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Ottawa Senators game recaps

Sens Hold On For Thrilling 5-4 Win Over Tampa Bay Lightning

Definitely the kind of game they would have found a way to lose a year ago

Sens Hold On For Thrilling 5-4 Win Over Tampa Bay Lightning
Photo by NOAA / Unsplash

In the postgame media scrum, Claude Giroux summed up the Sens' thrilling win over the Tampa Bay pretty accurately, saying that there was "a lot of good and a lot of bad."

It was a thrilling - and extremely nerve-wracking - game to watch. At times the Sens looked unstoppable, and yet it felt like every good play was followed by a bad turnover, or a missed pass, or someone fanning on a shot, or a big mistake in the defensive zone. They were the better team, and they deserved the win, but wow did they not make it easy.

The puck had barely dropped when the Sens were handed a powerplay, and they barely had time to set up before Tampa took another penalty, allowing Ottawa to basically kick off the game with a two man advantage. That’s such a good opportunity that it seemed impossible for the Sens would actually capitalize, but they did! Batherson got the goal with a great shot from the circle, and the Sens were still on the powerplay. 1-0 Ottawa.

The teams didn’t spend much time at 5v5 before Tim Stützle went to the box for hooking. You can’t be mad about that penalty, though, because he saved a sure goal against. And they killed off the penalty, so no harm done.

The Sens took a 2-0 lead later in the first period, thanks to some of the most beautiful passing we’ve seen in a while. Giroux got the puck near the net and waited before sending it to Josh Norris, who wired it home. I’ve watched the replay like 10 times already. 2-0 Ottawa.

Ottawa headed right back to the powerplay immediately after the goal. They did well, but couldn’t quite find the back of the net. They were pretty clearly the better team in the first period, and came close to making it 3-0 several times at the end.

Unfortunately, Tampa Bay got one back early in the second period. That’s what happens when you have Nikita Kucherov on your team, I guess. 2-1 Ottawa.

Tampa continued to put lots of pressure on the Sens’ defense, but it was a pretty evenly matched game, with both teams looking really good in the offensive zone and struggling a lot on defense. A bit after the halfway mark, Nick Paul tapped the puck past Forsberg after a bit of a scramble around the net, to tie the game. 2-2.

Thankfully, it didn’t take long for Batherson to strike back to take the lead back for the Sens. 3-2 Ottawa. He very nearly got a hat trick on the next shift.

The Lightning got one back toward the end of the second period - a very weird bounce that Forsberg clearly didn’t see. 3-3.

The Sens got a powerplay right after that, and Brady Tkachuk tapped in a goal in no time. 4-3 Ottawa.

The Lightning kept the pressure on in the third period, but the Sens held on. There was a massive scrum about five minutes in that resulted in the Sens being down a man at 4 on 3. They held on, though, and eventually Noah Gregor extended the lead off an amazing pass from Shane Pinto - his first regular season goal as a Senator. 5-3 Ottawa.

Of course, the score couldn’t hold. Chabot pulled off a really good poke check in the defensive zone, but his guy got the puck back and sent it right into the net. Can’t fault Chabot on that one. Just terrible luck. 5-4 Ottawa.

The Sens got another powerplay after that, but didn’t do much with it. The last few minutes of the game were extremely tense, as the Sens tried to hold on to a 1 goal lead. Somehow, they held on. Credit to Forsberg for some massive stops right at the end.

Game notes:

  • The Sens have been kind enough to give me media access for the games I’ve been in town for this season, including this one, so I was able to attend the media scrums after the game. It’s very cool that the team has been reaching out to fans and silly little blogs like this one.
  • Jake Sanderson was the only player consistently making good defensive plays all night, and he had three assists on top of that. He’s one of those players that I think you can only fully appreciate in person. Every time I’ve attended a game, I’ve been absolutely in awe of him. The broadcast doesn't capture just how many good defensive plays he makes every single night.
  • Travis Green decided to switch up the lines today, putting Amadio with Tkachuk and Stützle and moving Giroux to Norris and Batherson’s line. After the game, Green said he did it because he felt like he needed to switch things up. He seemed very happy with the results - specifically calling the Norris line “outstanding” - so we might very well see more of them. Giroux also said it was exciting to get the chance to play with new linemates.
  • Here’s the thing. The Sens made a lot of mistakes in their own zone today. That can’t happen. If you play like that every night, you’re not going to make the playoffs. But man, Forsberg looked so shaky, and it didn’t seem like the Sens had a lot of confidence in him. In the NHL, you need your goaltender to bail you out from time to time, and they’re not getting that with Forsberg. He also struggled with a lot of really easy saves, leading to scary moments even if they didn’t end up leading to goals. I don’t think there’s any way this game would have been so close with Ullmark in net.
  • Of course, Travis Green and Jake Sanderson both sang Forsberg’s praises after the game, and Sanderson made sure to voice his trust in the goalie. I guess just like the rest of the team there was some good and some bad with him - but goaltending isn't really a position where you can afford to have a few bad moments in a game.
  • The Giroux line was the standout, but Tim Stützle was on fire too. He easily could have had several goals.
  • Josh Norris looks like his old self again. It's very encouraging to see.
  • Banner night for Ottawa's special teams.

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