Ottawa Senators
Ottawa Senators Postgame: Clutch Comeback Victory!
In a pivotal divisional game, the Ottawa Senators had one of their shakiest defensive games in quite some time. Their offensive game was phenomenal, though, as they were able to come away with a big 6-5 win.

What a game! This game was filled with hatred, incredible saves, big-time goals, and a huge comeback! The Ottawa Senators and Boston Bruins clearly don’t like each other, and both understood how much this game meant in the standings. In the end it was settled in the shootout. Leevi Merilainen stopped all three Bruins shooters while Tim Stützle scored on his attempt to help the Senators win this pivotal game, 6-5. Let’s dive into the details on the big Ottawa Senators victory.
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Great Offensive Play
This is one of the better offensive games the Senators have put together in a while. Swayman deserves credit for a ton of high quality saves. The two that stood out the most were on the Pinto breakaway in the first, and the Sanderson shorthanded chance on a great feed from Giroux. As weird as it sounds, Pinto might’ve been better off feeding it to Cousins on his chance, but he might not have quite seen him until it was too late.
Pinto had eight shots, most of them being great chances. Tkachuk also had eight shots, most of which ended with him getting punched in the face. On the back-end, Sanderson had seven shots and was flying all night. Josh Norris scored two goals, including the game-tying goal with 12 seconds left on a sweet feed from Giroux. Coming into today’s game, the Senators were last in goals per game since the start of November. Needless to say, this type of offensive performance was great to see.
Sloppy Hockey
Now for the other side of the coin. The Senators had been playing such solid defensive and disciplined hockey coming into today’s game. This felt like a blast from the past, with the Sens looking more like the DJ Smith teams that frustrated the fanbase for years. There were the bad penalties- including Josh Norris’, where the Bruins were able to score their first goal. Tkachuk and Ostapchuk also both took extra roughing calls in their skirmishes. There were the defensive lapses, like on the Bruins second goal where Pastrnak was left open coming down the wing. There were the turnovers, including a few bad ones by Chabot. We can blame the fishbowl helmet I suppose. There was the ugly goal given up by Merilainen to have the Bruins go up 4-3. And then there was the overtime, where the Senators gave up a few wide-open chances.
While this game had a playoff-like intensity to it, the sloppy play wasn’t playoff quality at all. Now, if the Senators could pair this type of offensive game with the type of defensive game they played in the previous four games before this one, they’d be a lock for the playoffs! Easier said than done of course.
Additional Notes
At some point this season I had complained that the Sens never score with the goalie pulled. Well, how about doing it twice today? While the goals were great, the defensive play by Sanderson to prevent the empty netter was equally impressive Yes, he was a minus three. How about the rest of Sanderson’s statline, though: just under 27 minutes, an assist, seven shots, and six blocked shots!
Pinto is becoming a really well-rounded player. It wasn’t just the offensive chances tonight. He had four takeaways and continues to be one of the Senators top penalty killers. With him playing like that, Norris scoring two goals, and Stützle scoring a goal, an assist, and the shootout winner, the Senators have quite the trio up the middle.
In an intense game, one guy who was too quiet was Drake Batherson. He’s scoring a little more in the last few games than the tough stretch before that, but he’s at his best when he’s using his size to his advantage, as opposed to playing a perimeter game. There’s not much time for the Ottawa Senators to celebrate this win, as they’re right back at it tomorrow night against the struggling New Jersey Devils. What’s with all the back-to-backs lately?