OTTAWA, Ontario (AP) - Chicago goaltender Scott Darling and Ottawa netminder Mike Condon had to put their friendship on hold Thursday night.
Darling made 33 saves and Richard Panik scored the tiebreaking goal late in the third period to lift the Blackhawks over Condon and the Senators 2-1.
Panik beat Condon on the power play at 16:59 of the third, finding the back of the net on a one-timer off a feed from Patrick Kane, who was behind the net.
“It’s fun. We’ve been friends for 10 or 12 years, and it’s the fifth time we’ve played each other in pro and we love it. Second NHL game, but we’ve played each other twice in the (American Hockey League) and once in the (ECHL),” Darling said.
“We’re great friends and we both want to win. I’m happy he played well but I’m happy I won.”
Duncan Keith had the other goal for the Blackhawks, who got their second straight win.
Condon made 26 saves for the Senators, who failed to jump into first place in the Atlantic Division. Kyle Turris scored the lone goal.
Keith opened the scoring 8:04 into the third period. Condon made the initial save on the shot but the rebound bounced off a collection of bodies in front of the net before crossing the goal line.
“I thought the rebound was going far right so I tried to extend, then it hit a skate and went the other way,” Condon said. “I tried to lay back and cover it up, but the guy tapped it in.”
Turris tied the game at 11:23 on the power play with a one-timer from the right side that beat a screened Darling over the shoulder with Bobby Ryan on top of the crease.
“It was good to take advantage of an opportunity there. I was just trying to get the puck through because we’ve been struggling on the (power play),” Turris said.
“It’s a frustrating result. I thought we played a pretty solid, structured game, it just got away at the end there.”
Neither team was able to score despite firing 43 combined shots on goal through two periods.
The Senators had 21 shots on Darling through the first two periods but another 23 were blocked by Blackhawks skaters. Condon made 22 saves while his teammates blocked 10 additional shots.
Condon’s best save was a glove grab against Artemi Panarin in the second after Senators forward Derick Brassard tried to clear the puck behind the goal but it bounced off the side of the net right to Panarin in the slot.
“There wasn’t much of back and forth and it was kind of a weird game. It seemed slow and boring in a lot of ways,” Keith said.
The Senators had back-to-back power plays late in the second as Marian Hossa was called for holding just eight seconds after Marcus Kruger finished serving his interference penalty.
Ottawa had two shots on each of those power plays with no luck. Cody Ceci had no luck either as he was staring at a wide-open net from the face-off circle but the puck jumped over his stick.
NOTES: Jyrki Jokipakka, Christopher DiDomenico, Mark Stone, Mark Borowiecki and Craig Anderson were scratches for the Senators. … Michal Kempny, Tomas Jurco, Artem Anisimov, Michal Rozsival and Dennis Rasmussen sat out for the Blackhawks. … Hossa played his 1,300th game.
UP NEXT
Blackhawks: At Toronto on Saturday night.
Senators: Host Montreal on Saturday night in the opener of a two-night, home-and-home set.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.