Mike Hoffman picked up a flubbed attempt by Craig Anderson to freeze the puck and went coast to coast in overtime to give the Senators a 4-3 win over the Nashville Predators on Thursday night.
Longtime Senators nemesis and microfracturer of Mark Stone, P.K. Subban opened the scoring early and then forced overtime late with a pair of goals, in very different styles. He opened the scoring on a harmless looking shot from the side-boards that wouldn't have even been a shot on goal and would have slid harmlessly in to the corner if not for the skate of the much maligned Cody Ceci, who deftly deflected the shot past Craig Anderson.
It was the grinders, of which there were many in the undermanned Senators lineup, that made the contributions as they got goals from Chris DiDomenico, Max McCormick (both set up by Ryan Dzingel) and Magnus Paajarvi (his first as a Senator set up by former World Junior teammate Erik Karlsson) before Hoffman's OT heroics.
Subban's tying goal was almost inevitable, as the Predators but the pressure on the Senators in the third period. With a 1 goal lead and outshooting the Preds 25-14 through 40 minutes, it looked like the Senators might hold their opponent under 30 shots for the first time in 2018.
Not so much, as Nashville put 21 shots on Anderson in the third, and to his credit he made 20 saves and kept his club in the game.
It is the second game in a row that the Senators allowed the first goal and came back to win, marking only the 6th time this season they have done so.
Kyle Turris got a rousing standing ovation during the first TV timeout, as a highlight reel of his time in Ottawa on and off the ice played on the big screen, but was held pointless with 2 PIMs in just under 15 minutes of ice time.
Ottawa travels to Toronto for a Hockey Night in Canada showdown against the Maple Leafs.
The Senators played this game with a lineup seemingly in shambles, witnessed by a second line of Zack Smith, Dzingel and DiDomenico, as well as rookie Colin White on the first line due to injuries to half of their top 6, and still came away with a second straight win.