Senators have a Devil of a time stealing a point
Exactly 10 years after winning the first game played at the Prudential Center, the Senators found a dramatic and modernday way to lose in the home of the New Jersey Devils.
They scored twice with goalie Mike Condon on the bench and an extra attacker on the ice before falling 5-4 in the fourth round of the shootout on a goal by Devils rookie Jesper Bratt.
Mark Stone scored with 1:15 left in regulation time to pull the Senators to within one, before Chris DiDomenico’s first NHL goal tied it with 36.6 seconds left on the clock.
DiDomenico, who also had an assist to give him three points in the last two games, was set up from behind the net by Derick Brassard.
“It just happened so fast,” DiDomenico, who was recalled from Belleville earlier this week, said of his equalizer. “Brass made an unbelievable play behind the net and I just swung at the puck, put it to the net. Next thing you know it was in the net.
“It’s good to celebrate on a tying goal. We worked so hard, we never died out there, we never quit. It just shows we’re always going to play for 60 minutes.”
Mike Hoffman and Johnny Oduya scored the other Senators goals, while Condon stopped 21 shots.
Jimmy Hayes, Adam Henrique, Brian Gibbons and Damon Severson scored for the Devils, who got a 23- stop performance from backup goalie Keith Kinkaid.
Tom Pyatt scored the only Senators goal in the shootout while Condon was pulled out of position on dekes by Drew Stafford and Bratt.
“I kind of bit a little too hard on the first move,” Condon said of the game-ending goal. “That’s the NHL today. Everyone’s got three or four moves and if you don’t bite on the first one, he shoots it through you. If you do, he goes around you. That’s goaltending.”
Erik Karlsson had a chance to win the game in the third round of the shootout, but he fired the puck over the net.
“I did what I wanted to and just missed the shot,” said Karlsson. “Unfortunately that’s going to happen.”
The Senators’ record slipped to 5-1-5, while the Devils — who defeated Ottawa 5-4 in overtime last week at Canadian Tire Centre — improved to 7-2-0.
The Senators led 2-1 halfway through the game, but that changed after Zack Smith was called for a faceoff violation penalty, the first taken by the Senators since the rule was implemented this season.
Some 62 seconds into the penalty, the Devils tied the game on a goal by Henrique, who fired the puck into a wide open net after Karlsson blocked a point shot by Will Butcher.
It was the first power-play goal given up by the Senators on the road this season.
The Devils pulled ahead at the 18:07 mark of the second period when Pavel fended off the checking of Nate Thompson along the boards and sent a short pass to Gibbons at the top of the left wing circle. His quick shot beat Condon on the glove side.
Severson scored the only goal of the third frame with just under six minutes remaining to play, firing another shot past Condon’s catching mitt after Taylor Hall was allowed to tour the Ottawa defensive zone until he was tired of carrying the puck.
The Senators, who were playing the second of back-to-back games, were satisfied to come home with a point.
“Over the course of the two games we didn’t play any beautiful hockey, but we did enough to get three out of four points,” said Karlsson. “That’s the good part.”
Hoffman said the Senators showed a lot of character.
“Coming out of here with one point, we should definitely feel good about ourselves,” he said. “Any time you’re down by two goals, not too many times you come back. We never game up. Had our foot down on the pedal.”
“What an effort, what an effort,” coach Guy Boucher said of his team.
“I’m really impressed with the character of our guys, That was our trademark last year. They never quit. And we come back, and it’s the same this year. I can’t ask much more of our guys. We’ve got points in 10 of 11 games. I’ve never lived that as a coach before. That’s absolutely outstanding.”
ICE CHIPS: Smith wore the assistant captain’s ‘A’ that’s usually sewn on Dion Phaneuf ’s sweater as he returned to the Senators lineup after missing three games with an upper body injury. Both he and Alex Burrows fell on the favourable side of game time decisions. “If it was playoffs, he’d play,” Guy Boucher said Friday morning of Smith. “Just, is it the wise thing to do right now? That’s where we’re at.” ... After taking a high hit from Radko Gudas on Thursday, Chris Wideman was scratched. So was Filip Chlapik, which enabled Jack Rodewold to make his NHL debut ... The Senators have the weekend off before hosting the Montreal Canadiens on Monday.