The Ottawa Senators did everything in their power to exact revenge on Matt Cooke for his hit on Erik Karlsson from earlier in the season.
Unfortunately, they forgot to show up for the first 40 minutes of the game and ultimately fell to the Penguins 3-1, Monday night. Pairing the loss with a win by the Winnipeg Jets, the Senators now lead the 8th and final spot in the Eastern Conference playoffs by a point.
All day, the Ottawa fan base held a “hate Matt Cooke” day on Twitter. Sens’ owner, Eugene Melnyk, has been adament that Cooke’s hit on Karlsson that sliced the achilles tendon on February 13th, was purposely done.
The Senators claimed the focus of this game would be on winning and not Matt Cooke, but their play during most of the game said otherwise.
Meanwhile, the Penguins kept rolling despite playing without half their team. Marc-Andre Fleury went home to be with his wife would was expected to give birth, Kris Letang was scratched due to an illness, Beau Bennett due to a minor upper body injury, and of course the usual suspects who are waiting until the very end of the season; Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, Paul Martin and James Neal.
It didn’t matter that they were missing, the Penguins still left with their sixth straight win.
Dustin Jeffrey got the Penguins on the board 6:15 into the opening frame. After taking a high-stick to the face, Jeffrey took a pass in the slot from Brenden Morrow and one-timed the puck past Craig Anderson. The play was set up by Douglas Murray who sent a long stretch pass to Pascal Dupuis. From there Dupuis went to Morrow who skated down the left side before finding Jeffrey.
Pittsburgh wasted no time getting a second goal as Jarome Iginla scored less than four minutes later. Brenden Morrow went behind the net and fed Iginla with a backdoor pass for the tap in. It was a play similar to the one Sean Bergenheim used against the Penguins two years ago in the playoffs.
Tomas Vokoun was sharp in Fleury’s absence. Vokoun made key saves in the first period to keep Ottawa off the board, stopping all 14 shots. He and Douglas Murray were extremely effective in keeping the puck out of the net.
In the second period, the Senators started to ramp up the roughness. After getting into Brooks Orpik’s face at the end of the first period, Chris Neil leveled Simon Despres in the middle of the second. Replay showed Neil caught Despres with his elbow, but the hit was so hard, he was called for charging. Despres appeared to be OK and didn’t miss a shift.
The Penguins were given a power play mid way through the third period and had excellent chances. But Craig Anderson was there, making all four saves against a furious Pittsburgh power play that had excellent puck control. With the final second counting down on the penalty to Kyle Turris, Brenden Morrow took a tripping penalty.
Patrick Wiercioch scored on a one-timer from the point to cut the Penguins lead to one. Wiercoch received a cross-ice pass from Sergei Gonchar and blasted a shot that beat Vokoun’s glove hand, against the grain.
After killing another penalty, the Senators almost scored again when Zack Smith cut to the net on a partial breakaway. But Vokoun shut down the angle and prevented Smith from beating him.
The Senators started to gain some momentum but Tomas Vokoun was there every step of the way. Matt Cooke, with the boos raining down on him as they had every shift prior, took the puck behind the net and found Tyler Kennedy at the doorstep to put the game out of reach. Kennedy scored, extending the lead back to two and the Penguins emerged with their 35th win of the season.
- Dan Bylsma won his 200th game. He is the fastest coach to reach 200 wins in the history of the league.
- Jarome Iginla has scored in three straight games.
- Brenden Morrow has ten points in his last six games.
Three Stars
- Brenden Morrow
- Douglas Murray
- Pascal Dupuis
Photo courtesy of NHL.com
