Anton Forsberg made 19 saves as the Senators won their fourth game in a row on Thursday night.
Many of the 19,292 fans in attendance at the Canadian Tire Centre on Thursday night were there to see the Connor Bedard Show. Instead, they were given a dominant Ottawa Senators performance.
Anton Forsberg made 19 saves as the Senators defeated the Chicago Blackhawks 2-0. Claude Giroux and Parker Kelly provided all the scoring the Senators would need before the game was barely six minutes old.
The Senators had lost their last 11 straight games to the 'Hawks, a mind-blowing statistic considering Chicago has missed the playoffs in five of the last six years.
Giroux took charge, as he’s done all season. within the first minute of the game. On a 3 on 2 on the penalty kill, Giroux fed Jacob Bernard-Docker just inside the blue line and JBD gave it right back. Giroux faked a slapper, then wired a low shot past Chicago goalie Petr Mrazek to make 1-0 Senators, 36 seconds into the game.
Less than six minutes later, Parker Kelly ripped a shot that went in off former Senator Nikita Zaitsev to double the Senators lead to 2-0. It was the third goal for the fourth line in the last two games.
It has been a focus of head coach Jacques Martin to start games well, and his team is suddenly accommodating.
“I really like especially the first 10 minutes,” said Martin. “I thought our shifts were short, very intense. We had good changes and a good flow, I was happy with our start in the first period.”
Later in the period, Parker Kelly who had just scored his career-high eighth goal of the season, was hit in the face by an errant puck, playing several shifts with gauze crammed into one of his nostrils.
“I think I got a little bit lucky. It could have been the teeth,” Kelly said with a chuckle.
Connor Bedard was neutralized through two periods, registering two shots. .
Forsberg explained how the Senators limited Bedard all night.
“He’s trying to come at the defenceman and toe-drag the guy and shoot between his legs,” said Forsberg. “I think we did a really good job of keeping the sticks on him, so he didn't really get any really dangerous shots.
“It was a perfect game,” said Forsberg. “We created a lot of scoring chances and didn’t give up a lot.”
The Senators' next game is in Winnipeg on Saturday night at 7pm.