Senators give up three goals in third period, lose 4-2 to Flames

The Ottawa Senators came into the final game of their Western Canadian road trip having taken points in both of their earlier games -- one against the Canucks and two against the Oilers -- with hopes of taking another two points out of Calgary. Unfortunately, the Senators' inept powerplay failed to convert on numerous chances at the Senators lost 4-2.

The Senators were the first team on the board, as Clarke MacArthur scored his team-leading eighth goal of the season midway through the first period. It was the lone marker in the first period, and the Senators would hold the lead until midway through the second, when a nifty Sven Baertschi pass led to a Paul Byron breakaway goal.

The Flames led in shots 18-13 heading into the third period, but solid goaltending from Craig Anderson left the game with a tied score. Things took a turn for the worse in the third period, as the Flames scored three goals to Ottawa's one -- the lone Ottawa goal a Bobby Ryan wraparound -- to give the Flames a decisive 4-2 victory at home.

Sens Hero: Erik Karlsson
Karlsson played 20 minutes, led countless rushes, made several solid defensive plays, led all players in shots with 5, had an assist, and was +2 on the night. A bit below his standards, no doubt.

Sens Zero: Mark Borowiecki
Boro got burned hard by Paul Byron on Calgary's first goal and played less than all Senators not named Chris Neil (10:55). Not a great night for the local fan favourite.

Fancy stats lie!
Paul Byron and Lance Bouma each had goals on the night, and Bouma finished with two points and a +2. They finished with a 41.7% even strength Corsi For%. Meanwhile, Chris Phillips finished a +2 but had a 35% even strength Corsi For% (worst among d-men), while Jared Cowen finished -2 but had a 54.8% even strength Corsi For% (best among d-men).

Where were the kids?
Mark Stone, Curtis Lazar, and Mike Hoffman combined for only one shot on the night, which is a pretty bad night by their standards.

The man advantage is not much of an advantage
The Senators had more than 11 minutes of powerplay time this game, including over a minute of 5-on-3, but failed to convert on the chances. That means the Senators did not score a single powerplay goal on the Western Canadian roadtrip. You're not going to win many games if you can't score with the man advantage.

Someone on the team handles the puck worse than the defense
Craig Anderson's decisions with the puck were extremely suspect tonight, leading to some close calls against and then directly to the winning and insurance goals. For the game-winner, Anderson went to play a hard shot behind the net puck but failed to reach it, letting it hit a Calgary stick while he was out of position, leading the goal. The insurance goal was a misplay by Anderson that put the puck right on Lance Bouma's stick, giving him an easy goal. Anderson was great for most of the game and you couldn't really blame him on Calgary's first two goals (beautiful plays by Byron and Granlund), but the last two were primarily Anderson's fault.

Wear your visor
There was a scary moment for Flames fans as Chris Neil's sick came up on a follow through and hit visorless Mark Giordano just shove the eye. Giordano left the ice immediately, but returned to the game in the next period -- this time wearing a visor. It was a close call, and you have to think Giordano might think about making the visor a permanent part of his wardrobe in the future after this one.

Game flow chart via NaturalStatTrick.com