Sens win wild game 5-4 in OT over Capitals

It may have been Thomas Chabot's birthday, and he did get the overtime winner as well as an early assist, but Josh Norris stole the show tonight. Norris had a shorthanded penalty shot goal, two assists, and all the energy in the world, leading the Sens to a thrilling 5-4 overtime victory. In the end, the Sens had two powerplay goals, two shorthanded goals (on the same penalty kill), but also allowed two powerplay goals. Alex Ovechkin gave the Sens a good scare, scoring a goal and two assists. Anton Forsberg made 31 saves to earn the victory.

The first period gave us almost no clue how bizarre this game would be, since it saw no goals and very little action. It began with the Caps taking a too-many-men penalty just 2 minutes into the game. Then with 30 seconds left in that powerplay, the Caps took another too-many-men penalty. Spencer Carberry was livid, but you can't argue away one of those penalties, and it was a penalty. You can't argue the rules should be more lenient when you're already killing a penalty. Of course, it was this Sens powerplay with a 5-on-3, so they didn't get any good chances, but it still was fun to see another team get burned for these penalties. The penalties meant the Sens raced out to a lead in shots, but the Capitals slowly clawed back so the period shot total ended 11-7 for Ottawa.

While special teams did nothing in the first, they did everything in the second. First, the Sens got things going on the powerplay, with Ridly Greig getting the perfect redirect in front.

Amazingly, that rocket of a pass from David Perron gave him his first point as a Senator. That lead only lasted a few minutes though, because Thomas Chabot got caught up high, and the low man, Connor McMichael was uncovered. Artem Zub was covering the pass, Claude Giroux first expected Zub to cover the man before realizing he had to be the one to race in, and McMichael had a year and a half to skate in and pick his spot. Anton Forsberg had no chance on the play.

From there, things started going Ottawa's way. First Brady Tkachuk scored his second in two games, but the Caps challenged for goalie interference. Drake Batherson was all over Charlie Lindgren in front just before the goal, and so it was an easy call for the refs to call it off. Then, with the period winding down, the Sens took their fourth penalty of the period, this time Travis Hamonic for hooking. Just 13 seconds in, Josh Norris generated a breakaway and got hauled down by John Carlson, so he got a shorthanded powerplay. He made no mistake, slowing things down and picking his spot. Then, just 38 seconds later, Norris and Shane Pinto got a 2-on-1. Lindgren made the save on Norris, but Pinto was wide-open for the rebound and put it in. A late penalty kill opened up a two-goal lead for the Sens.

The Sens got the first powerplay of the period, but couldn't get much going. Then the refs called a very iffy call on Josh Norris, and Dylan Strome scored early in that PP. Suddenly it was a one-goal game with 12 minutes to go. After that, the Sens fourth line took some questionable hits in the Caps' zone, and the fans started booing with no penalties called, so then the refs did call a borderline trip against Jake Sanderson. On that powerplay, Sanderson's point shot pinballed in off John Carlson in front, and I give the home crowd an assist on that goal.

The drama in this game was far from over though. Ridly Greig took a penalty, and Pinto got a shorthanded breakaway and got pulled down, so he got another penalty shot. Unfortunately this time Lindgren made the save; the Sens have never scored on two penalty shots in the same game. It was doubly worse, because Alex Ovechkin picked his spot from the blue line and rifled it home. Then Strome scored on another play set up by Ovechkin from the blue line, picking up a rebound around some sprawling Senators and putting it in high. The Sens would weather a couple late surges, and the game would go to overtime.

Overtime was once again the Josh Norris show. He started the OT and set up Tkachuk, but he couldn't score. Then on his second OT shift, he raced in, took what should've been a penalty from Jakob Chyrchrun, and then he and Shane Pinto won the 2-v-3 board battle. Pinto set up Thomas Chabot who was wide-open, all alone in front, and got to pick his spot. It was a roller coaster of a game, but the Sens won, 5-4.

Thoughts:

• Josh Norris had himself a game. The hustle to generate the penalty shot, the goal, the hustle to set up the 2-on-1 goal, the hustle to gain the zone on the OT winner. He just was flying and energized out there. I think it's also telling that he moved to the second powerplay unit and suddenly that unit scored a goal. It's really a fun prank on the whole NHL that he's become a super-effective penalty killer this year.
• I would like to give a shoutout to the Pinto–Greig–Amadio line. They are an excellent grinding line, who can shut down the other team's offence while also showing up on the scoresheet sometimes. On paper, Greig and Pinto seem like very different players, but they have ridiculous chemistry, both at 5-on-5 and as a PK duo.
• The first three goals on Forsberg beat him high-glove. I wonder if that's a scouting thing, that teams have figured out that's where to beat him.
• The Sens should've put this one out of reach earlier, but they didn't capitalize on their chances, and they started to play panicked as the Capitals mounted their push. They will need more mental resilience if they're going to make the playoffs. Still, it's nice to see them earn the win even after blowing a pair of two-goal leads. You do need a short memory to win games. Travis Green called a timeout after the 4-4 goal, and that probably helped to reset the team's mindset.

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