The Ottawa Senators defeated Vancouver Canucks last night with 5-2. It was their first win following four straight losses, and the first time they’ve allowed less than three goals since mid-February.
But that wasn’t the biggest deal in this one. It was Bobby Ryan. The 32-year old forward was back home following his absence after admitting that he has problems with alcohol. It was his first game at the Canadian Tire Center since November.
Back then, he decided to leave the team and enter the NHL/NHLPA assistance program. Shortly after, he came forward and publicly released his personal problems.
Yet, last night, he erased all that and played better than ever. With three goals, Ryan was the star of the match and the ultimate reason why his Senators defeated Canoucks.
“We have [17] games left,” he said. “I just want to finish the year as strong as I can and contribute and kind of help these guys close it out the right way.”
His Ottawa knocked out the guests in the first sequence, scoring two goals in thirty seconds of play.
At first, it was Connor Brown who scored for 1-0 at 7:13 of the game, and after him, Ryan just redirected a pass from Nikita Zaitsev to double the lead at 7:41. That was the result of the first period.
The second was not that interesting with both the hosts and the guests focused on the defense. However, during a power-play in the closing minute of the frame, JT Miller decreased the lead and gave some hope to the Canucks that they might change the situation on the ice.
But that hope didn’t last for too long as the hosts struck just 14 seconds inside the last third. Rudolfs Balcers’ first goal of the season brought back the momentum to the Senators.
Tyler Toffoli scored for 3-2 at 8:16, and Vancouver was once again back in the game. However, as in the previous situation, they didn’t have the strength to bring down the Senators who fought off their surge and scored twice more through Ryan.
His first hit came with 2:08 left, following a nice individual effort, which saw him accepting the puck with his skates and managing to create himself a position from which he beat Vancouver’s goalie Thatcher Demko.
Some 13 seconds later, Ryan sealed the win of his side with an empty netter, as visitors risked with an extra man in the field and went all in.
“It was kind of a weird game,” Vancouver coach Travis Green revealed his view of the situation.. “I felt like we came out and we were better to start the game tonight, yet we were down 2-0. So now you’re chasing the game.”
Up next, his Canucks are heading for Toronto to meet the Maple Leafs on Saturday at 7 pm ET. Senators will have a nice chance to post consecutive wins, as they host the Detroit Red Wings on the same day at the same time. Following this one, they head for Pittsburgh.
