SENSNEWS

The Ottawa Senators’ NHL season has come to an end on the road in Boston. The Senators finished up their final road trip of the year with the second half of a back-to-back against the Bruins. The Senators will take the offseason to reevaluate their team and hopefully come back stronger.

Ottawa Senators Game Recap

First Period Recap

Both teams seemed to come out slowly as they eased into the game. The Bruins had the first few early chances in the game, but Ottawa quickly came back to get a couple of good looks for themselves.

The physicality presented itself early in this one as Brady Tkachuk got things started in the Boston end. Shane Pinto also got himself involved in the rough stuff as he took out a couple of Bruins defenders.

Ottawa would get the game’s first opportunity on the power play after Brad Marchand took an interference penalty. Ottawa would get a couple of good looks, but the Bruins did a great job at clogging the lane to prevent shots from getting through to Linus Ullmark.

Following the penalty, Ottawa continued to be the better team throughout the period. The Senators quickly jumped to an 8-1 lead in the shot category as they had the Boston Bruins playing in the defensive zone.

Ottawa would get another power play opportunity with four minutes remaining as Brad Marchand dangerously took down Ridly Greig. Marchand appeared to be going for a knee on Greig, but luckily “the Riddler” was ok on the play.

Ottawa would fail to generate much on their second power play as Boston killed it off once again. On the positive side, the Senators had continued to be the better team for 90% of the period.

With just a minute remaining, neither team would be able to score with both teams back at full strength. Through the first 20 minutes of the Senators’ final game of the season, they were tied with the Bruins 0-0.

Second Period Recap

Ottawa came out as the faster team to start the second, building upon their good first period. The duo of Brady Tkachuk and Drake Batherson created a couple of good opportunities early on.

Boston quickly pushed back, however, as they got a few good looks of their own. Anton Forsberg was doing a good job of being sharp when he had to be. He wasn’t tested often, but when he was, he looked good.

The rough stuff continued as well, this time with Jakob Chychrun getting into the mix. Chychrun was making sure to protect Forsberg as the Bruins looked to get under the goaltender’s skin with a couple of late whacks.

Ottawa would continue to push and eventually found an answer for Linus Ullmark. Erik Brannstrom started the play by carrying the puck over the blue line. Brannstrom (17) sent a pass across to Smejkal who was cutting in on his strong side. Smejkal (1) sent a quick shot five-hole on Ullmark for his first career NHL goal!

Jakob Chychrun quickly added to the Senators’ lead! Brady Tkachuk (37) started the play off as he gained the Bruins’ blue line. Tkachuk laid a pass off to Drake Batherson who was on his strong side. Batherson (38) sent a pass over to Jakob Chychrun (14) who fired it past Linus Ullmark.

Ottawa continued to be the better team in the period as they were taking care of the Boston Bruins with relative ease. The shots late in the period were 18-11 in favor of the Senators who were doing a great job at shutting down the Bruins.

Thomas Chabot left this one early with an upper body injury. Chabot took a big hit from the Bruins’ Andrew Peeke in the first period. It is believed that hit was the cause of his injury that forced him to miss the second and third periods.

The second period would end with Ottawa leading 2-0. The Senators were 20 minutes away from finishing their season off on a positive note with a victory. Anton Forsberg looked for the shutout to put a bow on what had been a disappointing season.

Third Period Recap

Boston came out fast to start the third period. The Bruins had a couple of good early opportunities where Anton Forsberg was able to shut the door. The Bruins had clearly discussed their play in the second intermission as they looked much sharper to start the third.

With just over 10 minutes remaining, it looked like another Senators defender was going down with an injury. Jakob Chychrun was in a world of pain after blocking a shot in the slot. The Senators were now down two defenders in Chychrun and Chabot as they looked to wrap up their season.

Shane Pinto would take a penalty with about eight minutes remaining, giving the Bruins their first power play opportunity of the night. Pavel Zacha would find a loose puck out front to cut the Senators’ lead down to one.

The game would head to a 4 on 4 after Trent Frederic intentionally knocked the puck out of Forsberg’s glove after the whistle. Frederic also banged the puck home on the play as a scrum ensued. Forsberg would take the retaliatory roughing penalty after giving the Bruin a hefty slash.

The Bruins would get three incredible scoring opportunities, but Anton Forsberg made it his mission to ensure they didn’t find the back of the net! Forsberg was clearly motivated after Frederic’s actions, and he looked to will the Senators to victory.

The Bruins would get a late power play opportunity as they looked to tie the game. Shortly thereafter, they would pull their goaltender to get a 6 on 4 opportunity. However, Artem Zub (5) was able to jump in to intercept a face-off play and fire the puck down into the empty net!

Ottawa would hold off the Bruins’ push for a 3-1 victory in their season finale. The Senators will officially finish 26th in the league this season, and will pick no lower than #9 in the upcoming draft.