Tom Pyatt scored the go-ahead goal with less than two minutes in the second and the Senators played a dangerous game of kitt-bar-the-door for the entire third period but Mike Condon made the lead hold up as the Senators ended a four game skid with a 5-3 win over the Edmonton Oilers.
Ottawa jumped out to an early lead in the first on a goal from Zack Smith, and it was doubled before the period was out when Mike Hoffman scored a power play goal on a one-timer. Both goals were set up by Mark Stone, who played a vital role in this game.
The lead wad quickly erased by Patrick Maroon, who scored twice just over a minute apart in the second, the latter of which went off the foot of Cody Ceci and past Condon. The building became silent a couple of minutes later when Edmonton took its first lead of the game, a goal by Leon Draisaitl from below the goal line that went in off the shoulder of Condon.
The Silence was short-lived, as 1:34 later Stone tied the game back up, finishing off a nice three-way passing play with Smith and Derick Brassaard. A pinching Cody Ceci found Pyatt in front to give the Senators the lead and cap off a 5 goal second period.
Ottawa hung on in the third, getting outshot 17-3 in the final frame (and 38-18 overall), but Condon was spectacular after allowing the bad goal to Draisaitl and Kyle Turris found the empty net with just under 90 seconds left to relieve some of the white knuckles that had been developed by Senators fans over the previous 20 minutes of action.
Bobby Ryan made his return to the lineup following a disciplinary scratch on Saturday, and for all intents and purposes he had about as much affect on the game Sunday as he did Saturday from the press box. Something has got to give in terms of his play, because other than a three or four game stretch before Christmas, he hasn't done anywhere close to enough to help his team win. That could be said about a lot of players on different occasions, but when you are the highest paid forward on a budget team, you can't put in inconsistent performances like that night after night.
Cody Ceci had two assists and played a team-high 27:36, which was almost 4 full minutes more than Erik Karlsson. I don't know how many times this season Karlsson hasn't led the team in ice time, but I am willing to bet you could count it on a couple of fingers.
Connor McDavid showed flashes of the speed and skill that has him leading the league in scoring, recording two assists and four shots on goal. He was foiled point-blank by Condon in the third period after a slick pass from Draisaitl that was probably the Oilers best chance to even the score.
Now, in a schedule much like an NFL team, the Senators are off for another three days before the Penguins come to town on Thursday.