OTTAWA — On Friday night, the common phrase to describe the Ottawa Senators 2-1 loss to the New York Rangers was that the Ottawa squad got “goalied” after New York’s star netminder Igor Shesterkin stopped 40 shots.
It was a role-reversal for the Senators one night later as backup netminder Anton Forsberg recorded a shutout against the Seattle Kraken — for the second straight season — as Ottawa topped the Seattle Kraken 3-0.
“Always nice to have a shutout, but obviously always super nice to see the bounce back we had tonight from yesterday,” said Forsberg, who stopped 22 shots in the victory.
“It was a tough loss yesterday. Played real well. And we came in here again, worked real hard, and it was impressive.”
This marked Forsberg’s second shutout of the season after a 31-save effort against the Utah Hockey Club. He’s now made six starts in 2024 after Linus Ullmark, who signed a four-year, $33-million (US) contract with Ottawa before the start of the 2024 campaign, missed a handful of games with a strain injury.
Forsberg said he’s been working hard on his positioning alongside Ullmark and new Senators’ goalie coach Justin Peters and the work is paying off.
“I’ve tried to be eager and listen. You can never learn too much,” Forsberg said.
Forsberg is only NHL goalie this season to have posted two shutouts.
“I’m happy for him,” said Ottawa coach Travis Green about Forsberg’s Saturday performance. “He probably wasn’t happy with his game after Linus got hurt. He’s really found his groove. And he had another great game tonight.”
The Senators’ Saturday night effort was, according to captain Brady Tkachuk, the team’s finest hour of the season.
Tkachuk scored his team-leading seventh goal of the game in the second period.
“Tonight, I feel like that was the best 60-minute effort that we’ve had as a team so far this year,” he said. “And that’s been our expectation now I’m excited about looking to build off that.”
Adam Gaudette opening the scoring in the first period with a backhanded chip-in after a coach’s challenge overturned an initial no-goal ruling. Green is now 3-for-3 on the season with successful challenges.
Gaudette has scored six goals in his last five games and was tied for the team lead in goals before Tkachuk — who has recorded seven points in his last four games — netted one of his own.
Tim Stützle added an empty netter with just over two minutes remaining to put the game out of reach.
Tkachuk said he was frustrated to have seen the Senators play as detailed a game as they did against the Rangers but still come up short. But despite the squad feeling the effects of a back-to-back — they arrived after midnight after the loss in New York — mentally they were dialed in.
“We probably weren’t as sharp as we were last night but there are some nights when your structure and details … you have to rely on that to win some games especially when you’re playing back-to-back. You’ll probably need to spend a little time in your own zone, and we did, but we defended really well tonight,” Green said.
“We played a game last night and lost a game we probably deserved better. I was happy for our group tonight and the way they came out.”
With the team seemingly starting to run out of gas in the third, Forsberg made a nifty save on Kraken captain Jordan Eberle, going post-to-post to keep the shutout intact. The pressure was on, but Forsberg said he saw his team make stops in front of him and witnessed a team that “skated hard” and “forechecked hard.”
Add it all up, and it’s another win for a team that is eager to take the next step.
“It was a fun game to play,” Forsberg said. “We are a young team, but … everyone is hungry. We know how it is. Everyone is really motivated to make the hard push for the playoffs here.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 2, 2024.
Adam Stanley, The Canadian Press