Shane Prince provided the spark early and Craig Anderson shut the door late as the Senators hung on for a 5-3 win against the Colorado Avalanche in Denver.
Playing the tough second half of a back to back the Senators ran out of gas in the third period and is showed, being outshot 22-4. It also didn't help that they played the final 10 minutes with just essentially 9 forwards as Prince was leveled with a hit and Chris Neil was sent out of the game for standing up for his fallen teammate, and Zack Smith played just 20 seconds after that. Prince returned to the bench but didn't get back into action after having his face knocked into the dasher by Andreas Martinsen.
In back to back situations, you need someone to step up and provide energy, and that is exactly what the fourth line did. Prince scored the first two goals of his young NHL career on back to back shifts in the first period, to go along with about half a dozen other scoring chances that line created, giving the Senators a boost they desperately needed.
Ottawa managed to keep that momentum going just long enough before the previous night's game, travel and altitude took over, and carried a 4-1 lead into the third. The final frame wasn't pretty as the Avalanche pressed hard and got to within one after Patrick Roy surprised the Senators by pulling the goalie and turning a 4 on 4 into essentially an Avs power play with a Senators unit on the ice that wasn't a usual group of penalty killers. The gutsy call worked, this time, and they scored in that situation to get within two.
The Avs narrowed the lead to one just over a minute and a half later and then it was nail-biting time as Marc Methot was whistled for a questionable interference call with less than 6 minutes left to give the Avs a power play. They killed that one off with some tense moments, and then in the dying seconds Milan Michalek took a well-deserved tripping call with about 10 seconds left, but Kyle Turris won the important draw and Mika Zibanejad sent it the length of the ice for the empty netter.
It was a gutsy effort for a team that is gaining momentum without being really dominant. They have won 4 straight and have just one regulation loss in their last 11 games. A night after Mike Hoffman and Mark Stone carried a bulk of the scoring load, this time it was a different group that took the burden. Prince had 5 shots on goal and 12 of the club's 43 shot attempts, in less than 9 minutes of ice time.
Bobby Ryan's point streak was snapped at 9, but Erik Karlsson extended his to 8 with a first period assist. Craig Anderson was shaky at times and there were some close calls, but played a bend but don't break game, made some key stops at key times and had just enough in his tank to bail his tired team out in the third period. He made 20 saves in that final frame
The Senators, like the other 29 NHL teams, have today (American Thanksgiving) off, but they will get an extra day off on Friday night when they can watch their Saturday night opponent, the Arizona Coyotes, host the Flames. It will certainly be a good chance to end the road trip on a perfect note, and to pay back the Coyotes for the 4-1 beating they put on the Senators last month in Ottawa.