WATCH: Ottawa Senators coach Dave Cameron said the team stuck with the plan to win one game, and now they will be focussing on winning two.
OTTAWA – Mike Hoffman scored in the third period and Craig Anderson made 28 saves for the shutout as the Ottawa Senators downed the Montreal Canadiens 1-0 on Wednesday night to stay alive in their first-round NHL playoff series.
Montreal leads the best-of-seven series 3-1 and can wrap it up on home ice Friday night.
Coach Dave Cameron had moved Hoffman, a rookie, from the fourth line up to the second unit with Mika Zibanejad and Bobby Ryan during the first period.
It paid off in the third as Cody Ceci kept a Tom Gilbert clearing attempt in at the point and fed Hoffman in the left circle for quick shot that beat Carey Price 9:05 into the third period.
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“We need to get bodies in front of him (Carey Price) and make it hard for him to save it,” Hoffman said. “More times than not if he sees the puck he’s probably going to save it. Mika did a great screen for me there and if he wasn’t there it would probably not go in.”
“We weren’t going to win four games here tonight. It’s one. We’re moving on to the next one now.”
It was the fourth straight game the Senators scored first, but this time, the Canadiens didn’t answer back. An anaemic power play that has gone 1 for 16 in the series hasn’t helped their cause.
“They came out with that urgency tonight,” Canadiens forward Max Pacioretty said. “They were the better team in the third period tonight and you have to give them credit.”
Anderson, who made 47 saves in his series debut in Game 3, was strong again for the Senators as they outshot Montreal 32-28. He sprawled to force Brandon Prust to slam the puck against the side of the net during a short-handed breakaway late in the second.
After not playing for the last two months, Anderson has been sharp for Ottawa the past two games.
“I think it’s just a matter of willpower. That’s what it comes down to, just sheer determination to go out there and do the job,” Anderson said. “I had a lot to prove after sitting out for so long and being out with injury. You just want to come back and do your best and that’s what I’m trying to do.”
There was choppy play for two scoreless periods. The Senators did not spend as much energy early on seeking big heats as in the previous three games, while Montreal simply did not look sharp.
Ottawa had the better chances on two second-period power plays, with Price stoning Hoffman from the doorstep and then robbing Clarke MacArthur from the slot.
“It was a big hockey game,” Montreal coach Michel Therrien said. “It was very close. The two teams played very hard. They got the last word tonight, but we have no reason to be embarrassed about our performance. I think we worked very hard as well.”
Midway through the second period, Ottawa was on the wrong end of a rarely called faceoff violation penalty. After Zibanejad was tossed out of the faceoff circle, Hoffman knocked the puck out of the linesman’s hand before the puck was dropped. Two false starts by one team drew the penalty.
Only four teams have come back to win when trailing 0-3 in a series: Toronto in 1942, the New York Islanders in 1975, Philadelphia in 2010 and Los Angeles in 2014.
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