Burrows tallies twice in winning Senators debut
OTTAWA — It doesn’t matter what team he’s playing for, Alex Burrows has the same strategy for scoring.
Burrows scored twice in his debut with the Senators and led his new club to a 2-1 win over the Colorado Avalanche on Thursday. He was traded by the Vancouver Canucks to Ottawa on Monday in exchange for prospect Jonathan Dahlen. Burrows had played his previous 822 games with the Canucks.
His first goal was on a seemingly harmless shot from low in the faceoff circle.
“It’s just getting pucks on net. If you keep doing the right things over and over, you’re going to get results,” said Burrows, who was impressed with the play of his new teammates. “That’s one thing we used to talk about in Vancouver, getting pucks on net, and it’s the same message here in Ottawa.
“I said [Thursday] morning it would be the best day if we could win, and we found a way to get it done. I was really impressed by the way everyone competed, blocking shots and paying the price. I like the way we played. There’s a lot of good players here and if we play the right way we’ll have success.”
Hoffman had two assists for the Senators (34-22-6), while Craig Anderson had a relatively quiet night, needing only 22 saves for the win. He did, however, make a great right-pad stop off John Mitchell who was alone in tight on Anderson early in the third period.
Rene Bourque scored the lone goal for the Avalanche (17-42-3), who were kept in the game with a strong performance from Calvin Pickard who made 40 saves.
Bourque scored at 5:25 of the third period, breaking Anderson’s shutout bid as he took a pass from Nathan MacKinnon and put a shot over Anderson’s shoulder and in.
“It was a tight game all the way through and we were right there at the end with a big third-period goal. Their goalie made some good saves and you have to give them some credit. They played a great game,” Pickard said.
The Senators led 2-0 after two periods and had outshot Colorado 30-16 over that span including 17-6 in the second period. The Avalanche didn’t get their first shot of the second until the period was half over.
Burrows scored his second goal of the game at 15:41 of the second to put Ottawa ahead 2-0, but it was the work of Hoffman that allowed the goal to happen.
Hoffman went behind the Avalanche net on a one-man forecheck and stole the puck behind the net before finding Burrows streaking in unchecked from the blue line. Burrows beat Pickard with a quick shot with all five Colorado skaters in the defensive zone against just two Senators.
“It’s very nice to see him come in here and starting his career with the Senators off that way,” Hoffman said of Burrows, then adding the win was the biggest thing.
“That’s what we wanted, especially coming off our four-game road trip. We wanted to start this home swing on a good note and obviously the two points are big.”
Hoffman also collected an assist on Burrows’ first goal as a member of the Senators. Habs spoil Subban’s return MONTREAL — Tears streamed down P.K. Subban’s cheeks as the standing ovation went on and on.
It was clear that the former darling of the Bell Centre crowd, back for the first time since his trade to the Nashville Predators last June, still held a special place in the hearts of Montreal Canadiens fans.
“I wasn’t really sure how I was going to feel,” Subban said. “I played a lot of hockey games in this building.
“A lot of great things happened in this building and in this city while I was here. All those memories come back, whether it’s stuff to do at the hospital, with the kids, family, teammates, emotional hockey games. We shared that with all the fans and the community here.”
Of course, it didn’t stop those same fans from booing him in a tightly contested third period each time he rushed the puck or cheering wildly when Paul Byron scored with nine second stop go to give the Canadiens a 2-1 victory on Thursday night.
“It was great,” he said with a laugh. “You know what? That’s the first time I’ve ever been booed at the Bell Centre. I kind of enjoyed that. The fans here are some of the best sports fans in the world. It was great to play in front of them tonight.”
Before the game, before fans shifted their loyalties back to the home team and the race for the playoff spot, there was nothing but affection for Subban, a one-ofa-kind figure in his seven seasons on the Montreal blue-line before his shock trade to Nashville in a one for one swap for respected reaguard Shea Weber.
The day before the game, Subban was given a medal by Gov.-Gen. David Johnston to mark his September, 2015 pledge to raise $10 million for the Montreal Children’s Hospital, which is believed to be the largest charitable donation ever made by a Canadian athlete.