Ottawa Senators

Senators win game, lose Methot; Melnyk calls out Crosby; Going to Sweden
March 24, 2017, 10:21 AM ET [83 Comments]
Jared Crozier
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The Ottawa Senators went toe to toe with one of the best teams in the league, and when the dust settled, Kyle Turris and Bobby Ryan both scored in the shootout and Mike Condon was perfect as they beat the Pittsburgh Penguins 2-1.

Condon was the story of overtime, (and before) making six stops including a highlight of the night desperation save off of Connor Sheary.

Nick Bonino and Mike Hoffman exchanged eerily similar power play goals in the second and third period respectively to lead to the extra frame and ensuing skills competition.

The win did come at a cost as Sidney Crosby slashed Marc Methot on the hand and resulted in a gruesome injury that coach Guy Boucher stated after the game that Methot's finger was "shattered and he is out for weeks." Not good news for a blue line that is already on the thin side, and it means Freddie Claesson will be pressed into duty and there will likely be a revolving door alongside Erik Karlsson for the foreseeable future.

Ottawa played a strong game, holding the injury depleted Pens at bay and doing an excellent job in shutting down the always dangerous Crosby. Jean-Gabriel Pageau had the primary assignment and they held Sid off the scoreboard with just 3 shots on goal. Pageau also owned Crosby in the faceoff circle, winning 74% of his draws in total (Crosby was 27%) and winning 14 of 20 faceoffs head to head with the Hart Trophy candidate.

Condon was perhaps a surprise starter, as Guy Boucher continues to be tough to predict in his goalie deployment. Condon was great, making 34 saves plus two more in the shootout, including a stop on Crosby.

Even Bobby Ryan showed up and looked like he cared, being very physical on the forecheck and being credited with 5 hits including a big one early on against Mark Streit that set a tone for the game.

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Eugene Melnyk went on TSN1200 radio in Ottawa and opened his mouth again, saying that the Methot play was being taken up with the league, that the perpetrators of such plays should be suspended and then took it even further as Melyk does, indirectly calling Crosby a "whiner beyond belief".

I get that he is upset, and the play should have been called but there is a line and Melnyk crossed it by getting personal. You can have an opinion on the matter, but a person in his position can't go that far.

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The Senators will play the Avalanche in Sweden next November for a pair of regular season games. It is a little concerning that this trip doesn't start off the season as was done in a previous iteration of the European experiment, but will come almost a month into the season. A disruption like that can have negative effects on the team for some time and the Senators will have to take some steps to ensure that it doesn't ruin their season.