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 As it turned out, all the studying of Flames goalie Joni Ortio he
needed was the rookie's behavioral pattern on the first two Ottawa
shooters.
"I'm happy I went third, to be honest with you," said Zibanejad. "I
had some time to scout him, and luckily I scouted him right."
Zibanejad's quick shot that beat Ortio low on the glove side proved
to be the decisive goal in a 5-4 shootout victory that snapped the
Senators' losing streak at four games and gave them their first home
win of the season.
The result extended the Flames' losing streak to three games and
dropped their record to 2-7-1.
"I think we did lots of good things in the game," said Flames coach
Bob Hartley. "The boys are working. We have lots of character. I
think the boys believe in themselves. It's a rough start, but at the
same there's no quit in this organization. We're going to keep
pushing."
Ortio entered the game at 12:20 of the third period after Senators
winger Bobby Ryan crashed into Flames starting goalie Jonas Hiller,
who left with what Hartley later confirmed as a "lower body" injury
that will be further evaluated Thursday.
Flames rookie center Sam Bennett scored his first NHL goal to
ultimately send the game into overtime 12 seconds after Ryan sat
down to serve his goalie interference penalty.
"The ref told me I went to the net too hard," said Ryan. "I couldn't
believe it. I won't comment too much other than it was a horrendous
call. That's all I have to say.
"It didn't cost us a point, but if it had it would be a different
situation right now."
A dud of a game through 37 minutes saw the teams combine for seven
goals in the final 23, as the lead switched hands three times.
Scoring for the Senators were Ryan and centers Zack Smith, Kyle
Turris and Jean-Gabriel Pageau. Other Calgary goals came from winger
Joe Colborne and defensemen Dougie Hamilton and Kris Russell.
Senators goalie Anderson made 34 stops, including a huge glove save
off winger Johnny Gaudreau in overtime. Hiller stopped 14 shots
before he left the game.
"It was one of those Halloween nights for the goaltender, pucks were
hopping and bouncing and we were falling down and they were going
off us into the net," said Senators coach Dave Cameron. "(Anderson)
gave us the chance to win the game, for sure."
The Senators trailed 1-0 late in the second when the teams suddenly
started lighting up the board.
Smith and Ryan each scored their second goals of the season in a
span of 1:48 to put Ottawa in front just before the end of the
period, but then Colborne notched his second and Russell his first
within 57 seconds early in the third to put Calgary back in front.
But Ottawa's lead was restored with Turris and Pageau scored off
scrambles within 18 seconds.
"It was a weird one but we never gave up," said Russell. "We had
some individuals who really stepped up their game tonight. I thought
a guy like (Bennett) was really good. We need games out of him like
that because he's a huge part of our team.
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"We happy with the way we didn't quit and we came back relentless.
That's kind of the hockey we played last year."
The Senators were happy to be able to celebrate a victory in their
dressing room for the first time this season. Their record at
Canadian Tire Centre is now 1-2-2.
"Just to get the two points, you feel good coming in here and
getting some music on," said Anderson. "Just getting that feeling in
here that we need to have was much needed."
Still, Cameron didn't like the way his team started, as the Senators
were outshot 10-4 in the first.
"Happy with the two points," he said, "(but) my biggest concern with
tonight's game was our lack of energy. I know some of it was from a
bad execution, but we didn't have near the jump we should have had
based on how few games we've played and all the practices we've had.
I can't figure that out."
That the Senators hadn't played since Saturday could have been a
factor, he added.
"I do know generally in this league when you play every second
night, that's when you find your rhythm," said Cameron. "That's
still no excuse for being as slow as we were tonight, or as many
unforced errors as we made tonight.
"We were way too sloppy, didn't have energy, but full marks. It's
two points and we'll take it, for sure."
The Senators next game is Friday in Detroit, while the Flames are in
Montreal to take on the Canadiens Friday.
NOTES: Flames D T.J. Brodie made his 2015-16 debut after missing the
first nine games of the season with a broken bone in his hand.
Brodie was on the first blue line pairing with D Mark Giordano ...
Flames D Ladislav Smid was scratched to make room for Brodie ...
Senators D Marc Methot returned after missing three games with a
concussion, but LW Mike Hoffman (lower body) and RW Curtis Lazar
(upper body) sat out their second and first games, respectively.
Both are considered day-to-day ... Senators D Chris Wideman came out
of the lineup with the return of Methot ... Senators LW Matt Puempel
played his first NHL game of the season and was slotted in the
second line, beside C Mika Zibanejad and RW Bobby Ryan ... Flames G
Jonas Hiller entered the night having given up a total of six goals
in five career games versus the Senators. Along with a 4-0-1 record,
Hiller owned a 1.28 GAA and .960 save percentage against Ottawa.
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