When you play with fire sometimes you get burned.
Ottawa continued their trend of being out-shot by a wide margin, and this time it bit them as they couldn't convert against Marc-Andre Fleury and the result was being shut out for the first time in 128 games.
The Senators allowed 36 shots on Craig Anderson, an improvement on the 41 they allowed the night before in Columbus, but it was still too many and a trend that has been going on too long. They managed just 22 shots (on 52 attempts) on Fleury, but failed to cash in on a few prime scoring chances that would have been difference making.
The Sens fell to 3-2 on the season, with both losses coming on the second half of back to backs.
Ottawa's power play was 0-for-3, which was a contributing factor in the loss. Not so much that they didn't score but although they looked good at times moving the puck, were credited with just one shot on goal.
Pittsburgh also went 0-for-3, including a 2 man advantage for almost a minute and a half early in the third period after a botched call to Mark Borowiecki for delay of game after replays clearly showed the puck was not in the defensive zone when he shot the puck over the glass. The NHL's new coaches challenge doesn't include the right to contest that scenario so they were forced to kill it off, which they did quite capably. That came after a pretty questionable interference call against Erik Karlsson that negated the final moments of a Senators power play were he and Matt Cullen battled shoulder to shoulder for a loose puck and the official behind the play called the penalty when the close official let it go. Not that it would have made a difference in the outcome of the game, but it killed any momentum they might have gained from a decent looking if unsuccessful power play.
The Senators held Sidney Crosby off the board, and The Kid is still looking for his first point of the season. Evgeni Malkin scored his first in what seems like forever on the first shift of the second period, and 18 year old Daniel Sprong scored his first career goal just over two minutes later to complete the scoring.
The duo of Karlsson and Marc Methot were victimized on both goals against, both coming on odd man rushes where one or the other got caught up in traffic and were slow to get back.
Anderson was sharp considering the workload he had faced the night before, and kept his team in the game despite suffering his first loss of the season.
There was a scary moment for Senators fans as Mark Stone adjusted to pick up a deflected puck and was stood up awkwardly at his own blue line. He went to the dressing room for a while but did return, although gingerly, and stayed in the game.
Ottawa will play their third game in 4 nights for the second time this season when they return home to host Mike Fisher and the Nashville Predators on Saturday night at CTC.