Karlsson scores two in Senators win over Panthers
It took until the third period for us to see any goal scoring, but the Ottawa Senators got the victory with a 2-1 decision over the Florida Panthers on Thursday night. But although the first two periods were short on goals, they weren't short on scoring chances--mostly for the Senators, who played some strong hockey all night long.
With the win, Ottawa is now 6-3 in the last nine games--all of which Craig Anderson has started. Anderson's numbers in Ottawa: 1.43 GAA, .958 SP. You can see the confidence the defenceman have in Anderson, and it has certainly made a difference in the end results.
Sens Hero: Erik Karlsson
Two goals for the Son Of Karl tonight, increasing his team-leading point total to 37. He fired 10 shots in total at Tomas Vokoun, by far a career high (his previous high was seven), and finished +1 on the night--the first time he's finished with back-to-back plus-ratings since December. His two goals give him 11 on the season, making him the first Senators defenceman to score double-digit goals since both Zdeno Chara and Wade Redden did it in 2005-06.
Sens Hero: Ryan Shannon
Shannon continued his hot streak tonight. It didn't show up on the scoresheet, but Shannon played 17:37 TOI tonight, and 4:32 of that was while short-handed. He was a huge reason why the Senators were able to kill off all four short-handed situations.
Cats Hero: Tomas Vokoun
Expected nothing less from Vokoun: He stopped 37 of 39 shots, and kept the Panthers in the game when the Senators brought it to them early in the first period.
Career Milestone: Sergei Gonchar
With Gonchar's assist on Erik Karlsson's second goal, he's got 500 career NHL assists.
Headscratcher: The Francis Lessard misconduct
Early in the third period, Lizard lined up Panthers centre Scott Timmins and finished his check with authority. Across Twitter, everyone I heard from agreed it was a clean hit; the refs, though, thought he'd left his feet, and assessed a five-minute major and a game misconduct. People a little sensitive after the Chara incident? I'd say so.
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