Well, what can you say? I was all set to blame the officials for repeatedly tilting the ice in favor of Washington, but for once they made the gutsy(*) penalty call with less than two minutes remaining in overtime, and for once Ottawa took full advantage.But tonight's game was fun. Washington is fast, high energy, they pull the trigger hard and frequently. They never seem to let up. However, just like the run-and-gun Senators of old I like to compare them to, they keep getting caught in defensive scrambles and cough up goals at a high rate.
I was especially impressed with Karlsson's ability to stay in Olvetchkin's face. He made some mistakes, yes, but many far more experienced defenders have made more and been less effective when up against such opposition.
Overall I expected Washington to win. Their offensive pressure is relentless and Ottawa is not known for their solid, consistent defensive play. But Ottawa proved me wrong tonight. While mistakes were made, enough results happened at the other end of the ice (in the first 15 minutes of the game, no less) to keep them in it.
Bad officiating aside, I enjoy this game, even if I missed the OT power play.
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(*) A calling of the rule book should never require the description of "gutsy". I hate this game sometimes.
