Alex Burrows scores twice in Senators debut; Ottawa beats Avalanche 2-1

“I said (Thursday) morning it would be the best day if we could win, and we found a way to get it done. I was really impressed by the way everyone competed, blocking shots and paying the price. I like the way we played. There’s a lot of good players here and if we play the right way we’ll have success.”

Hoffman had two assists for the Senators (34-22-6), while Craig Anderson had a relatively quiet night needing only 22 saves for the win. He did, however, make a great right-pad stop off John Mitchell who was alone in tight on Anderson early in the third period.

Rene Bourque scored the lone goal for the Avalanche (17-42-3), who were kept in the game with a strong performance from Calvin Pickard who made 40 saves.

Bourque scored at 5:25 of the third period breaking Anderson’s shutout bid as he took a pass from Nathan MacKinnon and put a shot over Anderson’s shoulder and in.

“It was a tight game all the way through and we were right there at the end with a big third period goal. Their goalie made some good saves and you have to give them some credit. They played a great game,” Pickard said.

The Senators led 2-0 after two periods and had outshot Colorado 30-16 over that span including 17-6 in the second period. The Avalanche didn’t get their first shot of the second until the period was half over.

Burrows scored his second goal of the game at 15:41 of the second to put Ottawa ahead 2-0, but it was the work of Hoffman that allowed the goal to happen. That and some very lazy play by Colorado.

Hoffman went behind the Avalanche net on a one-man forecheck and stole the puck behind the net before finding Burrows streaking in unchecked from the blue line. Burrows beat Pickard with a quick shot with all five Colorado skaters in the defensive zone against just two Senators.

“It’s very nice to see him come in here and starting his career with the Senators off that way,” Hoffman said of Burrows, then adding the win was the biggest thing.

“That’s what we wanted, especially coming off our four-game road trip. We wanted to start this home swing on a good note and obviously the two points are big.”

Hoffman also collected an assist on Burrows’ first goal as a member of the Senators. After getting the puck from Hoffman, Burrows skated along the left wall and beat Pickard with a shot from the far edge of the faceoff circle at 8:39 of the opening period.

Notes — Jyrki Jokipakka, Fredrik Claesson and Chris DiDomenico were the scratches for the Senators Thursday. Sven Andrighetto and Cody Goloubef were scratches for the Avalanche…Erik Karlsson played in his 311th consecutive game on Thursday, tying him with Chris Phillips for the most in franchise history…Avs forward Matt Duchene has gone five straight games without registering a point…JT Compher made his Avalanche and NHL debut Thursday…The Senators will play the second of a three-game homestand when they host the Columbus Blue Jackets Saturday. The Avs will conclude a three-game road trip Saturday against the Winnipeg Jets

Darren Desaulniers, The Canadian Press

by Canadian Press

Alex Burrows scores twice in Senators debut; Ottawa beats Avalanche 2-1

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