OTTAWA – The Ottawa Senators may have lost their home opener, but are encouraged by their performance Thursday night.
Patrick Kane spoiled the evening scoring in overtime to give the Chicago Blackhawks a 4-3 win, but Senators coach Guy Boucher said his team failed to put away the game.
“Obviously Kane gave it to us to get the game, but overall offensively we had so many chances,” he said.
“The key here was we didn’t bury it at the moment when it could have hurt.”
Alex DeBrincat, Jonathan Toews and Brent Seabrook also had goals for Chicago (1-0-0), while Cam Ward stopped 22 shots.
Kane said he was pleased with the Blackhawks’ ability to recover from a 3-2 deficit after the first period to pick up the victory.
“It’s kind of a good feeling to be down like that and have a comeback win, especially for the first game of the season,” he said.
“It gave us a little confidence, so overall I think everyone was pretty pumped up after the game and happy to get the two points for the first game of the season.”
Maxime Lajoie scored in his NHL debut, and picked up an assist, while Colin White and Zack Smith also had singles for the Senators (0-0-1). Craig Anderson made 39 saves.
Boucher said he has been impressed by the 20-year-old defenceman since the start of training camp and admitted he wasn’t overly surprised by the early success.
“I think right now you’re just seeing that development of somebody that’s always had those attributes and qualities of being calm with the puck, being able to read spaces, having terrific vision and being able to slow the game down and accelerate it,” he said.
“You saw all that (Thursday). It’s impressive, first game in the NHL to be able to do that, and not a lot of people can do that, so I thought on his part you can’t get a better start.”
Leading 3-2, the Senators had a number of chances, but Chicago kept pressing for the equalizer and was rewarded.
Seabrook found a hole at the 12-minute mark of the third as Kane found the veteran defenceman all alone in front for a one-timer to tie the game 3-3.
“We’ve kind of been talking about being relentless in here and being resilient,” said Kane. “You give up three in the first and Ward really bounced back amazing after that.
“It’s a good way to start. You never want to be down going into the third, but to have it finish like that where you’re coming back, tying it up and winning in overtime gives everyone a lot of confidence.”
With a number of young players in its lineup, the Senators realize they will have some rough nights, but feel this was a step in the right direction.
“On both the tying and game-winning goal it seemed to just bounce the wrong way for us a little bit,” said Matt Duchene. “Boys played great and we’re going to hold our heads high after this one. It’s a big point and we’re going to get ready for Toronto now.”
A scoreless second period saw both teams exchange a number of chances, but neither was able to capitalize.
Despite being outshot 18-10 in the first period, the Senators led 3-2 after back-and-forth action.
Chicago opened the scoring as DeBrincat used Thomas Chabot as a screen before firing a shot past Anderson. Ottawa tied the game as Smith’s shot deflected off Duncan Keith. The goal was Smith’s first since Feb. 21, also against Chicago.
The Hawks regained the lead midway through the period as Toews came down the wing and fired a shot off Anderson’s shoulder.
The Senators tied it as Duchene found Lajoie, who jumped into the slot and one-timed it past Ward for his first career NHL goal in his first NHL game. A late power-play goal by White off a pass by Lajoie allowed the Senators to take a 3-2 lead.
“I never thought (Thursday) morning that I would play my first game and have my first goal in the NHL so I’m overjoyed and really happy,” said Lajoie. “The crowd was awesome and all the guys were just awesome about it.”
Despite season ticket holders being offered two free additional tickets, the Canadian Tire Centre was far from a sellout for the home opener.
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