‘Fatigue is not an issue,’ Condon insists after loss

Mike Condon insists he wasn’t overly tired Sunday — that making his 13th consecutive start and playing in his 22nd straight game overall wasn’t a problem.

“I feel great,” Condon said after allowing seven goals on 29 shots, including Cam Atkinson’s overtime breakaway goal that finally put an end to the last shot wins contest at the 1:09 mark of overtime.

Condon even went so far as to say he was fresher Sunday than he was Saturday, when he led the Senators to a 3-2 shootout victory.

“Fatigue is not an issue whatsoever,” he said.

Condon didn’t, however, look like his usual dialed-in self.

Senators coach Guy Boucher says he gave the net to Condon because he asked for it, but in retrospect, he might have given more thought to giving his workhorse goaltender a night off. Rookie Chris Driedger could have received his spotlight while letting Condon have a well-deserved night off. As it was, Condon did his best to shrug off a night he’d rather forget, including the routine pop-up he simply misplayed into the Atkinson’s first goal, the Blue Jackets’ sixth.

“It just popped up (off Bobby Ryan’s stick) and I just missed it,” he said. “It’s a tough goal, but those things happen.”

As for the night as a whole, Condon will do his best to put it to bed before facing another challenge Tuesday against Washington.

“These nights happen, where it just seems like the puck is going where you’re not,” he said. “We got a point and we’ll just go from there.”