Senators finally beat Bruins at home
OTTAWA -- The Ottawa Senators rallied around their house Friday night.
Finally, they took the keys to it away from the Boston Bruins.
The Senators scored four unanswered goals to defeat the Bruins 4-2 at the Canadian Tire Centre, ending a string of victories for the Bruins in Ottawa at 11 games.
The win, in front of 19,538 fans, was the first for the Senators over the Bruins in Canada's capital since April 7, 2009.
The Bruins were up 2-0 on goals by winger Loui Eriksson and winger Brad Marchand when the Senators stood up to them in the last minute of the opening period. Senators winger Chris Neil single-handedly stole the momentum when he put a big hit on Bruins defenseman Tory Krug at the Boston blue line and then, moments later, intercepted a Krug clearing pass and beat Boston goalie Tuukka Rask with a wrist shot just inside the post.
Ottawa pulled even then overtook the Bruins in the third on goals by center Jason Spezza, defenseman Jared Cowen and winger Bobby Ryan.
"What I really liked about the game is that after we got the momentum at the end of the first there, we didn't have a letdown," said Senators goaltender Craig Anderson, who stopped 30 shots in a stellar performance. "We came out in the second and stuck with it. We got a power play, we got a lot of shots, we kept building up the momentum. And then, we didn't have that lull where we give up momentum and go on our heels. We stayed on our toes the entire game."
The Senators suffered what could be a costly loss as Ryan, their top goal scorer with 10, left the game in the third period after taking a head shot from Bruins defenseman Dennis Seidenberg.
"To me it's reviewable by the league," said Senators coach Paul MacLean. "Bobby left the game and didn't come back. At this point, there is an injury there. How severe it is, we won't know until tomorrow."
No penalty was called on the play.
"The puck was in the corner, we were both going there," explained Seidenberg. "I want to be strong on the puck and he's kind of reaching for it, I think. I don't want to go after a guy's head or anything. People were kind of seeing it that way but I would never do that."
Krug accepted the blame for giving the Senators some life.
"I would have done something differently," he said of his costly giveaway. "It was not a good play, last minute of the first period, we have a 2-0 lead, a poor turnover ends up In the back of our net. It's something I definitely would have gone another way with."
The Senators, who had 31 shots at Rask, have now won four of their last five games and have taken points in six of their last seven outings. The Bruins winning streak was stopped at four games.
"We had a good start then gave up a late goal and gave them a little bit of life, but I thought we had another strong finish to the second," said Marchand. "We came out flat in the third. They had a lot more determination than we did and came out hard. They got a couple of goals, we made a few mistakes. That's how it goes sometimes."
Up next for the Senators (8-7-4) is a home game against the Columbus Blue Jackets on Sunday afternoon. The Bruins (12-6-1) continue on a three game road trip with a visit to Carolina and a meeting with the Hurricanes on Monday.
NOTES: Senators G Craig Anderson started for the second game in a row despite his 3-8-0 record lifetime against the Bruins. He was 0-4 since last winning a game on Oct. 23 but started instead of Robin Lehner, the only Senators goalie to beat the Bruins in the previous 15 meetings between the clubs. "Craig is our No. 1 goalie," Ottawa coach Paul MacLean said before the game. "And (the coin) came up heads." ... Bruins D Dennis Seidenberg played in his 600th NHL game. ... The Bruins killed off two penalties in the game and have now survived 28 consecutive shorthanded situations. . ... Despite inconsistency through the first part of the schedule, the Senators are 7-1-2 against Eastern Conference opponents.
