Backup goalie Brian Elliott leads Ottawa Senators to first victory
Ottawa Senators backup goaltender Brian Elliott and forward Mike Fisher were instrumental in helping guide the Sens to their first victory of the season as they defeated the Carolina Hurricanes 3-2 on
Thursday night.
How it went down
Fisher got the scoring started for Ottawa late in the first period when his shot from the point took a wicked deflection and looped over a very confused looking Hurricanes goalie, Cam Ward, who just couldn't
seem to find the puck.
The Senators took a 2-0 lead going into the third period after Milan Michalek scored his first of the season, but the Carolina Hurricanes fought back to tie it with two quick goals midway through the third.
Sergei Samsonov got the first for Carolina before Eric Staal got his first of the season on the power play.
Fisher won it for the Senators with just under six minutes to go on the power play with a ferocious slap shot from the high slot.
The Hurricanes pulled their goalie late in the game looking for a tying goal, but the Senators defence remained solid.
What they're saying
Elliott, who came in after Pascal Leclaire left the game with a lower body injury early in the first period, was happy to finally see some action.
"Sometimes it's easier just to hop in there when the adrenaline's pumping to get the legs going," he said. "Your alertness is high, but the guys did a good job keeping everything from the outside and I
had to make a couple of saves early, just to get me in the game, and we went from there."
The Hurricanes had opened their season with two games against the Minnesota Wild in Helsinki, Finland, but Ward was not using that as any excuse for his team's defeat.
"We've had time to adjust to the East Coast time zone again and had a couple of good practices before we headed out here to Ottawa," Ward said. "I don't think you'll find anybody using that as an excuse."
What it all means
Despite one strange goal (Fisher's first of the game), Ward was solid in net again for the Hurricanes who were outshot 39-24. After just getting used to east coast time the Hurricanes travel out west to
take on the Vancouver Canucks on Sunday night.
The Ottawa Senators finally got their first win of the season as they look to keep pace with the Buffalo Sabres and the Montreal Canadiens in the Northeast Division. They take on the Canadiens, who will
be playing on back-to-back nights, in Montreal on Saturday. Oft-injured goalie Pascal Leclaire once again finds himself on the sideline, and the Senators will have to wait and see how long they might be without him
Tags: