In an exciting game that the Sens dominated despite falling behind 2-0, they were able to tie the series at two. Ottawa needed their offensive stars to come through and both Milan Michalek and Kyle Turris scored their first goals of the series. Marc Staal went after Jason Spezza‘s head for some reason, but as Spezza wasn’t seriously hurt I don’t expect the NHL to take any action. Here’s the box score.
First Period
On a good first shift Smith took a boarding penalty. Anderson gave up a fat rebound and Stralman scored to give the Rangers the lead. The Sens regained the pressure, but a Karlsson a tripping penalty on Anisimov lead to a Callahan goal. Prust continued the penalty parade this moments later. The best chance for Ottawa came from Neil trying to jam the puck in. Konopka then took a penalty for…checking? A weird call. Anderson continued to give out huge rebounds, but the Sens were able to hold on. Ottawa dominated the 5-on-5 play again and eventually drew another penalty. The Sens came close, but couldn’t connect passes to complete their plays. Cowen had a big hit late in the period on Anisimov. Michalek had a great late chance, but was unable to slide the puck under Lundqvist. Ottawa dominated the period except while short-handed.
Second Period
The Rangers had early pressure off an inexplicable non-icing call, which was followed by Karlsson getting crosschecked in the face after a rush. The Sens struggled to get pressure on their powerplay, but back to 5-on-5 Ottawa dominated again. Cowen made a great defensive play about five minutes in batting the puck away from danger. Carkner took a hooking call on that play to put the Rangers back on the powerplay. Anderson made one great save on the man advantage (on Staal) which turned into a Michalek goal who beat Lundqvist with a backhand. On the next shift Smith missed a glorious chance to bury the puck but can’t score on his backhand (Ottawa got a powerplay on the play). The Sens had incredible pressure during the man advantage, but couldn’t capitalise. Smith then got called for checking Fedotenko too hard. Anderson made an awkward stop on Del Zotto and Winchester saved the day off McDonagh, but otherwise the Rangers struggled to generate chances. As 5-on-5 play resumed the game was a bit more back and forth, with Gaborik falling into the boards followed by Anisimov taking a penalty on Spezza. On the powerplay Staal hit Spezza in the head (no call was made). The Sens scored on the following faceoff with Gonchar squeezing the puck through Lundqvist. Ottawa dominated most of the period again, but lost Winchester to an injury (no video of it was shown so I can’t speculate about what it is).
Third Period
Anderson made a good stop on Richards in the first minute. Foligno took a high sticking penalty early, but the Rangers had no good scoring chances from the powerplay. Anderson made an important save five minutes in when he sprawled after over committing on the initial play, then another a few minutes later stopped a Callahan deflection. Ottawa had a 2-on-1 just after the midway point, but Smith couldn’t connect with Greening. The Sens followed that with a great shift where Phillips had a great chance. Ottawa continued to carry the play and Turris had a scoring chance in the slot. Foligno was then called for a trip. The Rangers weren’t able to generate any chances on the man advantage. There was a frenetic finish to the period, but the Sens had a hard time getting shots through the shot-blocking of the Rangers.
OT
Scrambly play to start with Anderson making a couple of routine stops off Rupp before Gonchar blocked a shot that lead to a 2-on-2 for O’Brien and Turris with the latter beating Lundqvist top-shelf far side.
Here’s a look at the goals:
1. Rangers, Stralman (pp)
Anderson gives up a fat rebound and an untouched Stralman beats him far side
2. Rangers, Callahan (pp)
Anderson gives up another fat rebound and Callahan gets behind coverage to bang it in
3. Michalek (Carkner, Spezza)
Carkner comes out of the box and sends a great pass to Michalek who beats Lundqvist with a high backhand
4. Gonchar (Neil, Foligno) (pp)
Neil centers the puck and Gonchar’s shot squeezes through Lundqvist
5. Turris (O’Brien, Gonchar)
Gonchar blocks a shot and Turris and O’Brien rush down the ice with Turris beating Lundqvist t0p shelf far side
Top-performers:
Kyle Turris – scored the OT winner
Jim O’Brien – must love the playoffs because he’s been fantastic
Chris Phillips – great play in all three zones
Players Who Struggled:
Jason Spezza – his best game of the series, but that’s not saying much
Bobby Butler – largely invisible
Leave a comment
No comments yet.
eyeonthesens 
Leave a Reply