Senators come back again in 3-2 overtime win against the Devils

The Ottawa Senators won their third straight game and they have not led for a second in any of those games. Crazy, huh? Here's how they got there...

The first period was scoreless despite both teams having chances. Shots were 9-9 and scoring chances were 6-5 for New Jersey. The second period saw Erik Karlsson give the puck away at the blue line, sending Ilya Kovalchuk on a breakaway. Karlsson chased hard as he always does, but Kovalchuk was able to get a shot off that Anderson saved. Shortly after, Zenon Konopka gave the puck away inside the Senators zone and this time Dainius Zubrus scored to put the Devils ahead at the 7:47 mark. The fourth line was culpable again when David Clarkson scored to put New Jersey 2-0 ahead. Shots were 9-9 again and scoring chances were 8-8 in the second period.

The third period is where the action was for the Senators. Jason Spezza made it a one goal game after being sent in on a breakaway by who else, Erik Karlsson, at the 1:21 mark. Ottawa would have its chances to tie the game, but time was winding down until Erik Condra scored a shorthanded goal with only 6:43 left on a shot that Martin Brodeur really should have had. The period ended with the score tied 2-2 and the shots were 10-8 for Ottawa in the period and scoring chances 4-3 in Ottawa's favour.

The Devils had the Senators pinned in their own zone for large portions of the overtime but were only able to put three shots on net. That would come back to bite them when they took a penalty with 2:02 left. Just like two games ago, Daniel Alfredsson took an Erik Karlsson feed and fired it into the net on a 4-on-3 power play to complete yet another stirring come back.

Sens Hero: Erik Karlsson
He had the one glaring mistake for the Kovalchuk breakaway, but it was another excellent game from Karlsson. With Gonchar still out after taking a puck to head from Chris Neil, and Chris Phillips injured during the game, Karlsson broke the 30 minute mark for the second straight game, playing a whopping 32:39. His breakaway pass to Spezza on the 2-1 goal got the Senators back in the game. He finished the night with two assists, six shots on net and had another six shots that were either blocked or missed the net.

Sens Hero: Craig Anderson
Anderson had a solid performance for the third straight game, stopping 27 of 29 shots. This is the kind of performance the Senators need from him. Not spectacular but keeping the team in the game and giving them a chance to win.

Honourable mention: Daniel Alfredsson
He didn't have a good game but he scored the overtime winner.

Sens Zeroes: Fourth line (Chris Neil, Zenon Konopka and Kaspars Daugavins)
Neil and Daugavins were on the ice for both goals against while Konopka's turnover led to New Jersey's first goal. Daugavins only played 4:46 in the game and only 8 seconds in the third period, Konopka saw 1:29 of action in the third period. Being outscored 2-0 is not a good night for the fourth line.

Sens Killer: Missed/blocked shots
The shots on target were 32-29 for Ottawa on the night, but they also had 23 shots miss the target and another 23 shots blocked. Ottawa had 78 attempted shots to New Jersey's 47. This has been a theme for Ottawa recently.

Other Notes

• This was Ottawa's league leading fifth win when trailing after two periods and seventh while trailing at some point in the third period.
• This was also the third game they have won trailing despite trailing by at least two goals in the third period after the 4-3 win against Minnesota and 5-4 win against the Rangers.
• Erik Karlsson now has 37 points in 40 games and is only 8 points behind his career high. He also has 142 shots on goal, which is sixth among all NHL players. Alexander Ovechkin only has one more shot than Karlsson.
• Jason Spezza has 40 points in 40 games and is 8th in the Art Ross race.
• New Jersey has allowed 12 goals while they are on the power play and allowed 11 goals when they are shorthanded. Think about that. That's absurd.
• With 45 points in 40 games, the Senators are on pace for 92 points.

Game Highlights