The Ottawa Senators have lived to fight another day. An at this point in time that is all that matters as they prepare to do it all over again on Friday night in Montreal.
This time around it was a very even matchup with no second period let-down, a game that came down to one shot. This time it was the stick of Mike Hoffman that delivered the deciding blow, and Craig Anderson shut the door for the first shutout of the series.
The Senators overcame a brain cramp from Mark Borowiecki, who took an ill-advised interference penalty in the first period, following up a great defensive pokecheck by giving an extra shot to Jeff Petry with the puck nowhere to be found. They also overcame a rarely called faceoff violation penalty in the second period, killing off both penalties. The power play count was more even, 3-2 in Montreal's favor, which really speaks to the level of game played by both teams.
The Senators didn't come out hitting everything that moved and empty their tank in the first period as they seemed to in game 3, preferring to play a more efficient game, much like I suggested on Monday that they needed to do. It showed as the game went on as they were effective at not allowing Montreal the same level of extended offensive zone time and dominance on the shot clock as they had in previous games.
Both Anderson and Carey Price were outstanding in their respective goals, remaining focused throughout and seemingly willing themselves to stop some pucks that seemed destined for the back of the net. The only blemish on Price's game was a great shot from Hoffman that Carey Price would have needed x-ray vision to see coming through Tom Gilbert and Mika Zibanejad who were right in the centre of the field of vision. Price is great, but he isn't Superman and the Senators took advantage of the traffic for the only goal of the game.
While the win is great, and the Senators forced a fifth game, they will probably have to be even better on Friday night. This game could have easily gone either way, like most of the first 3 games, but this was by far the Senators most complete and consistent game of the series. Hopefully for Senators fans it is not too little, too late.
Four games, four one goal decisions. Can't get much tighter than that, and I am not saying the Senators have found the recipe to beat this version of the Habs in the playoffs, but they showed that when they don't allow the Habs to pepper their goalie with rubber, they can keep him relatively fresh and avoid the bad goal against.
While some might criticize Dave Cameron for not doing it sooner, putting Mike Hoffman back on the line with Zibanejad and Bobby Ryan a few minutes into this game. Hoffman is a 27 goal scorer who seemed to be wasted on the fourth line, but I can understand where Cameron was coming from and the the reasoning behind using veteran Milan Michalek in that spot, because of the lack of playoff experience in the top 6. We will never know if it would have made a difference and maybe created a goal or two that could have shifted the fate of any of the first three games, but you can expect that alignment to continue into the next game.
For one night at least, it was mission accomplished and the Senators got the win they needed. If that was their final home game of the season, they sent the CTC crowd home on a happy and winning note.
Now, with their backs still against the wall and nothing really accomplished yet, they need one more to bring the series back to Ottawa.