A Capital Victory

The Ottawa Senators came into their home opener against the Minnesota Wild with a record of 0-2 and frankly, no one was really surprised. They were struggling in the few seasons past, and are most likely to continue the struggle for a little while longer.
Sens fans were not in a pretty mood at the beginning of the game, not only booing former Senator Dany Heatley as he skated onto the ice, but also current roster member Sergei Gonchar.

The first period didn't give the fans much more to cheer about, as the Wild proceeded to build up a 2-goal lead. Halfway through the second, youngster Nick Foligno put a wrister past Niklas Backstrom to cut the deficit in half.

But the third period was where the game really got interesting. The Wild's Nick Johnson scored an unassisted goal in the first 2 minutes of play, but was answered by --not one, but two!-- goals from the Senators' Chris Neil and Colin Greening. Craig Anderson managed to stave away a third regulation loss for his team to send the game to a shootout.

Milan Michalek and Jason Spezza potted their first two attempts easily, while Mikko Koivu's failure to score put the game in Daniel Alfredsson's hands. And those very capable hands delivered, as the captain made no mistake as he calmly but beautifully tucked the puck right over Backstrom's shoulder. The team captain scoring the GAME-WINNING SHOOTOUT GOAL: nothing says storybook ending quite like it.

It was a much-needed win for the Senators, and it couldn't have happened in a better place than on home ice.
The team plays another home game against the Colorado Avalanche before hitting the road to face against one of the NHL's elite teams, the Washington Capitals.

Ottawa Senators vs Minnesota Wild, October 11th, 2011