It was one of the more interesting and watchable games the Ottawa Senators have played of late, on that was filled with scoring chances both ways.
Kyle Turris came up clutch again late in the third period on a wraparound for his eighth goal of the season to tie the score and force extra time, after which the Senators came away with two points in the shootout.
Erik Karlsson was the lone shooter to score in the shootout, doing so with the eighth shot attempt.
Steve Mason and Craig Anderson combined to make a ton of great saves to keep their respective teams in the game as the clubs traded chances off turnovers and strong forechecks.
Ottawa got off to a strong start with the mentality of creating offense by keeping the puck in the opposition end. Defensemen pinching in seemed to be the order of the day, but Mason was strong early and and ill-advised pass from Derick Brassard was intercepted and Nick Cousins scored the opener on his second breakaway in a couple of shifts. That seemed to take away a bit of the Senators' momentum as did a penalty where Bobby Ryan lost himself and had no choice but to flip over Mason in the Flyers crease.
The Senators killed off that penalty that overlapped into the second period, as they did for all four Flyers man advantages to continue their stellar penalty killing record against a dynamic power play.
Mark Stone got the Senators even on a broken play where he ended up with the puck in the slot and his quick release seemed to surprise Mason, although Mike Hoffman was buzzing around the goal crease which might have been sufficient distraction for the Flyers goalie.
The Senators surrendered the go-ahead goal off a defensive zone faceoff where they lost track of Michael Raffle, who was all alone to put the rebound off Michael Del Zotto's point shot past a sprawling Craig Anderson.
It stayed that way until the final two minutes of the third, where Turris, who all he seems to do is score clutch goals this season, picked up a pass from Erik Karlsson in full flight in the neutral zone and circled the net and finished the wraparound after Mason bit too hard on the fake and got caught on the near post before Turris went behind the net.
Overtime was chance-filled, and none better than the 2-on-0 that Karlsson and Turris went in on, but over-passed between each other and I am not sure they ever actually got a shot on goal on the play.
Karlsson made up for it in the shootout, and the Senators banked another two points, and although the Flyers are one of those teams that they could be competing with for a Wild Card spot in a few months and you would rather have taken the points in regulation, two points is two points.
The two Marks, Stone and Borowiecki, each played probably their best games of the season. Borowiecki was active and relatively successful pinching in at the offensive blue line, without getting caught too badly, and delivered a couple of very solid bone-jarring hits among his nine credited hits. Stone scored, was in alone but was out-waited by Mason on another opportunity, and was back to his puck-stealing self after seemingly being off his game for the last few which included him missing one with an upper body injury.
Still waiting for the appearance of Bobby Ryan. He was held without a shot as Guy Boucher shuffled his lines again to try and get something going. Ryan is pointless in his last five and has just a single assist in his past eight games. It is also translating to the dismal power play as when he gets the puck bad things tend to happen and it is sucking the life out of the man advantage, not that is has much life without him.
As for the play of Anderson under trying times, there is not much more that can be said. I have been critical of him in the past and since the news of the diagnosis of his wife, Nicholle, he has been absolutely lights out. He has always been there to make the big save to bail out his team, but in the past it is the easy ones that get by him that I have taken issue with. Those haven't been there in this stretch (save for the winning goal by the Sabres last Saturday) and he deserves full credit where it is due.
That being said, I don't know why the Senators would be in such a rush to solve their crowded crease by feeling out trade scenarios for Andrew Hammond. The fact is, Hammond came along at a time when he was needed and caught lightning in a bottle. He has almost no value in the trade market based on what he has (or hasn't) done since, but his cap hit and salary are not prohibitive. Remember when the Senators had three capable goalies and ended up rushing to trade one? I am not saying Hammond is or can be Ben Bishop, but sometimes having strength in goal, especially with the constant uncertainty around Anderson's availability, having him around even as a #3 guy or insurance policy can't be a bad thing. It allows Chris Driedger and Matt O'Connor to continue to develop in the AHL without disrupting their seasons, and its not like Hammond is a blue chip prospect that needs further development. Hammond has another year at a cap friendly number, and while Mike Condon has taken the #2 spot over with his play in two appearances so far, he is also a free agent at the end of the year.
It isn't like Hammond is going to net you an impact return, so I wouldn't be in any hurry to trade him. He is a guy who can step in and back up, spot start when needed, and gives the club depth. If you trade him and Anderson has to take a leave, that leaves Condon and one of the AHL guys to carry the load. Then if you have to go out and get a replacement, who know who that will be and what that will cost. Condon didn't cost much to bring in and it is proving to be a shrewd move, but who knows what the market will bear in a couple of months.