Sens at Land’s End

I missed most of the first period due to school obligations and then used commercial breaks and stoppages to follow the results of the US election, so I don’t have detailed thoughts about this one. I found it a very satisfying game, though, as I suppose many overtime wins are. I thought the Sens played quite well. They outshot the Caps in each period, and 44-27 overall. Alex Auld continued to look solid in goal: no very nervous moments, even with Alex Ovechkin and Alexander Semin on the ice. Auld is now one of only three goalies in the league with a goals against average under 2.00 (the others being Ryan Miller and Tim Thomas).

Both Ottawa goals had me cheering at my TV. Mike Fisher’s pass up to Dany Heatley was pretty enough on its own, but Heatley’s breakaway goal was a thriller. I’ll just take a moment here to bring back the DHARMA (Dany Heatley Appreciation: Recognizing Moments of Awesomeness) Initiative and give Heatley some praise. I always think of him as not being very good on breakaways and then once in a while he pulls out one of these –

– as if to punish me for doubting him. This “strategy” of having Heatley or Spezza go in on net after serving a penalty is working out pretty well so far.

And speaking of people who’ve been doubted lately, how sweet was it to see Mike Fisher finally pick up his first points of the season? Every single other player on the team except Jason Smith had at least a point before last night. The look of relief on Fisher’s face after he picked up an assist on Heatley’s goal gave me a big smile. As for his overtime winner, I think this photo from the gallery on the Sens’ official site says it all: