Senators’ spark comes too late
Desperate Flames hold on for big two points in quest for Western wild card
At least the Ottawa Senators put a late scare into the Calgary Flames in a 2-1 loss on Friday night.
For 50 minutes, the Senators offered up a snoozer of an effort for the 14,498 fans at Canadian Tire Centre.
But just when it seemed safe to turn out the lights, the Senators found a spark.
The Flames led 2-0 on a firstperiod goal from Sam Bennett and a third-period marker by Matt Stajan and were seemingly on cruise control in what was a must-win in their pursuit of a playoff spot.
Then the Senators came to life. Jean- Gabriel Pageau scored on a penalty shot — Dougie Hamilton hauled him down on a breakaway — breaking David Rittich’s bid for his first career shutout.
The Senators pushed and pushed harder to send the game to extra time, but a combination of Rittich saves and unlucky bounces kept the Senators from tying the game.
“They came out harder than us from the start, they wanted it more than us from the start,” Pageau said. “(Goaltender Mike) Condon gave us a chance the whole game to come back. I don’t think we did the best we could in front of their net, with rebounds, and it didn’t bounce on our side, and with getting traffic in front of their goalie.”
The loss left the Senators with only a single point from games on consecutive nights against Buffalo and the Flames.
The victory kept alive the Flames’ hopes of staying in the playoff race.
For most of the night, the Senators showed the fatigue of a club playing on back-to-back nights. Only the play of Condon — who made 35 saves — kept them in the contest.
Stajan’s goal, on an assist from former Senator Curtis Lazar, gave the Flames their necessary breathing room.
For most of the night, Condon did everything he could to keep the Senators close.
After allowing Bennett’s early goal, he was outstanding in not allowing the Flames to extend the lead.
He made 24 saves through the first two periods, including several stellar stops.
With time ticking down in the second, Condon slid across the crease to rob Sean Monahan, the former 67’s star who came into the game with 30 goals and 30 assists.
“He was great,” Senators coach Guy Boucher said of Condon. “It’s sad, when I look back at some of his games, he played really well, but those are the games we didn’t score many goals. That’s what’s disappointing. He has given us some really good games lately.”
At the other end, Rittich wasn’t nearly as busy, but he was ready when needed.
His best stop came when he kicked out his left pad to keep Marian Gaborik from tying the game.
The line of Matt Duchene, Ryan Dzingel and Mike Hoffman, which was buzzing around the net throughout Thursday’s 4-3 overtime loss to Buffalo, was again the Senators’ best line. But they couldn’t finish in close.
The Flames are in the middle of the fire in the chase for a wildcard playoff spot in the Western Conference. They had the benefit of rest, idle since Wednesday’s 5-1 win over Buffalo, but they also have little margin for error, especially against non-playoff bound squads.
They’re also attempting to stay afloat with the unproven goaltending tandem of Rittich and Jon Gillies.
For Flames coach Glen Gulutzan, the key to success is in not being distracted by outside worries.
“I talk to these guys a lot about mental toughness,” Gulutzan said following Friday’s morning skate.
“We throw that term around pretty loosely, but then what is it? It’s focusing on the right things, doing the same things over and over, having your mind in the right place, routine. It’s those types of things. This is mental toughness. We can’t worry about what happened last night in Anaheim or San Jose or wherever it is. We have a job to do here.”
The Flames got off to the start they wanted, taking advantage of a Senators squad that was on its heels at the outset.
The Senators, who lost 4-3 in overtime to Buffalo on Thursday, were second to the puck in the opening half of the period.
Bennett took advantage to open the scoring, outmuscling Erik Karlsson for a loose puck in the slot at the 4:25 mark.
It marked the ninth time in the past 10 games that the Senators have given up the first goal.
After a day off Saturday, the Senators will travel Sunday to Florida in preparation for Monday’s game against the torrid Panthers.