Milan Michalek scores miraculous game-winner for Ottawa Senators over Columbus Blue Jackets 4-3
The 18,000 plus home crowd was on its feet as the Ottawa Senators made a miraculous recovery against Columbus Blue Jackets in the final seconds of regulation, avoiding an uncertain overtime extension to win it, 4-3, at a sold-out Scotiabank Place in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, on Saturday, October 22.
It was a very thrilling and exciting matchup between the two teams looking for those two crucial points enabling them to move up in the rankings of their respective conferences. Columbus still stand at the 15 number spot of the Western Conference due to still not having won a single game since the 2011-2012 National Hockey League (NHL) regular season kicked off.
"We played well for 59 minutes and then they got to us at the end", said Columbus Blue Jackets captain, Rick Nash, unable to vent his frustration. "It's tough. It seems like we're not getting any bounces. It seems like we're finding ways to lose games instead of finding ways to win games. That's the difference between good teams and bad teams right now".
Filip Kuba might have given Ottawa an early lead to play with by taking advantage of their only power play opportunity of the first period, but Aaron Johnson tied it up at the 13:56 mark followed by Kris Russell in the opening 16 seconds of the second.
Zack Smith forced an intense third period with his equalising shot with less than eight minutes to go in the second, but it was Captain, Rick Nash, who regained the lead for Columbus midway through the final period, giving the Blue Jackets hope of winning their first game of the season.
With less than a minute left to go in the final, Jason Spezza scored all of a sudden at the 19:24 mark with Michalek scoring the game-winner with less than five seconds remaining, washing away all of the hard work done by the visiting team.
Ottawa Senators are eying their third consecutive win over Carolina Hurricanes when they meet on Tuesday while Columbus is still hoping for a win and might get one when they face-off against Detroit Red Wings the same day.
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