SENSNEWS

Ottawa Senators Game Recap

First Period Recap

The opening couple of minutes of the game saw the Ottawa Senators on their heels. Montreal controlled the puck in the offensive zone, creating a couple of good chances on Joonas Korpisalo. Although they didn’t register many shots, they were definitely buzzing.

But it didn’t take long for Ottawa to find their rhythm. Around the four-minute mark of the first period, Ottawa began creating rush chance after rush chance against the Canadiens.

Zack MacEwen had a golden opportunity to put the Sens up but missed on the blocker side of Cayden Primeau. Brady Tkachuk also had a great look on the Canadiens’ goaltender but was stopped by the glove hand.

Joonas Korpisalo was also up to the task early on. Following a mistimed offensive push by the Senators, Sean Monahan broke away on a solo effort. After making a couple of moves, Korpisalo made an excellent save with the pad off Monahan’s shot.

The back-and-forth play continued, resulting in another excellent Montreal chance. Sean Monahan found himself wide open on the doorstep and ripped a high glove shot at Korpisalo. The puck rang off the crossbar and over Juraj Slafkovsky’s stick on the rebound.

The puck ended up on Ridly Greig’s tape at the Senators’ blue line, and he made a stretch pass up to Brady Tkachuk (19) at the Canadiens’ blue line.

Tkachuk took two quick strides in before firing a shot, low blocker side on Cayden Primeau, finding the back of the net and giving the Senators an early one to nothing lead. Ridly Greig (11), and Artem Zub (12) picked up the two assists on the play.

Not long after, the Senators had another great chance on Primeau. In a broken transitional play from the defensive zone, Tim Stützle ended up with Mathieu Joseph on a two-on-one.

Stützle carried the puck into the Canadiens’ zone and fired a shot, blocker side on Primeau, to give Ottawa a two to nothing lead! This goal was especially satisfying for Stützle, who had been in a slump over the past month.

Just two minutes later, the Senators conceded their first goal of the game. Cole Caufield beat Korpisalo glove side to bring the game back within one. Korpisalo got a piece of the puck, but it was just enough to cross the goal line. This was Montreal’s third shot of the period, as Ottawa had been dominating in that category.

The Canadiens then got another chance from Cole Caufield, who hit the post blocker side on Korpisalo. Although Ottawa had been dominating, Korpisalo appeared shaky in net.

Second Period Recap

The second period started similarly to the first, with the Senators dominating most of the play, but Montreal hanging around. When the Canadiens got chances, they often looked dangerous.

The first 10 minutes were action-packed but didn’t lead to any scoring. Then, Rourke Chartier (2) scored, banging home a rebound in front of the Canadiens’ net. Parker Kelly (4) and Jacob Bernard-Docker (5) assisted on the goal.

The play continued to be back and forth for the next several minutes. With time winding down, Vladimir Tarasenko (11) added to the Senators’ lead with a sharp glove-side shot on Primeau. Brady Tkachuk (17) and Tim Stützle (32) assisted on Tarasenko’s goal.

Ottawa went shorthanded late in the period with Jakob Chychrun taking a holding penalty. During the penalty kill, Ottawa created a rush and scored, but the goal was overturned for goaltender interference by Parker Kelly. Claude Giroux’s short-handed goal didn’t count, but Ottawa took a 4-1 lead into the intermission.

Third Period Recap

The third period started with a bang. Tim Stützle set up an incredible goal for Mathieu Joseph (7). Stützle (33) cut across the Canadiens’ defense with a backhand flip before dropping the puck to Joseph, who had an open net. Stützle’s play boosted his already impressive performance in the game.

About 10 minutes later, Ottawa added another goal through Parker Kelly (5). Montreal tried the empty net tactic on the man advantage with about seven minutes left, but it backfired, and Kelly scored into the empty net, assisted by Jake Sanderson (17).

Michael Pezzetta added one more for the Canadiens before the end of regulation. After several tough defeats, Ottawa enjoyed a feel-good night, dominating the Canadiens. The advanced stats, traditional stats, and score reflected Ottawa’s dominance, sending fans home happy.

The Senators will be back in action Saturday afternoon against the Winnipeg Jets.