Ottawa Senators Rebound to Beat Edmonton Oilers 5-2
An impressive win on many levels.
After a disastrous game last night against the Vancouver Canucks, fans were looking to see how the Ottawa Senators would react against the Edmonton Oilers in the second of a strange back-to-back trip.
Just like the previous game, the Sens were completely dominated by the Oilers. To make matters worse, Nick Paul was seen in distress on the bench after a collision. It was later announced that he would not return to the game with a strained neck.
The Sens managed to keep the game scoreless through the first half of the period and even killed an extremely dangerous and talented power play. With seven minutes left, chances were 20-1 favouring the Oilers — impressive! They almost made it through the period until Jujhar Khaira receives a beautiful pass from Leon Draisaitl after being left completely open by J.C. Beaudin to make it 1-0. D.J. Smith challenged the goal for offside as it looked exactly like the Sens goal that was overturned last night. Of course, it counted and the Sens had to kill a two-minute penalty as a result of losing the challenge. With less than three minutes left in the first period, the Sens received a power play but the period ended at 1-0 with the Oilers outshooting the Sens 10-4.
The second period has historically been the Sens’ enemy, but not in this one. After Khaira hooked Tierney, the Sens got another opportunity and they delivered. Just as the power play ended, Artem Anisimov found a peeking hole that Koskinen managed to leave open and tied the game. In a game where the Oilers had completely dominated thus far, it was a shock that the score was that close. What was even more shocking was Connor Brown finding the five hole on Koskinen eleven seconds later to give the Sens the lead. The Sens became a completely different team and capitalized on every shift they got. Connor Brown continued to impress with the perfect pass to Tyler Ennis who made it 3-1. That was it for Koskinen who seemed to be struggling immensely. The Oilers managed to make the game close again with a late period power play goal by Oscar Klefbom.
The Sens started off the third on the same pace as the second period as Anthony Duclair made it 4-2 less than two minutes into the period. He’s staying in Ottawa forever, right? The Sens continued their impressive play throughout the period and were eventually rewarded in the second half with a goal by Vlad Namestnikov to make it 5-2 which would end up being the final score.
Game Notes
- It was Craig Anderson’s first game back from injury, and he looked very good especially in the first period with the Oilers hailing shots on him.
- Tyler Ennis was named the first star and I learned tonight that he is an Edmonton local boy — if there was ever a chance for him to shine, it was this game. I still can’t decide what I think of Ennis but he seems to be doing more good than bad at this point.
- I am still in amazement that D.J. Smith lost his offside challenge when the Sens’ goal was overturned on the same play the previous night.
- I’m not usually a fan of Dylan DeMelo on the power play but he had more than a few good power play moments in this game, especially when it came to keeping the puck in the zone.
- Wins are great, but most importantly, the Sens bounced back from a terrible loss the previous night, especially after overcoming the overpowering Oilers team in the first period. Their resilience is great./