It took three games, two of them shoot out affairs, but finally Cory Clouston has his first win as an NHL head coach as his Ottawa Senators survived an encounter with the Buffalo Sabres on Saturday night.
The Sens looked to be on a pace to give their new coach his first win outright, taking a two to nothing lead before slipping into their old ways a bit and allowing the Sabres to battle back at Scotiabank Place.
It was in the shoot out however that they redeemed themselves, after a fast flying overtime period the Senators selected shooters tried some new moves on Sabers goaltender Ryan Miller.
At the other end of the rink, rookie goaltender Brian Elliot made one save during the shoot out, good enough to secure the win for the Sens and give Clouston something to put on the mantle, or at least on his office desk if he doesn't own a mantle.
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With the win, the Senators can prepare for their upcoming road trip with a bit of confidence, something that has been in short supply over the last few weeks and even more so after the dramatic turn of events at the start of the week which saw former head coach Craig Hartsburg terminated.
Clouston's first two attempts to get in the win column came up a little short, the most recent one a shoot out loss that provided a bit of hope that his team was starting to come together, Saturday night's win adds more confidence to that belief.
The next seven days will take the Sens to five out of town locations, an opportunity to regroup as team and try and gain some focus on the remainder of the season without the hot house atmosphere that has become Ottawa, even in a cold February.
National Post-- Shootout victory helps Senators stop the bleeding
Ottawa Sun-- Shootout shot in the arm
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