Cody Ceci got a lucky bounce or two off of the skates of the Minnesota Wild and it proved to be the game winner as the Ottawa Senators forced the Wild to work a little harder in their quest for the post-season.
Jean-Gabriel Pageau scored once and added two helpers while Erik Karlsson had the other and also added an assist to get back to the point per game pace for the season. In addition to reaching that plateau, he was also a +2 which brought him back to even for the season, another fact that will help him in his quest to become the first defenseman to ever win the Norris Trophy while playing for a non-playoff team. I think if he finishes with over 80 points and isn't a minus player, the award should be his to lose, despite the "it is Drew Doughty's turn" groundswell. It could work to his advantage that he has put up the numbers he has despite the team around him not being good enough to help him get to the post-season.
Defenseman Ben Harpur made his NHL debut, taking the early morning flight from Binghamton through Detroit to arrive in time for the morning skate. He took the spot of Mike Kostka and looked decent, playing a solid and not flashy game in his just under 13 minutes, which is what you would expect from him.
The Wild who entered the game 5 points ahead of Colorado for the final Western Conference playoff spot and were on a 6 game winning streak, fought back twice from 1 goal deficits, but it was Ceci's drive wide and behind the net that went off a Wild defender and through Devan Dubnyk for the winner.
It was Ottawa's second straight win, and credit them for not throwing in the towel despite playing and being eliminated from playoff contention the previous night, and "so you're saying there is a chance" has been swapped from the Sens opportunity at the post-season to their chances at nabbing the first overall pick, which currently sits at 3.5%.
Mark Stone returned to Ottawa after not traveling to Minnesota with the team Wednesday night, so he will miss Saturday's game in Philadelphia with the chest injury arising from the hit by Dustin Byfuglien.
Craig Anderson followed up Andrew Hammond's win in the 'Peg with a solid outing of his own. He wasn't overly busy, but stopped 23 of 25 shots against as the Wild didn't exactly show the urgency you might expect from a team that hadn't yet clinched a playoff spot. Anderson was beaten by Zach Parise and Erik Haula, who are the two hottest Wild players during their current hot streak.
It is sort of tough to swallow that given the number of players having career best seasons (Zack Smith, Pageau, Stone, Ceci) that it still wasn't enough to get them through mid-April. The team was just so bad in its defensive end that they couldn't score their way out of trouble often enough, and that is what really needs to change in the off-season.