Condon rebounds but Sens fall to Jets

Mike Condon’s final preseason tune-up was a solid one.

And it would have been even better had he received some help.

Condon was very sharp against the Winnipeg Jets in a 5-3 loss at Bell MTS Place on Wednesday that left the Senators’ pre-season record at 3-2 with just a single game on the docket before the regular season starts.

That one, in Montreal on Saturday, will belong to Craig Anderson.

Against the Jets, Condon stopped 13 of 14 shots in the first period and 11 of 12 in the second to keep his team in the game. It was a fine rebound from the seven goals he surrendered during less than a half game of work in P.E.I. that left Condon with a 6.86 goals against average and .805 save percentage in two pre-season appearances.

To make the playoffs in what should be a tight Eastern Conference, the Senators are again going to need another stellar season from Condon, who saved their bacon with Anderson away from the team last season. Without Condon’s 19-14-6 record that included five shutouts, Ottawa would almost certainly have missed the playoffs.

While Condon faced a total of 33 shots by the Jets, the Senators took advantage of Jets goalie Connor Hellebuyck, who was tested just 18 times.

Scoring for Ottawa were Bobby Ryan, Alex Formenton and Kyle Turris.

Nic Petan, Dustin Byfuglien and Bryan Little scored power-play goals for the Jets before Marko Dano notched the winner off a 2-on-1, with only Thomas Chabot back, at the 13:12 mark of the third. Little added an empty-netter with five seconds to play and Condon on the bench for an extra attacker.

While the Senators dressed only three rookies for the game, most conspicuous by their absence from the Jets lineup were Patrik Laine, Mark Scheifele and Blake Wheeler — arguably their three best forwards.

The Senators held a 3-1 lead in the second period on goals by the 18-year old Formenton, his first as an NHLer, and Turris. Both had plenty of appeal. Formenton picked the pocket of Jets first-rounder Kyle Connor in the neutral zone, then broke in alone on Hellebuyck, beating him with a flick of the wrist that sent the puck to the top corner on the stick side.

Turris notched his first nine minutes later, taking an uncanny cross-slot pass from Mark Stone that left him with a wide-open net.

Byfuglien drove in a one-timer from the point with 10 seconds remaining in the second period and Tom Pyatt in the penalty box to cut into the Senators’ lead.

Then Little tied the game 8:33 into the third with Alex Burrows in the sin bin.

The Senators were pressing in the offensive zone when Petan and Dano turned the tide and broke down ice to get the winner.

Trying to bounce back from an 8-1 loss to New Jersey two nights earlier, the Senators were outshot 14-5 in the first period. Condon made four saves before they managed their first shot on goal.

When Ryan did send the first puck towards Hellebuyck, it was like the thing had eyes. The shot, an easy one from the left wing boards, missed the stick of Ottawa forward Jean-Gabriel Pageau and the defenceman he was engaged with in front of the net, then somehow snuck by Hellebuyck, as well.

It was the first goal of the preseason for Ryan, who had one assist in two previous games.

It appeared the Senators would get out of the period with the lead thanks to the work of Condon, who did get some backchecking help from Mike Hoffman on an in-alone chance by Little that otherwise would have resulted in a goal. But a half-minute from the intermission, Johnny Oduya stopped moving his legs when pursuing the puck and, as a result, was called for interfering with big Byfuglien.

Just 18 seconds after that, Petan cracked Condon’s goose egg by deflecting a point shot from Josh Morrissey, leaving the teams knotted heading into the second.