Be sure to 'like' Hockeybuzz on Facebook!
Chris Wideman had quite the homecoming, but in the end it was the Bobby Ryan show in St. Louis.
Wideman , playing in his hometown for the first time in his brief NHL career, kept a puck in the Blues zone with his skate to earn an assist on a play that Ryan finished for the OT winner as the Sens return home with a split in their mini, two-game Central Division road trip.
It was Ryan's second goal of the night, as he factored in on all three goals as the Senators erased a 2-0 deficit with a pair of power-play goals from Mike Hoffman and Ryan (the 200th of his career) to force the extra time. Dating back to his Anaheim days, Ryan has feasted on the Blues and now has 30 points in 23 career games against St. Louis.
The win couldn't have come at a better time, snapping a seven-game road winless streak, three game overall losing streak and also Andrew Hammond's career long personal losing skid at three games. The two power-play markers also ended an 0-for-11 run and a goal-less stretch that lasted more than 174 minutes, or almost three full games.
Obviously unhappy with the way his team had been playing of late, Sens coach Dave Cameron shuffled up his lines and went with the untried combo of right wingers Ryan and Mark Stone flanking Kyle Turris on the top line. That move almost paid immediate dividends as they pressed early and had former Sens netminder Brian Elliott swimming in the crease and facing the wrong direction but couldn't put it home.
Despite allowing the Blues to get a 2-0 lead, it could have been much worse and Andrew Hammond did what Andrew Hammond does - keep his team in the game and allow the chance for a comeback.
It is kind of funny how things happen sometimes. Trailing 2-0 late in the second period, Blues defenseman Carl Gunnarson took a penalty on Chris Neil, giving Ottawa their second power play of the game. Zack Smith, who had been deployed in his now familiar spot on the first unit during the first power play, was on the ice at the time and was tired at the end of a shift. That fact forced Cameron to mix it up and do something that I an many others had been suggesting - putting Mike Hoffman on the first unit. Hoffman's blast following a feed from Ryan had just enough on it to get through Elliott, who got most of it but trickled through.
Another power play before the midway point of the third and the Senators wasted little time in taking advantage as Turris won the draw and a spinaround shot from Ryan found its way through just four seconds after the penalty started. Interesting to note that Hoffman was also on the ice to start that man advantage so maybe the success of the previous power play has changed Cameron's thinking going forward.
The Senators now have a couple of days off ahead of Thursday's matchup with the red-hot Florida Panthers, and that is a good thing because second line centre Mika Zibanejad left this one early after taking a high stick in the eye area from Jori Lehtera and did not return. Zibanejad got some stitches around the eye and there was swelling, but barring a negative update in today's follow-up he luckily avoided a serious injury.
The team has the annual Sens Soiree gala tonight, and Mika certainly won't be in line to win the "best looking" award (if there were such a thing), but an accessory like an eye patch might make him look a little more interesting. Stay thirsty my friends!