|
 His words had the desired result, as Ottawa rallied from a 3-1
deficit to defeat the Colorado Avalanche 5-3 at Canadian Tire
Centre.
"We didn't start the way we wanted, and we came in after the first
and we handled the situation the way we wanted to," said Karlsson.
"We took a deep breath, yelled at each other for a bit and then I
think we came out in the third and just kept it rolling."
Senators wingers Bobby Ryan and Clarke MacArthur tallied
third-period goals three minutes apart to complete the comeback.
Winger Chris Neil added an empty netter with 1:22 remaining to
improve the Senators record to 3-1
The Avalanche, now 1-3-1, had to use third string goaltender Calvin
Pickard when starter Reto Berra was injured in a goal crease
collision 2:46 into the first period. Earlier in the day, Colorado
placed No. 1 goalie Semyon Varlamov on injured reserve with groin
issues.
"It was kind of a whirlwind day for me," said Pickard, who arrived
in Ottawa, on his second flight of the day, three hours before game
time unsuspecting that he would see his first NHL action that night.
"It wasn't the result we wanted. I would have liked to have a couple
of those back, for sure. The margin for error in this league is so
small, every mistake counts. The guys played well enough to earn the
win tonight but we didn't get it."
Ryan picked up his first of the year by sliding a shot from the left
wing faceoff circle through Pickard's legs at 8:39 of the final
frame, tying the score at 3. MacArthur then benefitted from the
legwork of Senators winger Mark Stone to jam home his first of the
season for the eventual winner at 11:43.
"We just stuck with it," said MacArthur. "Last year, maybe things go
a different way. We'd get down two or three and do the individual
thing. The only chance we have is if we're going to play together,
and that was a good example."
The Avalanche scored three times on their first six shots, but
Senators goalie Craig Anderson settled down to stop the last 25
shots he faced. Pickard wound up making 24 stops.
Other Senators goals were scored by centers Zack Smith and David
Legwand. Wingers Alex Tanguay and Gabriel Landeskog and center John
Mitchell replied for Colorado.
The Avalanche, who were having trouble scoring goals this season,
jumped out to a quick start when Tanguay took a short pass from
center Nathan Mackinnon and beat Anderson with a quick snap shot
over his catching mitt at 1:25 of the first period.
Mitchell made it 2-0 less than nine minutes later when he scored on
a short-handed break while being pursued by Karlsson. Mitchell's
original shot hit the post, but the rebound bounced in off
Anderson's back.
[to top of second column] |
Smith narrowed the gap just past the 11-minute mark of the first.
He started the play by winning an offensive-zone faceoff, then
finished it when winger Curtis Lazar's shot went up and over Pickard
before Smith made sure it crossed the goal line.
Landeskog's first of the season, a close-in shot that deflected off
a stick before fluttering into the net, gave the visitors a 3-1 lead
heading into the first intermission.
Legwand scored the only goal of the second period on a power play,
collecting his first tally as a Senator. He capitalized on some
shaky goaltending by Pickard, who couldn't glove a harmless point
shot by Karlsson.
"We cannot be happy about our game, overall," said Colorado coach
Patrick Roy. "With the lead we had 13 turnovers. If we do turnovers
when you're up by one goal, eventually the puck is going to end up
in the net. We could blame it on the 22-year-old goalie, but hey, we
have to be better with the lead. We have to be a lot smarter than
that."
NOTES: Avalanche C John Mitchell played his first game after missing
the start of the season and most of training camp with migraines.
Coach Patrick Roy said Mitchell, who had concussion-like symptoms at
the end of the 2013-14 season, would start the night on the fourth
line but eventually work into the third unit. ... Senators D Jared
Cowen, a former first-round pick, was a healthy scratch for the
second consecutive game. Taking his place in the lineup again was D
Patrick Wiercioch. ... Back in the press box as healthy scratches
for the Senators were LW Colin Greening and LW Mike Hoffman. Coach
Paul MacLean reinserted RW Curtis Lazar, a teenager who after this
game can play six more times before the club has to decide whether
to keep him and kick-start his NHL contract or send him back to
juniors.
[© 2014 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.]
Copyright 2014 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
 |
