Lubomir Visnovsky was credited with his fifth goal of the season to give the Anaheim Ducks a 2-1 win over the Ottawa Senators. The win snapped Ottawa’s winning streak at five games and is the first road game since December 1st in which the Senators have not gotten a single a point in a road game.

PHOTO CREDIT - Senators.com

Ottawa - January 22, 2012 - Lubomir Visnovsky was credited with his fifth goal of the season to give the Anaheim Ducks a 2-1 win over the Ottawa Senators. The win snapped Ottawa’s winning streak at five games and is the first road game since December 1st in which the Senators have not gotten a single a point in a road game.

Tonight’s game was the exact opposite of the game in San Jose on Thursday. It was the Senators this time who jumped all over their opposition, out hustling, out shooting and out playing the Ducks in the first ten minutes. The period would end 0-0 with the Ducks out shooting the Senators 10-9 but don’t let that fool you because the Senators outplayed the Ducks. Of the nine shots the Senators had at least six of them were good scoring chances and if it weren’t Jonas Hiller in the Ducks net the score could’ve easily been two or three to nothing for the Sens. The Ducks also blocked nine shots in the first period. Tonight it was the oppositions goalie and not Anderson who stood on their head.

As the game progressed during the second and third periods the flow of the game started to change and the Ducks managed to gain more of the puck. The Ducks got on the board when Corey Perry was left all alone in front of Anderson to score his 22nd goal of the season. Erik Karlsson who was in front of the net left Perry all alone in front of the crease and he had no one to stop him. Karlsson was then the culprit when the Ducks scored again, knocking a rebound puck that was in the air with his stick. The puck hit Craig Anderson in the helmet and went into the net. It was a fluke goal.

The Senators came out flying in the third and took the game to the Ducks, out shooting them 13-8. Chris Neil scored his eight of the season to cut the deficit to 2-1. The Senators carried the play in the last 10 minutes as they tried to tie the game but Hiller shut the door.

Tonight was a milestone game for Chris Neil. Neil played in his 700th game in the NHL, all for the Senators. Not too many players stay with one team in their career, but Neil deserves a lot of credit for his loyalty. Neil is one of the most popular Senators and night in night out he is one of the hardest working player’s on the ice. He brings an edge to him that the Senators always need and occasionally he gives the Senators some offense like he did tonight scoring his 85th goal of his career. I wonder how many people would’ve thought that 10 years ago when Neil started in the NHL that he would still be playing with the Senators.

I wasn’t too upset with this game. The Senators carried the play for most of the game and it was nice to see the Sens actually jump on top of their opponent early in the game instead of falling behind. Overall, the Senators carried the play and if it wasn’t for Jonas Hiller they very easily could’ve won this game by three or four goals.

The Sens have been fantastic lately so we had to expect a loss eventually. Even Erik Karlsson can be forgiven for his mistakes.

- I wonder who tracks the shots in Anaheim. At one point early in the first period I counted the Senators out shooting the Ducks 5-1 yet the shot clock had it at 8-6 for the Ducks. What game were they watching?

- This game was the exact opposite of the last Senators game.

- It’s nice to watch a game from the west coast on a Saturday afternoon. It beats staying up late to watch a 10:30 game.

- Up next, the Los Angeles Kings Monday night at 10:30.