The Ottawa Senators were thoroughly dominated by the Montreal Canadiens in the opening game of their playoff series, but still came away with a victory thanks to the outstanding play of their goalie, Craig Anderson.
Anderson, considered by many to be a Vezina-favorite early in the season before missing time with an injury, stopped 48 of Montreal's 50 shots on the night. He kept the Canadiens off the board until they had over 30 shots, midway through the game. Montreal finally managed to put two past him in the second to take the lead heading into the third period, but Anderson was perfect for the remainder of the night.
The Senators tied the game at 3:27 of the third period on this slapshot from Jakob Silfverberg:
Silfverberg was as surprised as anyone that his shot went in:
The Senators would score again minutes later on a Marc Methot wrist shot, and then Silfverberg would get the assist on Ottawa's fourth goal of the game, at 13:55 of the third period:
That's Guillaume Latendresse with the tip for his first career playoff goal.
As good as Anderson was on the night, Montreal's Carey Price looked shaky. He gave up four goals on Ottawa's 31 shots. He'll need to do better than that as the series continues.
Let's look at the three big questions we wanted answers to in this game:
1. Will special teams alter the result of Game 1?
Ottawa went zero for three on the powerplay while Montreal scored on one of their five chances, so special teams weren't a big factor in the game.
2. Will P.K. Subban or Karlsson do anything of note in Game 1?
Karlsson scored the first goal of the game to give the Senators the lead in the first period while Subban had an assist and seven shots on goal.
3. Will the home team continue the trend of winning in this series?
Not this time. The Ottawa Senators took the first game in Montreal, with most of the thanks going to Craig Anderson.
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• Complete Stanley Cup Playoffs coverage