Ottawa Senators Postgame: Sens Beat Leafs, Again!

For the third time this season, the Ottawa Senators have defeated the Toronto Maple Leafs. This time around, it was a 4-2 win, with the Senators coming back from 1-0 and 2-1 deficits. Both teams did the majority of their scoring in the second, with the only other goal coming in the last few seconds of the third into an empty net by Michael Amadio. That makes it six wins in a row for the Sens. Let’s dive into the details on the Senators big win.

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Amadio’s Two Way Brilliance

When Michael Amadio came over from Vegas, he was seen as a depth piece, but one who helped Vegas win a Stanley Cup. As this season has progressed, Amadio has grown more comfortable, to the point where he is now one of the most important Senators players defensively. He’s the type of player that can be easy to forget about, because he’s not the least bit flashy. When you start to notice the strong details of his game is when you realize how good he really is.

Take tonight, for example. He was asked to play 29 shifts, the second most of any Senators forward. His 18:37 of ice-time was also second among Sens forwards. He led the Senators with four hits, finished the game off with an empty netter, and also deflected a potential Maple Leaf goal late with both great anticipation and a great stick. He is now up to 7 goals and 10 points in his last 15 games.

Ullmark Comes Up Big

Let’s start with the Ullmark gaffe. He essentially handed Auston Matthews a goal with some poor puck handling, with he and Chabot clearly not on the same page. From there, though, he was perfect. He ended the game with 21 saves on 23 shots, with several key saves in the third period to keep the Sens up a goal. For the season, Ullmark has a .912 SV%. There have been some ups and downs for sure, but there is no doubt that Ullmark gives the Ottawa Senators a legitimate number one goalie, something they haven’t had since the days of Craig Anderson. In these late game situations when up a goal, Ullmark has shown he can be trusted to come up big.

Additional Notes

David Perron is playing his best hockey of the season right now. That continued with a clutch goal to tie the game at two tonight. Speaking of veteran forwards scoring big goals, Claude Giroux’s power play goal ended up as the winner tonight. Since I’m going through the goals, I might as well mention Jake Sanderson’s, an absolute snipe, high blocker side. I’m not sure if Ridly Greig was worried about scoring another empty netter against the Leafs or what, but what a roller coaster ride those last few minutes were. In the end, he settled for an assist on the Amadio goal.