It’s time for another western road trip as the Senators were in Calgary tonight. Ottawa is coming off of a 4-0 win against Montreal. While the Senators remain at the bottom of the division, they have seen positive development in their core and continue to build chemistry. Calgary has won three out of their last four and is currently chasing Montreal for the last playoff spot in the North Division. Matt Murray served in net tonight for the Senators while Jacob Markström started for the Flames.
by Tyler McIsaac
The opening period was evenly matched. Brady Tkachuk opened the scoring at the 9:50 mark. After a giveaway in Calgary’s zone, Tkachuk capitalized and buried the puck past Markström. Josh Norris assisted on the play. The Flames were able to even the score shortly after. Within minutes, Calgary entered Ottawa’s end and after a shot, Elias Lindholm was able to force the puck past Murray, making the score 1-1. The period finished with the tied score and the shots were 11-11.
The narrative remained the same in the second period. Both teams exchanged quality chances in each other’s zones. It looked like this one was going into the third with an even score. However, Connor Brown was able to provide a spark with the Sens short handed. With less than a minute left in the second, Calgary had a costly turnover in Ottawa’s end which resulted in Brown and Paul rushing the net. After Brown attempted to setup Paul, Brown was able put in the rebound to put the Sens up 2-1 going into the third. The shots were 20-16 in Calgary’s favour.
The final period made for an unusual scenario. While the Senators continued to tally up penalties and gave up more shots, they maintained control of the game and added to the score sheet. After six minutes into the third, Flames forward Josh Leivo took a tripping penalty giving the Sens an opportunistic power play. At 7:52, Josh Norris received a crisp pass from Erik Brännström and ripped the puck past Markström for his 13th of the year. Drake Batherson also assisted on the goal. Before Ottawa could run away with this one, Calgary made a push to regain some life. At the 10:47 mark, Mikael Backlund fed defenceman Michael Stone who was able to fire a slap shot into the Ottawa net making the score 3-2. Calgary continued to apply to pressure. They emptied the net for the extra attacker once the clock winded down but Connor Brown was able to get the empty netter for his second of the night and his sixteenth of the season. The final score was 4-2 for Ottawa and the shot total was 28-20 for Calgary.
It was a good night for the Senators, as they have now won two straight. With Murray back, it seems to have rejuvenated things for this team. They have scored 8 goals in the last two games with plenty of production coming from the young guns. Ottawa will look to build on the streak when they face Vancouver on Thursday at 10:00 P.M. EST.
