Sens’ Condon finally gets goal support
Goalie makes 42 saves in Ottawa’s 7-4 victory over league-leading Tampa Bay Lightning
TAMPA — It’s more than fair to say goaltending has let the Ottawa Senators down this season, but in some cases the Senators have also let their goalies down.
Just look at what’s happened to Mike Condon.
The winner of 19 games in 201617, he carried a 4-13-5 record into Tuesday’s stop in Tampa to face the Lightning. Condon had lost 11 straight on the road, dating back to Dec. 1, and he was 0-6-1 in his previous seven starts.
But he could also associate with a baseball pitcher who isn’t getting any run support.
In Condon’s 21 starts, the Senators managed just 42 goals. In eight of them, they scored fewer than two.
Poor guy was probably starting to get a complex.
“For sure, that’s something we’ve got to work on,” defenceman Mark Borowiecki said Tuesday morning. “When goalies put up great games for us and great efforts, we can’t expect to win a game 1-0. We’ve got to make sure we’re there to help them, too.
“Condo is an easy guy to cheer for, as is (Craig Anderson). They both battle for us, they both work hard. Condo is at the rink every day, doing his work. He’s kind of the consummate professional. I think we’ve got to take a little bit of pride helping him out.”
A few hours later, the Senators did just that. Ottawa had three goals before the game was 12 minutes old then continued on to a 7-4 victory over the league-leading Bolts at Amalie Arena.
Condon showed his appreciation by making 42 saves.
“It was a great showing by the guys tonight,” said Condon. “Great offensive output, and defensively as well, I thought we were great.”
The win gave the Senators a sweep of back-to-back games in Florida, against two of the NHL’s hottest teams.
It was also the first time the Senators have scored and the most the Lightning have allowed this season.
The Lightning had won nine of their previous 10 games.
“That’s a tough night at home,” said Lightning coach Jon Cooper.
The Senators have lit up Andrei Vasilevskiy — called “the best goalie in the league” by coach Guy Boucher earlier in the day — the last two times they’ve faced him. Vasilevskiy, who was pulled after the giving up six goals on 29 shots through two periods, was the victim of the 6-3 beating in Ottawa on Jan. 6.
Mike Hoffman led the Senators with two goals, giving him a team-leading 21 on the season. Ryan Dzingel also scored his 20th, while Tom Pyatt, Magnus Paarjavi, Marian Gaborik and Erik Karlsson had the others.
“It’s something positive we can look at,” Hoffman said of consecutive victories in the Sunshine State. “This season really hasn’t gone as expected, but these two games here shows that no one in this room has quit.”
Only six skaters failed to pick up at least a point for the Senators.
Former Ranger J.T. Miller scored three for the Lightning, in nine shots through two periods, while Ryan McDonagh, who also came over from New York at the deadline, also scored for the Lightning.
Miller, who must feel like he’s won the lottery in being traded to the Lightning at the deadline, was set up by his two new linemates — Steven Stamkos and Nikita Kucherov, both of whom wound up with three assists — to give Tampa the first lead just 4:19 into the game.
But then, very surprisingly, the Senators took over.
Paajarvi followed up on a Pyatt breakaway to jam in his third in two games. Dzingel scored his milestone marker with a wicked shot that beat Vasilevskiy high on the glove side. Pyatt picked up his second point of the period against his former team when he deflected a Cody Ceci point shot.
Miller pulled the Lightning to within one in the second, but Gaborik, on a nice set up by Dzingel, scored his second as a Senator on the power play.
Hoffman took advantage of a good bounce and a wide open side to reach the 20-goal plateau for the fourth consecutive season. Earning assists were Erik Burgdoerfer, his first NHL point, and Matt Duchene, who wound up with two helpers on the night.
Karlsson wrapped up the second-period scoring and convinced Jon Cooper enough was enough for Vasilevskiy 30 seconds before the intermission.
Trying to make a pass from the left wing boards, Karlsson’s attempt hit the skate of Chris Kunitz and floated toward Vasilevskiy, who had the puck hit the back of his catching minute and flutter over the goal line.
“Both yesterday and today, they played really well and they created a lot of scoring chances,” Karlsson said of the two opponents. “Somehow we managed to keep the puck out of our net, the goalies played great for us, and we found a way to score the goals when we needed to. ”
Hoffman scored on one of four shots the Senators directed at Vasilevskiy’s replacement, Peter Budaj.
The Senators flew home after the game and now get a bit of a break until they host the Dallas Stars at Canadian Tire Centre on Friday.