NO SURRENDER FOR SENS
Battle back in shootout loss to Pens
Pity the early-leaving Ottawa Senators fans who were sitting in their freezing cars in the parking lot when the Senators finally put some late heat into the Canadian Tire Centre.
In the big picture, the Pittsburgh Penguins 5-4 shootout win — David Perron scored the lone shootout goal — was yet another loss in a season full of far too many defeats for the Senators.
From an entertainment point of view, though, fans certainly got their money’s worth, especially in the wild third period.
The Penguins received two goals from captain Sidney Crosby and singles from fellow marquee talent Kris Letang and Evgeni Malkin.
The Senators goals — all in the third period — came from Mika Zibanejad, Mike Hoffman, Mark Stone and Kyle Turris.
Despite the defeat, the Senators also gained some measure of pride in picking up a point after rallying from a 3-0 deficit after two periods and after trailing by two goals with only five minutes remaining.
“I can’t praise the guys enough, what a pushback,” said Senators goaltender Robin Lehner.
Lehner was kicking himself after yielding Crosby’s second goal of the game — he lost sight of the puck in his feet — to give the Penguins a 4-2 lead with 5:07 remaining.
The Senators weren’t done, though. Stone and Turris beat Penguins goaltender Thomas Greiss only 13 seconds apart to tie the game 4-4.
“We can take a lot of positives from that,” said Turris, who split the Penguins defence before tucking the puck between Greiss’s legs.
The Senators fell behind 1-0 on Letang’s wraparound goal a mere 1:01 into the game.
Crosby padded the lead to 2-0 midway through a shaky first period by the Senators.
After Greiss stopped Bobby Ryan on a second period penalty shot and Malkin extended the Penguins lead to 3-0 late in the second period, the Senators began hearing some boos from their fans.
They could hardly have expected a comeback, especially from a team which entered the game having scored only five goals in its previous four games.
Zibanejad got it started, on a power play. Hoffman, reunited on a line with Zibanejad and Ryan, narrowed the gap to 3-2, putting a charge into the crowd.
Crosby’s second goal restored the Penguins two-goal margin, but the quick goals from Stone and Turris flipped the game on its head yet again.
Senators coach Dave Cameron was impressed with the comeback, but he was at a loss to explain why his team became so rattled early on.
“I was disappointed with our first period,” Cameron said. “We allowed that early goal and it got us all out of sorts.”
Cameron wondered aloud if his team was intimidated by the Penguins speed, not impressed with his club’s execution.
For good portions of the first period, the Senators couldn’t even complete a pass.
Then came the wild four-goal third period.