Fan Appreciation Night a night to remember

On a night all about giving back to the fans who showed out to support the Sens all season long, it was truly fitting that it was a sold out crowd at Canadian Tire Centre, the 18th of the season, for Fan Appreciation Night.

The party got started before the gates opened at Canadian Tire Centre with the plaza outside Gate 1. Live entertainment from local band The Vanturas, face painting, the beer tent open offering $5 beers, activities and more kick started the vibes before fans filtered inside.

On entering the venue, Sens fans got a pretty sweet keepsake as the Sens handed out a Tim Stützle bobblehead presented by Canadian Tire to the first 10,000 fans who arrived Saturday night. The Stützle bobblehead was the second one this season after the Senators handed out a Brady Tkachuk bobblehead earlier this season.

The giveaways hardly stopped there as the Senators had $250,000 worth of giveaways for fans to take home on the night. With QR codes around the arena, contests during TV timeouts and intermissions, and more Sens fans had the opportunity to leave Canadian Tire Centre with something.

Some of the highlights included pizza for a year provided by Gabriel Pizza, coffee for a year provided by Tim Hortons, over $5000 in Canadian Tire gift cards, a round trip flight courtesy of Air Canada, and so much more!

As if the game itself and pre-game entertainment wasn't enough, the Senators also concluded their season concert series with Juno Award nominee Preston Pablo hitting the stage for the first and second intermissions.

While the Senators may not have gotten the result they wanted the fans were treated to one heck of a show nonetheless. After mounting a tremendous comeback effort that saw them go from down 4-1 to just inches away from tying the game with about 30 seconds remaining after Shane Pinto snuck the puck past Jake Allen to hit the post. 

A major part of that comeback effort was courtesy of the sheer willpower of Brady Tkachuk who potted the Sens third goal of the night after corralling the puck off the sideboards in transition all by himself to beat Allen on a breakaway. Of course, the biggest impact of Tkachuk's game was the physicality he brought firing up the team and fans as they broke out in Brady chants after he laid another crushing hit en route to his NHL record setting 16 hit night. 

Tkachuk who always takes the opportunity to voice his appreciation for the fans who support the team night in and night out, seemed to make it a personal matter that the fans were going to get a show to remember.

Between the giveaways, the shows, and of course the game itself the Senators gave the fans a memorable show and despite the loss a lot to look forward to. As the season winds to an end fans will have one final opportunity to see the Sens in action when they take on the Montreal Canadiens April 13 for our annual Jerseys off our Back night.