GARRIOCH: Dylan Ferguson’s 47-save effort leads Senators to 2-1 victory over the Penguins
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Called up from the club’s AHL affiliate in Belleville on Sunday, Dylan Ferguson, a seventh-round pick of the Dallas Stars in 2017, made a whopping 47 saves in his first NHL start.
Published Mar 20, 2023 • Last updated 57 minutes ago • 4 minute read
The Pittsburgh Penguins’ Jason Zucker is checked to the ice by the Ottawa Senators’ Jakob Chychrun in front of goaltender Dylan Ferguson during the first period in Pittsburgh on Monday, March 20, 2023. Photo by Gene J. Puskar /AP Article content Senators 2, Penguins 1 Advertisement 2
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Call it a case of highway robbery for Dylan Ferguson and the Ottawa Senators.
Called up from the club’s AHL affiliate in Belleville on Sunday, Ferguson, a seventh-round pick of the Dallas Stars in 2017, made a whopping 47 saves in his first NHL start as the Senators halted their winless streak at five games with a 2-1 victory over the PIttsburgh Penguins on Monday night.
It was only his second NHL appearance, but Ferguson, a Lantzville, B.C., native, battled in every way, shape and form to help the club get two points. It was Ottawa’s first win in Pittsburgh in nine years and the timing couldn’t have been better for this incredible finish.
Winger Drake Batherson went to the net and scored his 14th power-play goal of the season to give the club the lead with 2:09 left in the game. That came only minutes after Pittsburgh had tied it up and it looked like they might send this to overtime.
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Rickard Rakell scored on the 47th shot Ferguson faced at 14:39 of the third period to tie it up 1-1. Untouched in the slot, Rakell was able to beat Ferguson on the glove side, and that had to be tough for the Senators to swallow because he’d done such a terrific job up to that point.
Ottawa came into this game trailing the Penguins by seven points for the final wildcard spot in the East with only 13 games left, but it needs help to make the playoffs. The Florida Panthers scored a 5-2 win over Detroit Monday night and they were only a point back of Pittsburgh heading into the night.
The only way the Senators can keep any hope alive is by winning down the stretch. They know in the dressing room the odds are long, but they’re determined to play until the final buzzer sounds on the season midway through next month.
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“It’s been a whirlwind last couple of weeks so I really just wanted to stay in the moment,” Ferguson told reporters in Pittsburgh. “I knew the guys were going to go to war for me tonight and I planned to do the same. I was lucky enough to get some shots early and just feel it the whole night. It was a lot of fun.
“I love (the work). Every goalie asks for that, especially a night like that. I’m not someone that looks at the clock or the shots, I really just try to stay in there and treat every puck the same.”
The Senators were winless in 11 straight games in Pittsburgh. The last victory in Steeltown had been on April 13, 2014 when Ottawa scored a 3-2 shootout win.
“Tonight was one of those games we stayed with it, but let’s make no mistake, the goalie comes in, he makes 19 saves in the first period, he’s on everything and it’s just a perfect end for a guy like that,” coach D.J. Smith said. “When he started his summer training, I don’t think he thought he’d giving up one in Pittsburgh on that many shots at the end of the year.
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“That just shows you that if you stay with it you never know when your chance will come.”
Had it not been for Ferguson, this one wouldn’t have been close heading to the third.
Outshot 31-13 by the Penguins through 40 minutes, the Senators were clinging to a 1-0 lead despite being badly outplayed. Ferguson looked calm and collected as he made save after save as Ottawa struggled mightily to get out of its own zone.
Nobody was sure what to expect from the 24-year-old Ferguson, but he picked up where he had left off in Belleville by giving the club solid play. He showed good control moving around the crease and the Pittsburgh sharpshooters had to be frustrated because they had chances.
“It’s awesome. We’ve been playing some good hockey lately so this one felt good,” said defenceman Jake Sanderson. “He was dialled in from the puck drop. I could tell from looking in his eyes. We were like, ‘Holy crap, this kid is a player.’ He was confident all night.”
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This wasn’t one of the club’s better efforts defensively and the Senators hardly tested Pittsburgh goalie Tristan Jarry.
There was no better example of how difficult a time the Senators were having getting out of their own zone as when defenceman Artem Zub got stuck on the ice for a shift that lasted four minutes and 35 seconds. It included a couple of icings until he was able to get off the ice.
The last time Ferguson saw action in an NHL game was as a 19-year-old with the Vegas Golden Knights in 2017 and he only faced two shots in nine minutes. By the end of the first, he’d already stopped 19 shots and that can be a whole night’s work for some goalies.
Ferguson got a little offensive help from his new teammates as the club pulled out to a 1-0 lead after 20 minutes. The Senators were outshot 19-8, but Thomas Chabot scored from the slot, beating Jarry on the stick side. That goal came at 16:13 of the period to open the scoring.
“It’s always nice to know you can win these types of games,” said alternate captain Claude Giroux. “I thought we did a good job of staying composed and play our game.”
The Senators will face the Boston Bruins on Tuesday night at TD Garden to close out this two-game road trip and Mads Sogaard is expected to make the start.
BGarrioch@postmedia.com
Twitter.com/sungarrioch
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