Ottawa Senators Top Montreal Canadiens In Overtime
The Ottawa Senators came from behind to stun the Montreal Canadiens 3-2 in overtime at ScotiaBank Place on Tuesday evening.
Kyle Turris scored the winner 2:32 into the extra period to give the hosts a commanding 3-1 lead in their Eastern Conference quarterfinal.
Montreal missed a great opportunity to tie up the series but blew a 2-0 advantage, conceding the tying goal with only 22 seconds left in regulation and is now on the brink of elimination.
The Canadiens looked calm and composed in Game 4, taking the lead early at the 2:52 mark of the second period when P.K. Subban snapped a shot past Ottawa goalie Craig Anderson.
Montreal then doubled its advantage less than a minute later as Alex Galchenyuk wristed a shot that found the top corner.
Anderson made a couple of good saves to keep the Sens in the game and those stops proved to be huge when Mika Zibanejad cut the deficit in half at 11:55 of the third frame.
Cory Conacher then sent the home fans into raptures when he pounced on a loose puck and made no mistake from close range with 22 second remaining.
Montreal goalie Carey Price went down with an injury at the end of the third period and was replaced by Peter Budaj, who looked shaky in overtime.
The Sens stunned Montreal 2:32 into OT when Turris’ innocuous shot somehow squeezed through Budaj to give them a stranglehold on the series.
Turris admitted Lady Luck smiled upon him and the Senators but praised his team’s tenacity.
“That was a bit of a lucky shot but I’ll take it,” he said. “How we did it tonight was sticking around and giving ourselves a chance to win.”
Ottawa coach Paul Maclean was proud of his players’ resilience and hailed what was an enthralling encounter.
“That’s the nature of our team,” he said. “We play the whole game and don’t stop playing until it’s over. I thought it was a heck of a playoff game.”
The Ottawa Senators will look to clinch the NHL playoff series when they lock horns with the Montreal Canadiens on Thursday evening at the Bell Centre.
