.
• Brady Tkachuk is an amazing player. He's even more amazing when he channels his emotion into driving play, forcing chances, and crashing the net. He did that again tonight and eventually got rewarded.
• Artem Zub quietly had a great game, making small plays that negated Utah scoring chances.
• The Sens' powerplay is a sore spot. The powerplay was badly outperforming its danger level early this season, but it's fallen off completely. They seem to have two options: force the bumper play into the slot for a one-timer, or Tim Stützle gets creative. I'm almost longing for the days of throwing a wrister on goal from the blue line from last year. At least that led to a shot on goal, unlike all the perimeter play we're seeing this year.

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