Craig Anderson and the Ottawa Senators have to be thanking their lucky stars that Mikkel Boedker plays in the Western Conference. In two games this season, the Coyotes have scored 8 goals, with Boedker accounting for 75% of them. For the second time in just over a month Boedker scored a hat trick against the Senators, leading his team to a 4-3 victory and send the Senators home on a sour note following consecutive wins on this 3 road trip.
It was a game that the fans of the Senators are all too familiar with, but this time around the shoe was on the other foot. Criticized for too often playing a rope-a-dope type game and counting on good goaltending and higher than average (or largely unsustainable) shooting percentages, the Senators dominated this one in terms of possession, scoring chances and zone time. They had a 70-37 edge in shot attempts, but the Coyotes took full advantage of Senators miscues and sleepy play to start periods to take the two points.
As seems to happen so often in Hockey Night in Canada late games, the Coyotes wasted no time in getting on the board. Boedker scored on the Coyotes' first shot of the night on the first shift of the game and the Senators were immediately playing from behind. That was an early wake-up call that the Senators answered, and they dominated the rest of the period outshooting the Coyotes 18-3 from that point. However they managed just 1 goal, coming on a nice feed from behind the net from Bobby Ryan to Mike Hoffman whose quick release beat the Arizona goalie.
In this role reversal, Anders Lindback played the usual role of Craig Anderson, keeping his team in the game so that Boedker could pounce on the first shift of the second, scoring again on the team's first shift of the period. Following a Senators power play, Erik Karlsson flubbed a cross-ice pass just as Dustin Jeffrey stepped out of the box, and it was intercepted by Tobias Rieder who sent Jeffrey in alone. Karlsson made a great effort to get back and disrupt the shot for a second, but that proved costly as Anderson bit on the first attempt and then was out of position as Jeffrey got a second one and doubled the lead.
Hoffman's second of the game came on a late second period power play, surprisingly (sarcasm) on a slap shot from the top of the circle. Alex Chiasson provided the screen and Arizona coach Dave Tippett challenged the goal as Chiasson and Lindback made contact. The goal stood as it appeared Lindback initiated the contact as he moved up behind Chiasson, but I understand why Tippett was upset at the result based on the previous standard that was set in calling off other goals around the league. Before the result was announced I was 51% sure the goal was going to be waved off, but 49% thought it would stand. Such is the state of consistency in the NHL and its application of the rules, because nobody knows what is really going to happen one minute to the next, let alone one game to the next.
Boedker scored the winner on a play were every Senator on the ice but Jared Cowen (who was ironically the player shown on the ensuing "goat cam") made a mistake in coverage allowing the hat trick goal off a neutral zone faceoff. Turris won the draw but let his man go, Cody Ceci received the puck off the draw directly but misfired on the pass in the face of two Coyotes, Mike Hoffman let his check get through to put pressure on Ceci and ended up stealing the puck from the defenseman. Ryan let Boedker go unchecked and slip in after Cowen had to go across the ice to take away the lane that Domi had to the net and force the shot that Anderson handled, but he put the rebound right into the slot.
Ottawa pressed and got back within one off a fortunate bounce as Mark Stone's shot went off Lindback's shoulder and after a few seconds in the air landed just over the goal line. Ottawa pressed to find the equalizer, but a penalty from Kyle Turris with 35 seconds left derailed any hope of a last minute comeback.
So Ottawa comes home with 4 of a possible 6 points on the road trip, a total that if you would have said they would get before heading into it, would have been deemed a successful one. If not for Boedker, who had 8 of his team's 19 shots on net and now has 67% of his season's goal output (6 of 9) against the Senators, it might have been a perfect trip.
It was a tough one defensively for Erik Karlsson, who was covering Boedker on the first two goals and didn't exactly get the job done, and then despite his hustle to get back and deny the shot, it was his turnover that led to the 3-1 goal. He ended up with two assists to extend his points streak to 9 games.
Hoffman was Ottawa's best player and not just for the two goals. He had 7 shots (12 attempts and was flying all night.
Food for thought - the Senators are 2-3-2 when outshooting their opponent and 10-3-3 when they are outshot.
The Senators flew back last night and like much of the City, will watch the Ottawa RedBlacks play for the Grey Cup today. Then they will get back to work on Monday in preparation for Tuesday's home game against the Flyers.
Good luck to the RedBlacks as they try to bring Ottawa its first Championship in 39 years!