BREAKDOWN: Senators play hard, but Jets get extra point with OT win

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JETS 2, SENATORS 1 (OT)

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The Ottawa Senators effort to kick off Hockey Day in Canada wasn’t totally pointless.

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The Senators were forced to settle for a point after Nikolaj Ehlers scored with 48 seconds left in overtime to give the Winnipeg Jets a 2-1 win over the Senators in front of 19,388 at the Canadian Tire Centre.

Give the Senators credit as they went toe-to-toe with one of best teams in the National Hockey League to close out a four-game homestand. They have been working on defensive structure since interim head coach Jacques Martin took over a month ago, and it was on full display in this one.

“I thought we played a good game,” centre Josh Norris said.

Had it not been for a standout performance by Jets goaltender Connor Hellebuyck, this one wouldn’t have been close. Yes, the Senators were that good, and, if you hadn’t seen these two teams playing all season, you wouldn’t have known the Jets are the ones headed for the playoffs.

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Saturday marked the fourth time this season the Senators went to overtime, and goaltender Joonas Korpisalo delivered a strong effort to get them there.

“That’s one of the best teams in the league right now. We stuck with them,” said Ottawa winger Parker Kelly, who scored the team’s only goal on 35 shots. “There’s a lot of positives to take away. We didn’t give them much. It was a really good game. I thought we deserved a better fate.”

The overtime was thrilling.

It looked as if nobody was going to beat Hellebuyck until Kelly solved him with his sixth goal of the season to tie it up 1-1 at 4:43 of the third period. Kelly took a pass in front of the net and made no mistake, beating Hellebuyck with a shot on the blocker side.

Let’s just say the Senators needed that one badly because they had outplayed Jets and just hadn’t been able to cash in.

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“It was a good effort. We played the right way. A couple of mistakes cost us the game, but if you play like that most games you’re going to give yourselves a chance to win,” Martin said. “It’s probably the first game where we’ve stuck with game plan. Even after two periods, we knew it was going to come.”

OFF THE GLASS

Martin shifted around Ottawa’s defensive pairings for Saturday’s contest. Thomas Chabot skated with Jacob Bernard-Docker, while Jakob Chychrun was with Erik Brannstrom. The Senators had played Chabot and Chychrun together in the previous couple of games, but it just wasn’t working … Jake Sanderson hit the post in the second period … The decision by the New York Islanders to hire former Habs’ great Patrick Roy to replace fired head coach Lane Lambert on Saturday was a shocker. There was some talk Roy would be a candidate for the job in Ottawa, but, if this club had wanted to hire him, then they would have done so … Saturday’s game was disjointed because of the number of power plays.

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THIS N’ THAT

Not sure where everybody else was, but the Senators got caught on an odd-man rush big-time on Winnipeg’s goal. The Jets’ Mason Appleton took a feed and beat Korpisalo from the slot to break the scoreless tie at 14:35 of the second period. Only Chychrun was back and there wasn’t much he could do as Nino Niederreiter dropped the puck to the trailer and Appleton’s blast beat Korpisalo … Expect to see Belleville callup Mads Sogaard make the start in net at Philadelphia on Sunday … Through 40 minutes, the Senators’ power play continued to struggle, going 0-for-4. They were having a hard time moving the puck and getting shots through …This is the “Mom’s Trip,” so the Senators took their mothers to Philly after Saturday’s game. They’ll also be in Montreal for the next game on Tuesday … Chabot said he felt good about the effort Saturday. “It hurts to not get the win. At the end of the day, it’s 3-on-3 and a lot of things can happen,” he said. “We missed some chances and they scored at the end. That’s part of the game. There were a lot of positives for sure. It was a good battle. It’s about us doing it for 60 minutes and we did that tonight.”

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THE LAST WORDS

Senators captain Brady Tkachuk was forced to drop the gloves with Brendan Dillon just over 15 minutes into the first. Tkachuk finished a check on Winnipeg’s Dominic Toninato and also ended up with a boarding call … The shots were 7-4 for the Senators in the first period. That’s a textbook period from Martin’s early days here in Ottawa … The Senators registered no shots on a first-period power play …Tkachuk and Chabot were given nice rounds of applause at the first television ad break. Both were suiting up for Game No. 400. It’s only the second time two players have both suited up for their 400th in the same game. The last time was Marian Hossa and Chris Phillips on Nov. 15, 2003 … Centre Ridly Greig did a nice job setting up Claude Giroux for a shot in the slot five minutes into the game. Hellebuyck made a glove stop … Senators winger Mathieu Joseph is strong at using his speed on the penalty kill to create chances. He forced Hellebuyck to make a key stop in the first period.

bgarrioch@postmedia.com

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