OTTAWA, Ontario (AP) — Mike Condon was frustrated with himself post-game after a late blunder forced extra time. The Senators goaltender gave the puck away behind his net with Ottawa ahead 2-1 in the third period, allowing Los Angeles Kings
OTTAWA, Ontario (AP) — Mike Condon was frustrated with himself post-game after a late blunder forced extra time.
The Senators goaltender gave the puck away behind his net with Ottawa ahead 2-1 in the third period, allowing Los Angeles Kings forward Adrian Kempe to score the tying goal.
Kempe also scored the shootout winner as the Kings edged Ottawa 3-2 on Tuesday night.
“It obviously should have been two points,” said Condon, who made 41 saves. “That’s a tough play behind the net.”
“I’ll probably beat myself up for a little bit, I’ll use it as a motivator. Tomorrow morning the sun comes up, you’re past it and you’re on to the next one because we play again Thursday.”
Condon nearly coughed up the winner with less than a minute remaining in overtime as he went to play Anze Kopitar, but Erik Karlsson was able to make a goal-line save.
Alec Martinez also scored for the Kings (7-1-1) as Darcy Kuemper stopped 29 shots.
Dion Phaneuf and Nate Thompson supplied the offence for the Senators (4-1-4).
Blowing third period leads has been somewhat of an early trend for the Senators this season.
“We’re having a little bit of trouble in the third period, I don’t know what it is, but it’s something we’ve got to sort out,” said Ottawa’s Tom Pyatt, who had a team-leading six shots on goal.
The Kings’ play was all the more impressive considering they were coming off a 3-2 loss, their first in regulation, to the Toronto Maple Leafs the night before.
“I thought we played much better (Tuesday),” said Kings coach John Stevens. “I thought we had really good energy. I thought our compete on the puck in all three zones was a lot better tonight and in a back-to-back situation I thought we got really good contributions from everybody.”
Thompson gave the Senators a 2-1 lead, scoring short-handed six minutes into the third. Thompson carried the puck deep into L.A. territory before dishing it off to Pyatt and then jammed home a loose puck for the Senators’ first short-handed goal of the season.
The duo has been impressive of late and plays an integral role killing penalties for the Senators.
“It’s just two guys who are relentless,” said Senators coach Guy Boucher. “When you’re relentless things have a tendency to work out and turn your way. They’ve both been relentless since day one and that’s why they’re here.”
The second period was a series of missed opportunities for both teams.
Los Angeles outshot the Senators 14-11 and missed a couple of open nets. The most glaring was in the dying seconds of the period as Martinez shot a puck just wide from in close.
Pyatt had four shots for the Senators and a couple great scoring chances, but just couldn’t beat Kuemper.
The Kings opened the scoring just 24 seconds into the first period as Martinez fired a shot from inside the blue line that beat Condon through traffic.
The Senators tied the game at the six-minute mark as Phaneuf fired a shot that beat Kuemper short side.
NOTES: The Senators recalled Max McCormick from AHL Belleville, but he was a healthy scratch as D Mark Borowiecki returned after missing two games. The Senators opted for seven defensemen and 11 forwards. … Ottawa RW Bobby Ryan missed his first game since suffering a broken finger. … Los Angeles’ D Christian Folin and RW Justin Auger were healthy scratches for the Kings.
UP NEXT:
Kings: At Montreal on Thursday.
Senators: Hosts Philadelphia on Thursday.
