Call it Amnesty Night.
In Ottawa, all the Senators’ season sins are forgiven after a 6-2 beatdown of the rival Montreal Canadiens.
It’s remarkable how this works. No matter how rough a season the Senators are having – and this is one for the books – they find a certain magic when they look down the bench at a sworn enemy like the Canadiens in their bleu, blanc et rouge.
You want a complete 60 minutes of fire in the belly from Sens players?
You are far more likely to find it with the Habs or Maple Leafs in town.
Thursday’s rout was the Sens’ sixth straight over Montreal.
Nights like this will be as close as Ottawa gets this season to a playoff atmosphere. It was there in spades Thursday as 19,286 fans jammed into the Canadian Tire Centre, parking lots full an hour before puck drop and Lyndon Slewidge warming up his vocal cords for a rare anthem assignment.
Looking on from above was new Senators owner Michael Andlauer, the former minority Canadiens partner and a lifelong Habs fan. He told RDS that it felt strange to be wanting his former team to lose. He will have to get used to it.
Before the night was done, the scoreboard camera captured fans dressed in Canadiens gear heading for the exits with about five minutes left in the third period – a symbolic sign relished by the locals. They haven’t had this much fun in ages.
Senators captain Brady Tkachuk, overlooked in the 2018 draft by Montreal, was rocking bodies in visitors’ white before the game was minutes old.
On one early shift, he hammered Mike Matheson behind the Habs’ net, Matheson finally getting back on his feet to mix it up with No. 7. All the while, Montreal shot up ice and drove the net, ringing a shot off the crossbar before the puck got sent back up to Tkachuck at the Montreal blue line. Like a stalking animal, Tkachuk slowly approached the Habs’ net before ripping a shot past goaltender Cayden Primeau. Tkachuk whipped his right arm into a windmill celebration as he skated behind the net, before passing in front of the Montreal bench.
Game on.
How could it be that this was the first meeting of the season between these two? Before the Canadiens flagged, on the second night of back-to-back road games, the energy of competing fan forces brought out the best in both teams.
Following the Tkachuk goal, Tim Stutzle delivered his first goal since Dec. 23, a huge relief for the young star who turned 22 on Monday.
Montreal’s Cole Caufield answered back, putting a shot through Senators goaltender Joonas Korpisalo that slowly trickled over the red line and into the net.
Against some other opponent, the Senators may have collapsed at that point. We have seen it repeatedly this season. But they didn’t lose their edge against their regional rival, dominating the first period shot clock by a 17-6 margin.
They were off and would not stop.
“Of course, it’s easy to get up for these types of games and this rivalry and we needed a big performance tonight,” said Tkachuk. “A lot of guys stepped up.”
One of those guys was Stützle, dancing throughout, without shirking any defensive responsibilities. In fact, in one sequence, Stützle was the only Senator back on the play.
Ottawa added two more goals in the second period, the first one a display of the kind of commitment interim head coach Jacques Martin has been demanding. Seeing the puck lying in the crease, Rourke Chartier lunged at it and pushed it past Primeau for a 3-1 Senators lead at the 9:51 mark.
As the period was winding down, Ottawa put on a display of passing that resulted in a goal off the rush: Stützle dropped the puck to Tkachuk who spotted Vladimir Tarasenko open on the right side. Tarasenko showed his sniper form in ripping a wrist shot that beat Primeau.
The Sens thought they had another one in the final minute, a shorthanded finish by Claude Girxoux, but the Habs won the challenge for goaltender interference by Tkachuk.
Stützle finished with a goal and two assists.
Remember when Ottawa gave up five unanswered goals to blow a 4-2 lead against Colorado on Tuesday? Well on this night it was the Sens who pumped in four unanswered in the second and third periods.
Stützle finished with a goal and two assists.
One of those helpers showcased a beauty deke on a one-on-one undressing of David Savard before slipping a no-look backhand pass to Mathieu Joseph for the shot into an open net.
“That was elite,” Joseph said. “Not a lot of guys can do that at full speed and I didn’t have to do much. The yawning cage was wide open.
“I’ve seen (Tim) do in the past do things not a lot of guys can do and it’s been good to see him in the last couple games to have a bit more confidence with the puck. Obviously, he’s a big part of our team and we’re going to need him for the rest of the year.”
Joseph said Stützle is so unselfish he “practically apologized” for not passing on the 2-on-1 play with Joseph in the first period, resulting in Stützle’s eighth goal of the season.
“I’m like, ‘dude, just shoot the pill.’ I was really happy (for him). It was a big goal.”
Stützle was clearly feeling it.
“I’ve just got to get my confidence back, holding onto pucks and keep making those plays. And not turn the puck over,” Stützle said.
“It’s tough when you’re in a slump like that to get out of it and the only way is if you work together. Everybody has each other’s back.”
That included everyone turning on Brendan Gallagher when he wanted to pick a fight with Stützle – what is it with Gallagher’s obsession with Stützle?
“You’re asking the wrong guy,” Stützle said, to a question about Gallagher. “I mean, he’s been all over me but I don’t really care. It’s 5-1. There is zero need to fight him. He told me I was scared of him. I just see it completely differently but that’s fine.”
Tkachuk and Mark Kastelic, among others, had words for Gallagher and were quite willing to answer any call to fight, had Gallagher been interested.
“Everybody knows how good a player (Tim) is, he gots a target on his back every single day,” Tkachuk said. “Every game guys are trying to get him off his game. Tonight he showed his maturity that it doesn’t matter, he’s going to keep playing to the very end. He made some unbelievable plays tonight.”
Even that stickler Martin was pleased with this outing. He liked the amount of time spent in the Habs zone, and the shot differential, 37-23. Ottawa has fired up 77 shots on goal in two home games this week, having posted 40 against Colorado in a 7-4 loss.
“We kept our composure, and kept up our attacking mode,” Martin said.
Asked if owner Andlauer enjoyed this victory more than anyone else, Martin said:
“Probably. Probably. It’s well deserved for him.”
from Sportsnet.ca
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