Storylines abound after Sens beat Canadiens
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Pinto scores first NHL goal
In his ninth NHL game, Shane Pinto got his first career goal out of the way.
After Artem Zub's slap shot was saved by the right pad of Montreal's Jake Allen, the 20-year-old was on hand to hammer in the rebound at 11:35 of the first period.
"I wasn't gripping the stick too tight but I definitely wanted to get my first pretty soon," Pinto said. "I saw Zub go downhill so I decided to get to the far post and luckily it came right to me and I fired it pretty hard into the back of the net.
"If you watch the replay, I don't think I had to shoot it that hard but I'm just glad it went in."
Through those nine games, Pinto has three assists to go along with his goal while averaging 11:48 a night. And with each passing game, his comfort continues to grow at the NHL level.
"That was a big reason why I left North Dakota was to get these games in and see what I'm up against and see what I need to work on this summer," he said. "It's going to be good for me, definitely have a big summer, and come in confident and hopefully we have a good year."
Forsberg signs contract extension
In a season in which he's been a part of four organizations, Anton Forsberg won't have to worry about where he'll be come 2020-21.
The Swedish netminder signed a one-year contract extension with the Sens Wednesday.
"It's nice to know where I'm going to be next year especially after this season," Forsberg said. "It's really nice going home this summer and knowing where we're going to be. I'm familiar with the organization and it's been nothing but positive since I got here since day one so I'm really happy to be back."
Forsberg followed his contract signing up with a 30-save performance last night as he moved his record to 3-3-1 with a .917 save percentage and a 2.87 GAA in seven games with Ottawa. He also started one game for Belleville, on March 20, making 33 saves for the win.
The 28-year-old initially signed with Edmonton in the offseason, then was claimed on waivers by Carolina and then by Winnipeg before coming to the Senators via waivers on March 17.
Alsing debuts, Abramov returns
Swedish defenceman Olle Alsing became the sixth Ottawa Senator to make his NHL debut this season Wednesday night and the 25-year-old logged 12:05 over 17 shifts.
"Obviously, a dream come true," Alsing said of his debut. "It was fast out there but it was fun."
Alsing joins Jacob Bernard-Docker, Filip Gustavsson, Shane Pinto, Tim Stützle and Artem Zub as NHL debutants this season.
Additionally, Vitaly Abramov made his season debut Wednesday, entering the lineup at the last minute for fellow Russian Evgenii Dadonov who was a late scratch due to an upper-body injury. Abramov played 9:38.
"It was great feeling to be back in the NHL," Abramov said. "It's been a long time since my last game so I was happy about it."
Multi-point nights for Brannstrom and Zub
Both Erik Brannstrom and Artem Zub had their first multi-point efforts of their NHL careers Wednesday.
Brannstrom tallied three assists, all of which came in the first two periods, while Zub added two helpers including the primary assist on Pinto's first NHL goal.
With Josh Brown and Thomas Chabot both out, Brannstrom played a season-high 22:32 while Zub played 22:12, his fifth highest time on ice this season.
"Chabby plays nearly 30 minutes a night so it's a big loss but I thought we played well tonight and we'll keep building on that the last three games," Brannstrom said.
For Brannstrom, it was only the second time he has tallied three assists in North America as he also achieved that feat on March 16 2019 for the Belleville Senators in a 6-5 shootout win over Laval.
