SENATORS PULL OUT DRAMATIC VICTORY
The last shot did the job for the Ottawa Senators on Tuesday night at Canadian Tire Centre.
In a wild and unpredictable night, the Senators wore wide smiles as they scored a dramatic 5-4 shootout victory over the Montreal Canadiens.
Tim Stuetzle and Josh Norris, who both scored in their first ever shootout attempts in the league, sealed the win by beating Montreal goaltender Carey Price.
Senators defenceman Erik Brannstrom, who scored his first career NHL goal, will remember this night for a long time. His was one of two goals Ottawa scored on the power play, while Brady Tkachuk had a two-goal night and Drake Batherson had a two-point effort in what was an outstanding game to watch.
“That's the best game I've seen Brady play,” said alternate captain Erik Gudbranson. “It's great because we've been working hard on our consistency and we've put two good games together. That's good for the room.”
Tkachuk, who had a cracked tooth or two, gave all the credit to his teammates.
“That's got to be one of the crazier games I've ever been a part of,” said Tkachuk.
Matt Murray has to be more consistent than he was on this night, but the Senators' goaltender did make 32 stops total, and the Habs pressed in the third period. This wasn't one of his better performances — Shea Weber scored twice for Montreal, while Jonathan Drouin and Tyler Toffoli also chipped in for the Habs, who were hungry to get back on track with a victory.
The Canadiens thought they had the win when Brendan Gallagher tipped one by Murray with 2.1 seconds left on the clock but the goal was called back because of goalie interference after a review by the NHL's situation room. The league felt Murray didn't have time to reset in his crease after Gallagher knocked him out of position.
“I get knocked on my ass, I have time to reset, you can't tell me the goalie doesn't have time to reset,” an upset Gallagher told Montreal reporters
This game had no shortage of momentum swings. Not long after Toffoli gave the Habs a 4-3 lead in the third period — skating around Brannstrom to beat Murray on the glove side — Tkachuk's second of the game tied it up at 10:11. That was only 2:05 after Montreal had taken its first lead of the game.
Really, the Senators will have no complaints about their effort because they did a terrific job creating opportunities on Price. He didn't look good on Tkachuk's tying goal in the third.
The Senators showed good poise and that was the difference.
“That third period, earlier in the year, we probably would have buckled,” said Smith. “That's a team that pushed really hard in the third. We stayed with and we did that again in overtime.”
The Senators will likely have to make a roster move Wednesday. Centre Derek Stepan didn't finish the game after suffering what appeared to be a shoulder injury late in the first period. He had to be helped off the ice after getting caught up with Jesperi Kotkaniemi.
Smith said Stepan will be re-evaluated and if he's out for a lengthy period that's “a big loss for us.”
While there wasn't much Murray could do on Weber's blast from the point that tied it up 3-3 at 10:06 of the second, he should have had Drouin's shot at 4:52. He was able to slide it underneath Murray to cut Ottawa's lead to 3-2, and that gave the Habs momentum.
On this night, Tkachuk was everywhere and he'll likely need dental work now. He took a high stick from Weber that resulted in a double-minor and 1:03 of a 5-on-3 for the Senators. Brannstrom's first goal in his 40th
NHL game gave Ottawa a 3-1 lead when his shot from the point on the power play beat Price through the five-hole.
“It feels great. It's taken awhile. I'm just shooting more and more. I'm just glad to see it go in. I'm happy with that,” said Brannstrom, who added the puck will go on the shelf at his family home in Sweden.
Ahead 2-1 after 20 minutes, the Senators were in control until Weber brought the Habs to within a goal at 16:03.
Really, Tkachuk does it all. He dropped the gloves with Montreal's Ben Chiarot after a shoving match in the corner and delivered a message in a big way. Tkachuk not only took Chiarot down, the Habs' blueliner cut his nose as well.
The Senators power play, which had tremendous opportunities Sunday, finally cashed in to end an 0-for-24 string when Tkachuk opened up a 2-0 lead at 9:57 of the first. Though Price had made some spectacular saves beforehand, the puck found its way through him for Tkachuk's seventh of the season.
For only the fifth time this season, the Senators opened the scoring. That came on Batherson's fifth of the year at 1:36 of the first. He took a feed from Stepan and beat Price for his third goal in three games.
“That's a huge win for us,” said Tkachuk. “We're just showing a lot of maturity and you can see how much growth we've had as a group. It's been a weird year but to see the improvement and potential we have, it's so much fun to be a part of. That was just a gutsy win. We dug right in.”
The Senators next play host to Matthew Tkachuk and the Calgary Flames on Thursday at 7 p.m.