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 After three years of shootout futility, Lehner stopped three of
five shots in the breakaway session Tuesday night to propel the
Senators to a 5-4 victory over the St. Louis Blues before 14,758 at
Scottrade Center.
Lehner also stopped 46 of 50 shots in regulation/overtime to improve
to 7-10-3.
Ottawa scored three times in a span of 2:35 in the third period to
overcome a 3-1 deficit.
Center Kyle Turris scored on Blues goaltender Jaroslav Halak in the
fifth round of the shootout to nail down the triumph.
Center Jason Spezza had a goal and two assists for Ottawa. Erik
Karlsson added a goal and an assist. He leads all NHL defensemen
with 53 points.
But Lehner, who serves as backup to Craig Anderson, stole the show
with his first shootout win.
"Hopefully this will break the curse," Lehner said. "I had a few bad
ones at the beginning of my career and it snowballed and kind of got
in my head."
Lehner came into the contest with an 0-6 mark in shootout play. He
gave up 12 goals on 24 shots.
But he made three successive saves after surrendering goals on the
first two attempts Tuesday.
"I've been working on some stuff, trying to stay positive mentally,"
he said. "Trying to clear my head and keep moving on."
Lehner's teammates were impressed with his performance, both in
regulation and the shootout.
"He was unreal, he stood on his head," Turris said.
"He gave us a chance to win, Spezza said. "With the way he played,
we felt like we had to win it for him."
Turris and left winger Milan Michalek also the scored for the
Senators.
Center Stephane Da Costa and Michalek converted in the shootout for
the winners.
Right winger David Backes, center T.J. Oshie, left winger Brenden
Morrow and defenseman Jordan Leopold scored for the Blues .
Halak made 27 saves, but allowed the three shootout goals in the
loss.
Spezza capped off the three-goal third-period blitz to give the
Senators their first lead, 4-3. His wrist shot from the top of the
circle beat Halak at 8:27 of the third period.
St. Louis tied the game 4-4 with 8:52 remaining on Leopold's shot,
which deflected off the body of Lehner. It was Leopold's first goal
of the season.
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The Blues had several chances to win the game late in regulation and
overtime, but Lehner came up big.
The win gives the Senators a sweep of the season series with St.
Louis. Ottawa won 3-2 in overtime at home Dec. 16.
"I thought this was a great effort by our team," Ottawa coach Paul
MacLean said. "We gave a great account of ourselves and ended up
coming up with a hard-earned victory."
Oshie broke a 1-1 tie with a strange goal at 15:09 of the second
period. His shot bounced off the glove of Lehner and got stuck in
the upper part of the net that was apparently hidden by Lehner's
water bottle. Officials, fans and most players believed that the
puck had deflected out of play.
During the timeout, while the ice girls cleaned the ice and most
players went to the bench, Oshie skated around the net and spotted
the puck still stuck in the netting. He pointed out his finding to
the referee and, after a review, Oshie was credited with his 13rd
goal of the season.
Backes capitalized on the momentum from the strange tally by scoring
his 20th of the season with 4.7 seconds left in the second period
for a 3-1 cushion. The Blues captain converted off a cross-ice pass
from winger Jaden Schwartz.
"We probably took a step in the wrong direction," St. Louis coach
Ken Hitchcock said. "You're sitting pretty with a 3-1 lead — and
all of a sudden, it evaporates."
Michalek and Turris scored in a span of 1:10 in the third period to
tie the game 3-3.
Morrow gave the Blues a 1-0 lead with goal at 14:08 of the first
period. He has at least one point in his last seven games against
the Senators.
The Blues had a season-high 50 shots on goal but came away with just
one point.
"Some of these things we have to clean up," Oshie said.
NOTES: Ottawa D Chris Phillips missed his fifth consecutive game due
to a lower-body injury. ... G Jaroslav Halak faced Ottawa for the
first time as a member of the Blues. ... The Blues beat Ottawa 5-2
in the last meeting between the teams in St. Louis on Nov. 19, 2010.
Current St. Louis G Brian Elliott was in net for the Senators. ...
Senators G Craig Anderson got the night off after facing 48 shots in
a 2-1 overtime loss to the Penguins in Pittsburgh on Monday. ... St.
Louis D Alex Pietrangelo missed part of the first period with an
upper-body injury but returned to the contest. ... Ottawa has
outscored its opponents 57-56 in the first period this season, the
only period in which the Senators hold an advantage.
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