Senators let another one slip away
Taylor Hall scored 17 seconds into overtime to give the Edmonton Oilers a 4-3 win over the Ottawa Senators.
Taylor Hall might have been played more aggressively in overtime.
Maybe he could have been challenged more at the blue-line.
Or maybe an Ottawa Senators defenceman could have skated him out of the play after his initial shot at goaltender Craig Anderson from the top of the right circle, instead of letting him skate around the net, collect his own rebound and beat Anderson with a backhand shot to give the Edmonton Oilers a 4-3 victory at Scotiabank Place on Saturday afternoon.
Even so, that wasn’t an excuse Anderson was willing to hide behind.
Only minutes after he made a game-saving stop on Hall in the final minutes of the third period, Anderson was upset with himself for misplaying Hall’s first shot in overtime, thus giving him a chance at the rebound.
The goal came only 17 seconds into the extra session.
“I’ve got to be better on my rebound control, that’s the bottom line,” Anderson said.
“I can’t leave my D-men hanging there and leaving garbage around the net, so that’s on me.”
The loss closed out a disappointing five-game homestand for the Senators (28-22-8), which produced only one victory and only four of a possible 10 points. Now they head out on the road to Florida for games against the Tampa Bay Lightning and Florida Panther.
The Senators twice had the lead against the Oilers (22-28-5), but gave it up twice and had to fight back to send the game to overtime. The loss left them feeling sour.
“We let it slip away,” said defenceman Chris Phillips, who was honoured before the game for his 1,000th NHL game on Thursday night.
“We made some mistakes that they were able to capitalize on. We still salvaged a point, but, from the position we were in, we’re not pleased with that.”
Daniel Alfredsson, Milan Michalek, with his first goal in 13 games, and Erik Karlsson scored for the Senators in regulation. Magnus Paajarvi, with his first goal of the season, Ottawa native Ben Eager and Shawn Horcoff scored for the Oilers.
Anderson faced 40 shots, while Oilers goalie Nikolai Khabibulin faced 42.
Senators coach Paul MacLean liked the first period his team played, but not the second.
“Things went real good for us, then in the second period we came out and forgot to get started,” MacLean said.
“They established their game and took over the game for a large part of the second period. I thought we responded to get it tied up, and then, when you get to overtime, that’s what it is.”
Alfredsson said the homestand had been a disappointment, the team has to look at the positive: It managed to get three of four points in its last two games.
“That’s something to build on,” Alfredsson said.
“We can’t look back. We have to look forward and make sure we keep getting points and keep playing the way we have.”
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GAME FILE
WHY THEY LOST: Because Hall beat them with his speed in OT, getting past them at the blue line and then getting his own rebound for the winning goal. Just a bit too casual for the Senators.
STUD: Nikolai Khabibulin. He was the reason the Oilers were able to hang around and eventually win. After scoring the opening goal, the Senators couldn’t open a 2-0 lead.
DUD: Craig Anderson. Played great for most of the game but was angry that he couldn’t control Hall’s shot in OT and let the rebound turn into the winning goal.
CONGRATS FROM AFAR: A nice touch from the Senators during a break in the first period: Messages of congratulations for Chris Phillips on his 1,000th game from former teammates Zdeno Chara, Anton Volchenkov, Wade Redden, and Mike Fisher.
Sens started out good.. but could only get one goal behind the “Bulin Wall” who had a great game today.
Sens let the Oilers hang around the game.. and with their skill in offense.. they got the win.
Nice to sit at a game when rival fans are classy like the Oiler fans are… no in-your-face confrontations today.
Nice to see the 2,000 Nordiques fans there today.. Mr. Bettman.. give Quebec back their team…
Senaturds lose to a crap team, Quebec fans out numbered Sens fans
Spezza IS USELESS! another losing streak begins,Murray needs to be fired!
Your math is as poor as the Laffs were tonight if you think that. . . Go cheer for them!!
Yeah — just like your Leafs who lost big time last night. What is that 4th straight loss?
As for Quebec fans outnumbering Sens fans…. another falsehood in your story.
I suggest you Leaf trolls check your facts before posting your garbage… you just make big fools of yourself…
This is a game the Senators should have won. However, we have seen this movie time and time again. The Sens can’t hold a lead, they don’t capitalize on their scoring opportunities and Anderson provided less than spectacular goaltending. Quite frankly, this team is not good enough to make the play-offs nor do they deserve to since they don’t play smart enough. Congratulations to the Oilers for beating a team that deserved to lose.
Go cheer for the Laffs. They did really well tonight!!
What bothers me about losing is thay the Sens had stretches of awesome play. They’ve shown they can be amazing, they can make the playoffs. But they don’t play at their best all the time and I think they lose more because of their mistakes than the other team’s play. Though I did enjoy watching the Oilers- they had great energy and never gave up. Great attitude and that OT was good for them.
It was a good game overall, it should have been a win but I’m ready to move on.
I’d love to be able to get into MacLean’s mind to figure out what’s wrong with the guy. Anderson loses-loses-loses-loses-loses-loses… finally gets pulled and Auld does better. So, sensibly, next game, Auld gets the nod and WINS! How does MacLean reward him? Puts Anderson back in for the next game and Anderson … wait for it … loses. What part of this is unclear to him that he keeps putting Anderson in when Auld does better?
The StarWolf:
Relax on Anderson for a minute. First of all I didn’t find it effective to play Anderson as much as he’d been playing, and I sure hope you’re not trying to claim Auld does a better job than Craig. Craig faced 40 shots in the game so I don’t think he’s to blame… And I’m sure he knows it, but obviously won’t say it. If I’m to point the finger at somebody it will be Spezza for his lazy play on the last two Oilers goals. Also, there was a lack of reffing on the Oilers’ second goal to tie it up. I forget who it was, but one of the Sens was held at the blue line by one of the Oilers players, which allowed Eager to coast in and score. So in the end you can’t blame Craig.
Actually the Sens player had the Oilers player and was trying to push him over the blue line to get an offside call. Watch it again, you’ll see.
Release the Lehner.
The Sens have hit a low spot, but will turn things around. Last month they peaked but some poor officiating has turned things upside down. I predict the Sens will find their game on the road and then peak for the playoffs. Nobody will want to play the Sens in the playoffs. It could be “Bingo” time again this year. Go Sens Go!