It was a good night for Matt Murray and the Sens, beating Vancouver 2-0 for their third straight win and their second shutout in those games. The Sens came out firing, out working the Canucks early and getting powerplay chances. Capitalizing on those opportunities proved the difference as Murray shut the door from open to close.
By Zach Mulder
The first period started with fireworks, with the scoring chances coming on both sides of the ice. Josh Norris ringed a puck off the post, Murray flashed his glove and Brady Tkachuk got into a fight with Travis Hamonic after a big hit on Matthew Highmore. Hamonic would get two and 10 for instigating as well as the five for fighting, while Tkachuk would get five for fighting and two for interference. This would leave Vancouver without one of their most important penalty killers for the rest of the first period, something that would quickly come back to haunt them.
With 12 minutes to go in the period Highmore would slash Norris, sending the Sens to the powerplay. On the man advantage Nick Paul would fire the puck from the top of the faceoff circle and Tim Stützle would tip it past Thatcher Demko to give the Sens a 1-0 lead. It’s the third consecutive game the Sens have scored first, a good trend to continue on this win streak.
With five minutes to go in the period it was a very similar story. Jake Virtanen caught Shane Pinto with a high stick and the Sens would go back to the powerplay. Tkachuk fought for the puck behind the Canucks net and worked it to Norris, who passed it across the slot to Batherson who put it past Demko.
The Canucks would try to fight back in the second and third periods, outshooting the Sens 12-7 in both frames, but Murray was rock solid stopping everything thrown his way. The Sens’ penalty kill also showed tremendous effort, holding Vancouver scoreless on four powerplay opportunities.
The Canucks would pull their goalie with 3:15 left to play and with a minute and a half to go Connor Brown would shoot the puck into the open net for his 17th goal this season, icing the game in the process. The win marks three in a row now for the Sens and their fourth in the last five. Since Murray’s return the team has yet to drop a game. The win tonight was also consequential because it’s the first for Ottawa against Vancouver this season. They’ll have a chance to build on this win and continue the streak Saturday at 10:00 in a rematch against the Canucks.
