The Montreal Canadiens have taken a 3-0 series lead against the Ottawa Senators. (USATSI)
Every night during the Stanley Cup playoffs, Eye On Hockey writers Adam Gretz and Chris Peters will bring you up to speed everything you need to know about all of the action around the NHL. Here is what you need to know about Canadiens vs. Senators Game 3
Montreal Canadiens vs. Ottawa Senators, Game 3
Canadiens 2, Senators 1 | Canadiens lead series 3-0 | Game 4 Wednesday
Game 3 in a nutshell: For the third time in this series the Ottawa Senators scored the first goal of the game. And for the third time in this series they still ended up losing. The Senators were five minutes away from getting back in the series, clinging to a 1-0 lead, until Dale Weise scored his first of two goals on the night to give the Canadiens a commanding 3-0 lead in the series and push the Senators to the brink of elimination.
Turning Point: The Senators inserted Chris Neil into the lineup for the first time since Feb. 14 for Game 3 on Sunday night. Even though he hadn’t played in more than two months, and even though he played only eight minutes in the game, by far the fewest minutes of any player on the team, his line was for some reason out there in the closing minutes as the Senators were trying to protect a one-goal lead. It did not end well for the Senators as Weise tied the game and sent it to overtime.
Three things we learned
1. It didn’t result in a win, but Dave Cameron made the right move to start Craig Anderson. Andrew Hammond may have helped get the Senators to the playoffs, but he wasn’t going to help them win once they were there, and he hasn’t been helping them in this series. Anderson was magnificent on Sunday night, stopping 47 of the 49 shots he faced but simply did not get enough help from his teammates after the first 10 minutes of the game. When you only score one goal and ask your goalie to face 49 shots that is simply not good enough to win an NHL playoff game.
2. The one player that did consistently show up for the Senators was their captain, Erik Karlsson. He was all over the ice making things happen in the offensive and defensive zones and dishing out some massive hits. The difference in Ottawa’s play when he was on the ice versus when he was off the ice was night and day.
3. Dale Weise? Yes. Dale Weise. Of all the players in this game that were likely to score two goals in a 2-1 win, Weise was probably the last player that you might pick. In 258 career games he’s only scored 23 goals in his NHL career. Somehow, he has five in his past 19 playoff games. Hockey is a weird game sometimes.
Video of the game: Dale Weise. Overtime hero.
Tonight’s #NHLOT hero is… Dale Weise? #MTLvsOTT https://t.co/jh7jQEKJkj
— NHL (@NHL) April 20, 2015
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