Greg Smith is the Ottawa Senators' correspondent for OurHometown.ca. Greg was born and bred in Ottawa. An original Senators season ticket holder, he has followed the Senators from their infancy, including attending the very first inter-squad game in Hull and first regular season game to this their 20th year in the NHL. Greg previously interned at CBC radio sports in Toronto for a month before hosting his own radio talk show on CKCU radio in Ottawa for two years. Passionate about his Senators, Greg will provide current news and views on the Ottawa Senators organization from a global perspective. Greg is the Editor-in-Chief of FightingForStanley.ca If you have questions or wish to contact Greg, you can email him at gsmith@ourhometown.ca.
Senators outplay Sabres and win in overtime
Greg Smith
OurHometown.ca
Jared Cowen scored his third goal of the year on a tip-in from an Erik Karlsson pass 45 seconds into overtime to give the Ottawa Senators a much deserved win over the Buffalo Sabres. The win snapped the Senators three game losing streak and moved them within a point of the final playoff spot.
Ottawa - December 14, 2011 - Jared Cowen scored his third goal of the year on a tip-in from an Erik Karlsson pass 45 seconds into overtime to give the Senators a much deserved win over the Buffalo Sabres. The win snapped the Senators three game losing streak and moved them within a point of the final playoff spot.
Fast Start
It’s not too often this season that Senators have gotten off to a fast start in a hockey game. Tonight the Senators dominated the opening 10 minutes of the game and the first period despite falling behind 2-1 at the end of the first period. The Senators opened the scoring 1:09 into the game on Milan Michalek’s league leading 19th goal of the season. Michalek was set-up on a nice pass by Jason Spezza during a scramble in front of Ryan Miller.
For most of the period the Senators had the Sabres scrambling, outshooting the Sabres by a margin of 12-6 in the first 15 minutes. Most of the Senators shots were good scoring chances forcing Miller into making a number of quality saves. Despite the fast start, two bad giveaways cost the Senators a couple of goals in the last six minutes of the first. The Senators have only led in seven of 31 games they’ve played in so far this season.
Giveaways
Two bad giveaways in the first period led to both Buffalo goals, giving the Sabres a 2-1 lead. The first goal was a calamity of errors as Chris Phillips turned the puck over at the blueline. However, Erik Karlsson got the puck back only to collide with Nick Foligno in the slot. The puck was left for Paul Szczechura who skated in alone on Anderson and back handed his first goal of the season. On the Sabres second goal, David Rundblad tried to get too cute and his pass to Colin Greening was knocked down by Derrick Roy in the slot. The puck eventually went to Tyler Ennis who snapped the puck past Anderson.
Senators outplayed the Sabres
The carried the play for most of the game tonight, out shooting the Sabres 44-29 in the game. The Senators kept the puck in the Sabres end for most of the game and their forecheck held the Sabres up and prevented them from breaking down the ice. Despite the balance of play, the Sabres did have their chances, however Anderson managed to close the door each time.
Parting Shots
Milan Michalek left the game in the second period after colliding with Erik Karlsson. The Senators listed the injury as an upper body injury. From watching the replay it looked to me like Michalek landed on his shoulder. Hopefully the leagues top goal scorer isn’t gone for long.
Craig Anderson made three nice pokechecks during the game. Each time a Sabres player was stationed all alone in front of the net. Anderson’s timing was perfect each time and prevented the Sabres from getting a great scoring chance.
Nice pinch by Brian Lee on the Senators tieing goal in the third period. Not only did Lee pinch on the play, holding off the Sabres forward, but he then made a nice back hand pass off the boards to Peter Regin who riffled home his second goal of the season.
It doesn’t get any easier for the Senators who host the Stanley Cup Champion Boston Bruins in the next game. Tomorrow’s game can be a measuring stick for the Senators to see how far they have come.
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