BEST WISHES TO BRYAN MURRAY
Senators GM Bryan Murray told TSN that he has stage 4 colon cancer, and that "there is no cure at this point". Murray will continue to undergo chemotherapy and " hopefully reduce the tumors and the effect and I'll get some time out of that." It is a most unfortunate revelation, and I think all Sens fans and hockey fans in general join me in sending best wishes to Murray, generally regarded as one of the best hockey men, let alone individuals, in the game.
I had that below the game recap when I originally wrote it, but this is certainly one of the situations where life is more important than hockey, so it deserves first billing.
Now, on to the recap....
I wouldn't blame you if you went to bed after the first period of the Ottawa Senators - Edmonton Oilers game, given the late start. If you had, you probably slept pretty well thinking Ottawa had the game well in hand leading 3-0 after 20 minutes.
Well, if you stayed up to the end, your sleep might have been a little more fitful as you watched the Sens cough up three unanswered goals to get sent to overtime before Mike Hoffman, who had opened the scoring early in the first, closed it out and led the Sens to a win that was harder than it should have been.
The Oilers stormed back, getting one back in the middle frame and then scoring goals four minutes apart in the third while Ben Scrivens shut the Senators down to force overtime.
Ottawa took the game 4-3 after killing off a late penalty to Mark Borowiecki that carried over to the extra frame before Curtis Lazar set up Hoffman whose shot from the slot slipped through Scrivens for the win.
Here are some random thoughts on the game:
* Milan Michalek scored. Assisted by Bobby Ryan and Mika Zibanejad. They really needed something to go right, and it did, but they didn't do a whole heck of a lot to follow it up.
* The kid line was at it again, making things happen whenever they were on the ice. They opened and closed the scoring, and Lazar narrowly missed scoring his first career goal, while Mark Stone had a chance to put it away after picking up a loose puck in the slot early in the third period. They were also on the ice against the Oilers top line on multiple occasions, and were victimized by the Jordan Eberle goal that made it 3-2
* It was a curious decision to put Cowen and Karlsson back together for a stretch during the third period, and then again in overtime. Cowen-Ceci and Karlsson-Phillips had been working pretty will, but the swapped pairs for some reason and it resulted in the 3-2 goal. There was some redemption, however, as they were also together for the overtime winner, that came after a Cowen pinch that allowed Lazar to pick up the puck and find Hoffman.
* Karlsson was on the ice for 6 of the 7 goals in the game (including all 4 Senators' goals), and finished with a +3 rating.
* Keith Aulie was a pain in the Senators' behinds, as he fought twice including once with Eric Gryba who came to the aid of Chris Neil, who was hit by an Aulie elbow to the jaw. Aulie had also fought Neil earlier in the game.
* Craig Anderson faced 30 shots in the second and third period alone, and was the reason once again that the Senators were able to come away with the two points. He ended up facing 37 shots in total and turned away 34. He has faced at least 30 in every one of his 10 starts so far this season.
*Ottawa's lack of discipline cost them momentum in the second frame, with Gryba picking up the extra two for instigating as well as the obligatory 10 minute misconduct. Later his partner Borowiecki was whistled for high sticking. Ironically, after that the stick of an Oilers forward became wedged between the visor and the helmet of Borowiecki and that wasn't enough evidence to get a high sticking call on the Oilers.
* Poor defensive zone coverage on the cycle led to the 3-2 goal and then an equally bad effort on the rush for the tying goal shows the Senators still have some work to do.
Somehow, the Senators are heading to Calgary for the final game on this road trip having netted 3 of 4 possible points, and with a good game against the Flames can come home with a very successful 5 of 6 points, which would really be remarkable considering the uneven and inconsistent play they have shown in the first two games of the trip. Points are points, no matter how they come, and the Senators are getting some ugly points in the bank.