Sens Survive First Period Cannon Fire, Down Blue Jackets 5-2

The night started off with some early action, in the form of Mark Borowiecki going after Jared Boll. He took offense to a hit on Eric Gryba by Boll, and ended up with an extra two in the altercation. With only four seconds remaining in Borocop's penalty, David Savard was left alone on the far side of the ice during a Blue Jackets rush. The pass made it to him, and he sliped it past Robin Lehner to give the Jackets the early lead. But hey, standing up for Gryba surely sent a message to Boll.

It didn't take long for Ottawa to answer. With Ryan Murray off for roughing, Clarke MacArthur tipped an Erik Karlsson shot from the blue line past Curtis McElhinney.

So about that message sending... After a hit along the board by Chris Neil that ended with a bit of a face poke, Boll decided to dance. Boll was back to the box for another five minutes, and Neil took an extra two for unsportsmanlike conduct. This one was killed off well, though, with only two shots for Lumbus.

The first period would end with a 1-1 tie, and Ottawa on the power play.

Ottawa came out strong in the second period.

Yes, Ottawa came out strong in the second period. Helped along by the remaining man advantage, the first few minutes of the period were all Ottawa. The Sens would get the go ahead goal on another tip, this time it was Zack Smith tipping a Cody Ceci shot from the point.

The parade to the penalty box continued. Jared Cowen went to the box for high sticking. With 25 seconds left in that penalty, Gryba flattened Arem Anisimov with what looked like a shoulder to the head. In addition to a five minute major Gryba would be done for the night, and the ensuing scrum would get Scott Hartnell two for roughing. Ottawa would kill off the ensuing short 4 on 3, and the long 5 on 4.

Just when it was looking like Ottawa would go to the second intermission with the lead, a clean faceoff win by Ryan Johansen found it's way to Cam Atkinson who rifled one past Lehner. With no sight line on the shooter, The Lehner had no chance.

The buzzer sounded on what may have been Ottawa's best second period of the season, which is not a high bar to pass.

A few minutes in to the third, the Blue Jackets got a 4 on 2 rush. Lehner made a potentially game-saving save, and Ottawa went on the counter attack with a 3 on 1. Turris fed it to Karlsson in the middle, and right past McElhinney to give Ottawa their second lead of the night.

The rough stuff continued on the night. A rough hit to Boroweicki by Corey Tropp would see Boro go head first in to the boards. Tropp would be done for the night, and Boro as well after taking his time to get up and looking visibly shaken. Ottawa was off to a five minute power play.

It took most of the five minutes to do it, but the heavy pressure finally got results. From behind the goal line, Stone fed MacArthur at the faceoff dot. MacArthur waited just long enough to get everyone's attention, and fed Alex Chiasson in the slot for the goal.

A minute later, Kyle Turris would rush up the ice. He lost the puck trying to dance through a pair of Jackets, but the loose puck found it's way to the stick of MacArthur and suddenly it was 5-2. That would be your final score, with the last few minutes of the game played out in a pretty subdued manner.

Sens Hero: Robin Lehner

Lehner was absolutely shelled in the first period and kept the Sens in the game. In the third, he made some huge saves to keep a hold of the lead. He finished the game with 36 saves on 38 shots.

Sens Hero: Clarke MacArthur

Two goals and an assist for the Grizz. MacArthur was everywhere and made things happen tonight.

Honourable Mention: Kyle Turris

Where goes Clarke, so goes Kyle. He had a very good night, but wasn't quite the stand out that MacArthur was. Not giving him the hero status is more about not devaluing the title for MacArthur.

Sens Zero: Chris Neil

Tonight we saw the Chris Neil of last year. That's bad.

Shot Chart via ESPN:

Game Flow via Natural Stat Trick:

The Donut: