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Ottawa Senators Postgame: Sanderson, Stützle Lead Rout of Wild

Make it four wins in a row for the Ottawa Senators! Tonight was one of their best efforts of the season in a 6-0 shutout of the Minnesota Wild.

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Stützle had one of his best games of the season with three points in the Senators 6-0 win (Spencer Colby/The Canadian Press via AP

Late into the first period, this game was looking like a goalie duel. Former Ottawa Senators goalie Filip Gustavsson seemed to be tracking the puck really well, and Leevi Merilainen was matching him at the other end. Then Josh Norris scored a shorthanded goal to end the first. From there, it was all Senators. They absolutely pummeled the Minnesota Wild, winning this game 6-0 while outshooting them 52-16 along the way. Let’s dive into the details on a dominant Ottawa Senators win!



READ MORE: How the Ottawa Senators Fixed Their Penalty Kill

Ryan Hartman Shenanigans

Here’s the series of events that led to Hartman being kicked out of this game:  Hartman tried to provide a spark for the Wild, but Travis Hamonic declined to fight. Hartman then goes after Tim Stützle. They both get penalties, with Hartman getting the extra for embellishment. This is where Hartman lost it. He decided to shove Stützle’s head into the ice off of a faceoff, earning the five minute major and ejection. This isn’t new for Hartman. Last January, he purposely high-sticked Cole Perfetti in the face off a faceoff. Last April, he was suspended for three games for throwing his stick towards the refs as he yelled at them after a loss. He’s likely earned another suspension, and maybe needs to figure out how to better handle his emotions.

Special Teams Dominance

Josh Norris got the scoring started with a shorthanded goal. That play was made possible by some Jake Sanderson brilliance, weaving around a few Wild players in his own zone to set-up his shot down the ice that ended up on Norris’ stick. The Wild ended up going 0-3 on the power play, while the Senators went 3 for 8. Those three goals all came in the third during the Hartman major. What a great way to take advantage of Hartman’s nonsense. Sanderson, Tkachuk, and Batherson scored the goals, with Travis Green making sure to get his top unit out there for as much time as possible during the five minute power play.

Sanderson’s Career Game

As mentioned above, Sanderson assisted on the Norris goal and scored on the power play.  Adding two more assists along the way, Sanderson finished the game with a career high four points. He made a great play on the Tim Stützle goal, too. He was in the offensive zone, and perhaps could’ve forced the puck down low. Instead, he took the puck out of the offensive zone, dropped the puck to Stützle who worked a give and go with Tkachuk for a beauty. 51 games into the season, Sanderson has already scored a career high 29 assists and he’s just five points away from the 38 points he scored all of last season.

Stützle’s Incredible Effort

Tim Stützle was a monster tonight, scoring a goal and two assists, all the while having his head bashed into the ice. He was also high sticked early in the game, and ended up with four penalty minutes. This is the type of games that makes you realize how well-rounded Stützle is. Yes, he’s paid to create offense, but he’s not afraid to get involved physically, and he’s willing to do just about anything to help this team win.

Additional Notes

Tkachuk was incredible tonight, too. He scored a goal but he could’ve had three or four. His chance where he worked around Bogosian could’ve been one of the highlight goals of the year had he finished. It’s not very often that a shutout isn’t mentioned until this late in a postgame article, but that’s the type of team performance the Ottawa Senators put together tonight. Yes, Merilainen was solid, but he only faced 16 shots. Talk about dominance at both ends of the rink. Nonetheless, Merilainen’s play while Linus Ullmark has been out has been phenomenal. At a time when the Sens playoffs chances were looking shaky, Merilainen went 8-3-1 with three shutouts.

 

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