SNAPSHOTS: Talbot and Senators surprised shutout goal wasn’t canceled

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EL SEGUNDO, Calif. — Cam Talbot loves a good challenge.

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But the Ottawa Senators goaltender never likes his ratings when it comes to the coaching staff challenging for interference after an opposing goal.

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Talbot, 35, has been in the National Hockey League for a long time and figures that while he’s been in 10-15 challenges in his career, his winning percentage is pretty low.

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Asked by Color Analyst Gord Wilson On Saturday, how many times his teams had won challenges, Talbot didn’t miss a beat.

« Not enough, » he said. “Maybe one or two. For some reason, I’m not the guy getting these calls. I do not know what it is.

Attempting to record a shutout with the Senators for the first time since acquiring the Minnesota Wild this offseason, Talbot made 31 saves in a 5-1 win over the Anaheim Ducks on Friday.

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An Anaheim goal MaxJones with 2:50 left in the game was challenged by the Senators because they wanted to preserve Talbot’s shutout. Unfortunately, it was not knocked down even though it looked like there was interference in the crease.

“We got the win. That’s what really matters,” Talbot said.

Senators video coaches Mike King and Evan Mathias study this stuff religiously, which is why the club is so successful.

“The call came from behind. Evan and Mike haven’t missed a thing since they’ve been here,” the Senators head coach said. DJ Smith said. “They said it was goalie interference and I may have challenged it anyway just for the sake of Talbot and his chance for a shutout.

“We are clearly fighting for him at this point in the game, and so are the guys. We didn’t get the call, but he played well enough to have a shutout and we wanted to give him a chance.

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BLUELINE HELP

Get a defender Thomas Chabot returning to the lineup against the Ducks was a huge boost for the Senators.

He missed five games after suffering a concussion on a hit of Travis Konecny of the Philadelphia Flyers on November 5, but returned to play 25 minutes in Anaheim on Friday.

Chabot made the difference by partnering with Artem Zub. It was the first time they had played together since Oct. 27, and the Senators went 2-9-1 without them. Zub missed eight games with an unspecified upper body condition.

« (Chabot) has been one of the best defenders in this league for many years and certainly since I’ve been here, » the captain said. Brady Tkachuk said. « Getting him back definitely created a spark and energy for us. He’s an unreal player and leader for us.

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« Finding him, and finding them together, is huge for our group. »

Chabot was scheduled to play Wednesday, when the Senators lost 4-1 to the Vegas Golden Knights, but was unable to obtain medical clearance to participate in that game. The decision was made to skate him on Thursday and then, after taking the pre-game warm-up on Friday, the final decision was made that he could play.

« You find yourself in situations where you start skating and you feel good, but then little things start to bother you and you don’t want to force it, » Chabot said. “There are so many games left… At the end of the day, any guy that’s injured just wants to come back as soon as he can.

« It sucks not playing, but I think I did the right thing coming back (Friday). It gave me another day of skating, another day of treatment and you’re more confident. smells better on ice.

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Having Zub and Chabot together helped stabilize the blue line, and Zub scored his second goal of the season to give the Senators a 4-0 lead.

“We started the season together and I think we played good hockey. Then we got injured,” Chabot said. « Coming back, the way we can play the game together has been good. We were talking a lot on the bench and trying to find each other.

« To see him score that goal was huge and we didn’t give up much defensively. Just for the first game back together, I thought that was great.

THE LAST WORDS

As Talbot takes his day off the ice on Saturday, the goaltender Anton Forsberg was on the ice to practice at the Toyota Sports Complex. « He has the ability to save tomorrow, » Smith said. “If he’s not 100%, he won’t be. We have (Kevin Mandolese) here, so he’s going to back off. (Forsberg) getting closer” … If the Senators want to have more success, they need to clean up their act. Ottawa is the third most penalized team in the NHL behind the Minnesota Wild and the Ducks. The club ranks sixth in minor penalties imposed and 17th in the 32-team league in fatal disadvantages… Forward Tim Stutzle is confident the Senators can capitalize on the effort in Anaheim. « I hate to lose, but at the end of the day, it’s really frustrating to watch us play good hockey and little mistakes decide the game, » Stutzle said Saturday. “We always look at the top teams in the league and we’ve talked about having to play harder in our end and giving our goalies a better chance of winning those games for us. Some games there is a lot of traffic in front of their goalkeepers and we have to do that for our goalkeepers.

bgarrioch@postmedia.com

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