Ottawa Senators get a point in overtime loss to the Washington Capitals
The struggling Ottawa Senators lost their third straight game to start the season, but they did manage to take home a single point by extending the game to overtime before being defeated 3-2 by the Washington
Capitals.
How it went down
Alexander Semin found himself all alone in front of the Senators goal to fire home a loose puck that had been knocked out from the corner to open the scoring late in the first period.
Jarkko Ruutu tied the game up midway through the second when he tipped a point shot in past Capitals goalie Michal Neuvirth who was between the pipes replacing an injured Semyon Varlamov.
The Capitals were up by a goal again, in almost no time at all, when Eric Fehr fired the puck home from the slot off a perfect feed from behind the net by Matt Hendricks.
Ryan Shannon got the tying goal to push the game to overtime midway through the third when Peter Regin stole the puck in the neutral zone and fed the puck to a streaking Shannon to fire past Neuvirth.
It was vintage Alex Ovechkin who fired a quick snapshot, using an Ottawa defender as a screen, past Ottawa goalie Pascal Leclaire for the winner with only 32 seconds to go in overtime.
What they're saying
Despite being the overtime hero, Capitals coach Bruce Boudreau was not exactly singing Ovechkin's praises regarding the way he played, but admitted that what makes a player like Ovechkin so special is
his ability to have a poor performance and still be the difference for his team:
"Only Alex can play like he did and still score the overtime goal and be the hero," he said. "Go ask him how he played and he'll tell you, 'Not too good.' But he got the overtime goal and that's what superstars
do. That's why he’s out there in the last minute -- because he can win you a game at any chance."
Senators coach Cory Clouston had mixed feelings about his goalie's performance and the goal that won the game for the Capitals:
"He (Leclaire) made some saves for sure, but we need him to make that last one," he said. "It was very disappointing. To me it was not a very – if you think of Ovechkin's shot – there wasn't a whole lot
on it and I'm not sure how it ended up beating him five-hole. It was frustrating because he had played well for us."
What it all means
That overtime winning goal was Ovechkin's third of the season and the Washington Capitals are already out to the league lead in goals scored with 12 after three games. They will play host to the Islanders
on Wednesday night.
The Senators still have yet to win a game and have scored only four goals in three games. They will take on the undefeated Carolina Hurricanes at home on Thursday night.
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