NEW YORK — In keeping pace in a tight race for the final playoff spots in the Eastern Conference, the Ottawa Senators paid a significant cost.
Already depleted off some of their top defenseman, including Olympian Jake Sanderson, they lost two more in their 2-1 win over the New York Rangers at Madison Square Garden on Monday night; both star blueliner Thomas Chabot and former first-rounder Lassi Thomson were done for the night before the game had even reached the halfway point.
“They’ll both be out for a while, that’s about all I can say about it right now,” Senators head coach Travis Green told reporters after the game.
Fortunately for his team, at least on Monday night, it didn’t seem to matter much given the anemic Blueshirts historically bad showing in which they recorded just nine shots on goal, tying a franchise record for fewest ever recorded in a game.
“Just a great team effort,” Green said. “With two defensemen going down, guys had to step up and play a lot more minutes than they’re used to, forwards were helping them out. It was just a real good team win.”
It was, which is even more remarkable given the circumstances, the fewest shots on goal allowed in franchise history.
“I do look at the clock, but not for the shots,” defenseman Jordan Spence said after the game. “But, obviously after the game, we saw the shots and I think we’ve been kind of doing that the past couple of games. We just have to stick with our gameplan every game. If we slack, that’s when teams can score a few goals and we lose. We’ve got to keep that going, and we’ve got a big one (Tuesday), so we’re focused on that.”
Shane Pinto and Warren Foegele scored the goals in a win that improved them to 14-3-2 in their last 19 games and got them to within two points of the New York Islanders for the final wild card spot in the East. While, as Spence said, the focus shifted almost immediately to a critical game against the Detroit Red Wings that was set for Tuesday night, backup goaltender James Reimer, who only had to make eight saves in the win, took time to reflect on the bizarre night in Manhattan.
“I think the main thing in a game like this is you just trust your foundation and trust your game,” he said. “These games are a lot harder than a 30 or 40 shot-night. You’re not in a rhythm, you’re not feeling it, it’s just not happening, so you’ve got to trust it and trust that your body knows what it has to do when the time comes. It’s a difficult game as a goalie to play mentally, but you just trust it. The boys — I can’t say enough after going down to four defensemen — the stones they played with was impressive.”