Montreal Canadiens forward Josh Anderson just had the gutsiest performance of any Habs player against the Ottawa Senators on Tuesday night at the Bell Centre. Seeing as the Habs overcame two third-period deficits to beat the visitors 6-3 and at least temporarily jump into a playoff spot, leapfrogging the New York Rangers, that’s saying a lot.
Anderson scored two goals, including the clutch 3-3 game-tying goal midway through the third to help seal the victory for the home team. What’s more impressive is he drew the penalty that led to Nick Suzuki’s eventual game-winning goal when Senators forward Shane Pinto tripped him going the other way following a failed Sens rush. What’s more impressive still is at one point Anderson’s game seemed to be in jeopardy after he took an errant skate blade, coincidentally also from Pinto, early in the frame.
Game Recap
The Senators had impressively killed off most of the Pinto penalty when Suzuki set up Emil Heineman for a cross-ice one-timer. Sens goalie Linus Ullmark made the initial save, but couldn’t keep control of it. Brendan Gallagher fished it out to Suzuki, who buried it into the empty net with just under five minutes left, which served as the beginning of the end of a crazy period of hockey.
The Sens led 2-1 heading in, after Michael Amadio had broken a 1-1-tie midway through the second with a similarly odd goal. The puck took an odd bounce through Canadiens goalie Sam Montembeault, leaving Amadio with the yawning cage.
Canadiens defenseman Lane Hutson tied it up with a seeing-eye shot off a Jake Evans faceoff win a few minutes into the third. The Senators retook the lead when defenseman Travis Hamonic scored his first of the season off a point shot, resulting in another goal Montembeault, who still made 22 saves in the win, would probably like to have back.
From that point on, the third line of Anderson, Gallagher and Christian Dvorak, who opened the scoring on a breakaway in the contest, went to work. Dvorak ended up with a game and career-high four points, earning a secondary assist on Anderson’s game-tying goal. Alexandre Carrier shot it from the point, with Anderson putting the rebound past Ullmark.
Dvorak also earned the primary assists on each of the Canadiens two empty-net insurance markers. Anderson scored the first with 1:44 remaining, from his own end. Gallagher closed the scoring by tucking it in on a half-breakaway. Drake Batherson rounded out the scoring, tying the game for the Senators at one apiece in the first. Ullmark made 27 saves in the game.
The two teams face each other again on April 11 in Ottawa in another must-win game for each side. Heading in though, the wild-card Senators had won six in a row and had a six-point lead over the Canadiens, which has since shrunk to four. The Habs are 3-0 against the Sens this season. The Sens next host the Colorado Avalanche on Thursday, while the Habs visit the New York Islanders, another team in the Eastern Conference playoff chase. However, for a variety of reasons, the Habs are in the driver’s seat for the last spot, especially after Tuesday’s victory.
