The Ottawa Senators are headed home with four points from four on their road trip after a comeback win over Edmonton Saturday night.
Josh Norris scored twice on the power play while Adam Gaudette and Alex Formenton helped spark the comeback in Saturday's 6-4 win over Edmonton, as Three Thoughts examines.
Sens win after five-goal third
For the first time in more than 10 years, the Senators scored five times in the third period.
And they got goals from five different players in the process.
Gaudette, Formenton, Artem Zub, Norris and Zach Sanford all scored in the final frame to propel the Sens to a 6-4 victory after they trailed 3-1 after two periods.
"A two-goal game can change in the blink of an eye and that's what happened," Norris said.
Entering Saturday's contest, the Sens were 0-14-0 when trailing after 40 minutes. The Oilers were 12-0-1 when they had the advantage. But that all changed over the course of 20 minutes.
"Credit to everyone out there," Gaudette said. "We really stuck with it. Down two goals, we didn't roll over.
"We came back and played our game and stuck with our system and good things happen because of that."
All in all, it was the 15th time in franchise history that the Senators have scored five goals or more in a period. It was the fifth time they'd done it in the third. The Sens are 13-1-1 all-time in games in which they score at least five goals in a period. The team has scored six goals in a period once, doing so in the first period of a 7-1 win against Atlanta on March 21, 2000.
Norris power play pair
Norris and the power play are going to be synonymous throughout the career of the Senators' young centre.
On Saturday, Norris took his season tally to 16 goals on the back of two power play markers. He opened the scoring in the first period after Brady Tkachuk found him wide open from the left corner where Norris beat Stuart Skinner low.
As for the game-winner, it came under unusual circumstances. Norris drew a penalty at 15:17 as Cody Ceci was penalized for high-sticking, but in the process his helmet was damaged. He'd try Austin Watson's helmet on, but it wouldn't fit, so he then grabbed Dylan Gambrell's and wore his bucket to put the Senators ahead at 16:18.
"My helmet fell off and the strap was still connected to the other side," Norris said. "I had to either switch my helmet or another player would have to jump on the ice. Watty gave me his, and he has a peanut head, probably the smallest head on the team, so the ref said the next one you grab you're going no matter what so I was just praying Gamby's helmet fit me. It didn't exactly fit too well but I was good to go out there."
It was the first time in Norris' career that he's scored two power play goals in the same game. Of Norris' 59 career points, 22 have come on the man advantage as he continues to develop a knack for scoring from the right faceoff circle.
"I had some good looks and I thought we had some good looks as a unit," Norris said. "Guys are backing themselves and being comfortable and I thought we made good plays on entries. It was nice to have Tim back, he made some great plays, Brady and Drake were doing their thing in front and Chabby was great again up top. We've just got to keep it rolling."
Sens complete Alberta sweep
After a 12-day layoff, the Senators made their return count with a two-game sweep of Alberta.
Ottawa won 4-1 in Calgary on Thursday before Saturday's 6-4 win. It was the fifth time in franchise history the Sens have swept the Alberta portion of a road trip.
The Sens had previously achieved that feat during the 2002-03, 2011-12, 2015-16 and 2017-18 seasons.
In their latest occasion, the Sens scored a combined 10 goals, courtesy of eight different players, while Matt Murray went 2-0-0 with a 2.52 GAA and .923 save percentage.
"He did a heck of a job to hold us in there," Smith said of Murray.
There was also some redemption for the Sens on this trip too. Last season, Ottawa went 0-9-0 against the Oilers. They made sure the streak didn't hit 10 straight.
"I would like to say we all forgot about last year but obviously we're competitive guys and we know what happened," Norris said. "It was pretty frustrating at points so it feels good for the guys that were here last year to be able to win the first one this year.
"It was a great group effort and I'm proud of the guys."
Three Thoughts: Sens score five in third to complete Alberta sweep - Ottawa Senators
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