CANADIENS BEAT LISTLESS SENATORS
This was no Super Sunday for the Ottawa Senators.
Trying to win three straight for only the second time this season and the first time since October, the Senators took one on the chin with a listless 4-1 loss to the Montreal Canadiens Sunday afternoon at the Bell Centre.
Not only did the Senators lack of discipline prove to be costly, they were horrible in their own end. Only Mike Hoffman was able to beat goaltender Carey Price. Artturi Lehkonen had two for the Habs while Jeff Petry and Tomas Plekanec also beat Mike Condon.
Coming off a 4-3 shootout win over the Philadelphia Flyers Saturday afternoon to start this two-game road trip, the Senators weren’t very good from the moment the puck dropped and then they just got worse as the countdown towards the end of the season continues.
Price made 25 stops, however, the Senators didn’t generate a lot as he moved his lifetime record to 22-9-4 against Ottawa. The Senators simply allowed the Habs too many good chances and paid the price by not giving themselves an opportunity to win.
“We’re a little passive at some times and we give them a little bit too much space,” said captain Erik Karlsson. “No matter who we play, it seems like we’re staying on the inside and letting them roll around a bit and wait for their opportunities instead of taking control of the situation.
“We do that for a long period of time and it’s not going to go in your favour most of the time.”
A giveaway by Thomas Chabot in his own end allowed Plekanec to put this game away at 16:57. Chabot bobbled the puck to Plekanec and he fired it by Condon to give the Habs a three-goal lead.
Lehkonen, who hadn’t scored since he had two against the Senators on Oct. 30 in Ottawa, fired his second of the game into an empty net at 18:47 of the second period with Condon out of position to give the Habs a commanding 3-1 lead going into the third period.
“I didn’t like that goal at the end of the second period. That’s one we can’t allow. We were stuck in our zone and then we’re tired. That was the killer there,” said coach Guy Boucher. “That second period killed us.”
You didn’t get the feeling the Senators were going to come storming back and they were being outshot 27-15 by the Habs.
The Senators were their own worst enemy in the second. With Mark Borowiecki already in the box, Karlsson was given a double-minor for high-sticking. That resulted in disaster as the Habs struck with two power-play goals to take a 2-1 lead. Left alone on the doorstep, Lehkonen took a pass and fired it by Condon at 7:55.
Only nine seconds into a 5-on3 that resulted after Karlsson joined Borowiecki in the penalty box, Petry fired it past Condon from the point at 6:16 of the second to tie it up 1-1.
“The high-sticking with the four minute major was the gamechanger,” said centre Derick Brassard. “It was obviously a penalty but I don’t think Karl meant to do that. It was just a bad accident.
“After that, there’s probably six or seven forwards standing on the bench waiting for your next opportunity and you get a little cold. It’s hard to get on the forecheck after that. It was just that six or seven or eight minutes in the second period. That was basically the game.”
Hoffman, who scored a spectacular shootout winner Saturday in Philly, got the party started when he fired a blast by Price at 2:05 of the second to open the scoring. It was Hoffman’s 13th of the season and it’s the 24th time this season the Senators have scored the opening goal.
If the Senators were determined to get off to a quick start, that plan didn’t materialize in any way, shape or form. Locked in a scoreless tie after the first, the Senators outshot the Habs 10-7 but neither team had much in the way of scoring chances.
In fact, for the most part, the Senators and the Habs looked like two teams out of the playoffs that just wanted to get this over with.
Of course, the Senators will look at it as a good road period because they’re not trying to impress anybody. The Senators have had their issues scoring goals and, if a game is low scoring, then that suits them just fine.
“I don’t think about the offence,” said Condon, who made 31 stops. “I just worry about my job and my duties. We’ve got a lot of skill on this team and I don’t think guys are happy with themselves in terms of offensive production but it’s been a trying year for everybody.
“I have a lot of faith in these guys, they worked hard, but they just haven’t been able to get it to go (in the net).”
The Senators will face the New Jersey Devils at home Tuesday night.