Sens Lose to Capitals 5-3 in Another Ovechkin Milestone

There is no denying that Alexander Ovechkin is unstoppable right now and everyone would be very surprised if he didn’t end up scoring the remaining 200 goals that he needs to reach Wayne Gretzky’s record. Coming fresh off a win on Tuesday against the Buffalo Sabres, the Ottawa Senators were hoping to get some kind of winning streak going against the Washington Capitals.

The first period looked to set the tone for what looked to be a long game. With four minutes into the game, John Carlson made the perfect pass to T.J Oshie who gives the Caps the lead for the game. Seven minutes later, the entire Sens team seemed to have lost all defensive sense and the Capitals were able to extend the lead to 2-0 on a pretty tap from Evgeny Kuznetsov. The Sens had absolutely no life in the first period, it seemed that this could be another blowout loss and it could have been one of the ugliest we’ve seen so far. The shots at the end of the period were 16-5 Capitals and yes it was as bad as it seems.

The second period showed some promise when the Capitals got their third power play of the game. While at this point the Capitals were still looking dominant over the Sens, they had found a way to contain their lead. With less than thirteen minutes left in the period, and the Caps on their power play Connor Brown managed to intercept a pass and skate the puck to the Caps zone. The Sens took full control of the play which ended up in Chris Tierney slipping the puck in the net to cut the lead to 2-1. Only a few minutes later, Dylan DeMelo found himself staring down at three Caps players including Ovi with a puck. The result was Ovechkin scoring a goal to put his team ahead by two as well as tying Mark Messier’s most goals record. Are we not so lucky to witness it happen at our own barn? Oh well. The second period continued to give us some hope as Thomas Chabot was able to carry the puck all the way to Ilya Samsonov’s net and shoot a goal that went straight into our hearts. Too much? Well, he’s the only hope we’ve still got so I’ll take full advantage of it. The period ended with a score of 3-2 Capitals and a shot advantage for Ottawa of 17-10, astonishing.

While the Sens got the shorthanded advantage in the second period, it was time for the Caps to score a shorthanded goal themselves. This time, it came from Carl Hagelin three minutes into the third. The Sens continued to fight through and Artem Anisimov got the goal back with a power play goal to keep the lead at only one goal. Again, promising.

The Sens and Caps continued to exchange chances and the Sens actually looked like they may have a chance at coming back in this game but with fifteen seconds left and Ovechkin on the ice with an open net, the game ended at 5-3 and another Ovechkin milestone. He has officially passed Mark Messier on the all times goals list.

Game Thoughts

• The Senators scored three power play goals last game against the Sabres and tonight added another plus a shorthanded goal, could this be the beginning of a special teams breakout? The Sens haven’t had much luck with the power play but maybe they’re finally finding ways to come through.
• While they were hammered in shots and chances against, the Senators managed to get themselves back in the game. Regardless of the final score, the effort we saw tonight after the first period was impressive. In a season where barely anything matters, this is important to see.
• Anthony Duclair needs to get going again, while his recent goal freeze may be good for the Sens in terms of negotiations, but it is certainly not good for his long term confidence. Many are suggesting that he needs new line mates and that is obvious to everyone except for DJ Smith, but who does he fit in with best?/

Gameflow

Heatmap