The Ottawa Senators defeated the Pittsburgh Penguins 4-0 on Dec. 18. The Penguins are continuing to slide down the standings with seven losses in a row now, while the Senators are on their way out of a 3-7-0 slump, now winning three of their last four games.
Game Recap
Early in the first period, the Senators were given their first power play opportunity of the night. After Tim Stutzle skated hard at the net, Penguins goaltender Arturs Silovs was called for tripping. Brady Tkachuk netted his third goal of the season on the man-advantage opportunity, with Drake Batherson and Stutzle picking up the assists.
The Senators maintained very steady pressure throughout the first period, but struggled to get clean shots on goal. Both goaltenders needed to make some big saves in the final minutes of the first period, and the teams went to the locker room with the Senators up 1-0.
Early in the second period, Senators defenseman Jordan Spence heads into the corner to the left of Silovs and throws the puck toward the net. On its way, David Perron deflected it and notched his fifth goal of the season, with Batherson picking up his second assist of the night.
It is worth noting that Jake Sanderson started the play in his own end, with a much shorter, and opposite-handed stick. It was quite entertaining.
Just a few minutes later, Claude Giroux gave the Senators a 3-0 lead after a strange play in front of the Penguins’ netminder. There wasn’t much that could be done as most people lost track of the puck, and Silovs was not anticipating a shot at that moment.
Just ahead of the mid-way mark of the game, the Penguins would head to the power play, but the Senators had two chances better than any Pittsburgh had. But Cozens and Stutzle were both denied on their chances.
The Penguins started picking up the pressure after that power play ended, and they did beat Linus Ullmark, but the goal was waved off as the officials deemed Rickard Rakell had made contact with the Senators’ goaltender. Dan Muse and video coach Madison Nikkel opted to challenge, but it was upheld; the goal didn’t count, and the Penguins went back to the penalty kill.
Rulings on goaltender interference are always a shot in the dark when trying to figure out what the call is. This is one that was far from egregious, and there is certainly an argument that it should have been turned over. Tough break for the Penguins, here.
The Penguins were able to maintain some great pressure throughout the third period, and despite great chances for Sidney Crosby, Bryan Rust, and Rakell, the Senators and Ullmark were able to fight them off.
With six minutes to go, Muse opted to pull Silovs for the extra attacker, but before he could even make it to the bench, Tkachuk walked into the zone and buried the 4-0 dagger.
With the win, Ottawa improved to a 16-13-4 record, while the seventh loss in a row for the Penguins sees them fall to a 14-10-9 record.
The Senators will return to action on Saturday, Dec. 20, as they host the Chicago Blackhawks, while the Penguins will visit the Montreal Canadiens at the Bell Centre the same day.
