Regular Season, Game 40: Hurricanes at Ottawa Senators

The Hurricanes are taking a quick trip north of the border for the first time since mid-December to take on the Ottawa Senators for the second time this season. The Senators beat the Canes in Raleigh on December 2nd, 3-2 after the Canes came back from a 2-0 deficit in the third period. Alex Formenton scored Ottawa's first two goals before Teuvo Teravainen scored on the power play and Andrei Svechnikov tied it 1:45 later. The tie was short-lived as Josh Norris scored less than 20 seconds after the tying goal and Anton Forsberg finished with 47 saves to give Ottawa the upset victory. The Canes blew a two-goal lead in the third period on Tuesday night but managed to score in overtime thanks to Sebastian Aho, his second of the night, to win 4-3. Andrei Svechnikov recorded two assists to extend his point streak to five games, all of which have been multi-point games. Tony DeAngelo also extended his streak to five games with an assist on Aho's first goal in the third period. Frederik Andersen, who played well in the win over Vegas, will be getting the start again tonight. The only notable change to the lineup will be Ethan Bear replacing Brendan Smith on defense. 

Ottawas has won their last two games, including a 5-0 thrashing of the Buffalo Sabres on Tuesday night. Tyler Ennis recorded a hat trick and Matt Murray recorded a 32-save shutout in a penalty-filled contest (26 total minutes in penalties). The big story, however, was the injury to the Senators' leader in points, Drake Batherson. He was violently interfered with by Sabres goalie Aaron Dell during the game and was diagnosed with a high ankle sprain that will keep him out for about two months. It was a garbage play from Dell and it is a major loss for Ottawa. They still have some amazing young talent in the lineup and are still a tough team to play. Murray will go again for the Senators two nights after his shutout win. He's been good historically against the Canes, going 7-3-1 with a 1.79 goals against average and .946 save percentage, but he hasn't faced the Canes since 2019. I also want to give a huge shoutout to Senators' forward Austin Watson after the Sens video team put out a clip from inside the locker room after their win on Tuesday night with the team acknowledging him being three years sober. I hope it gets mentioned by Mike and Tripp tonight during the broadcast. The Canes know how tough a team this is to play. They've lost once already and don't want to lose again with the way the rest of the division is playing right now. They have a huge weekend ahead of them, but they need to get the job done tonight. 

1st Period

Scoring

None

Thoughts

The Senators made a good late push, getting as close of a deflected shot off the goalpost from breaking the ice. The Canes were probably the better team as a whole, but the Sens may have gotten some better chances. The power plays were abysmal for the Canes, generating little to nothing in four minutes. There were some good hits, but someone to keep an eye on is Josh Norris. He went down after a hit by Andrei Svechnikov that resulted in him going back-first into the boards. He's Ottawa's leading goal-scorer, which would be a huge loss with Batherson out of the lineup too. Both goalies looked really good, but Andersen wasn't tested too much during the period. Matt Murray withstood everything the Canes threw at him. Someone's going to score eventually, but the Canes really need to get out in front of this one. 

2nd Period

Scoring

(CAR) 2:31- Derek Stepan (6) (assisted by Brady Skjei (10) & Jesperi Kotkaniemi (11))

(OTT) 4:31- Nick Paul (7) (unassisted)

Thoughts

With Norris out for the rest of the game, the Senators definitely didn't look like a team playing a man down. They out-chanced the Hurricanes the entire period, outshooting the Canes 20-6. The Canes broke the ice first with a beautiful deflection from Derek Stepan, but it only took two minutes for Ottawa to tie it after Nick Paul's chance deflected into the net off Tony DeAngelo. I'm not sure what it is about this team that is making it so hard for the Canes to get more offense going. Both goalies were spectacular again, especially after allowing goals. Jordan Staal is so snake-bitten right now. He rang the post all alone in front of Murray at the beginning of the period. Nino Niederreiter had some great chances too that just missed the net. There needs to be a big difference in the effort to generate more chances. I'm looking for the Aho and Trocheck lines to really get things going in the final 20 minutes. 

3rd Period

Scoring

(OTT) 5:50- Alex Formenton (9) (assisted by Victor Mete (6) & Adam Gaudette (6)) 

(CAR) 16:38- Nino Niederreiter (13) (assisted by Jaccob Slavin (20) & Vincent Trocheck (19))

Thoughts

The Canes gave up the early goal in the period but fought hard to force overtime and earn another point in the standings. Formenton has the Canes' number this season after deflecting a shot past Andersen. That was all Andersen would allow though as he made some huge saves to keep it a one-goal game. Nino Niederreiter fought hard for a rebound that squeaked through Murray and buried it late in the period to tie it. The bodies were flying late in the period on both sides. This feels a little bit different than last night only because it was the Canes that forced overtime this time. I just hope they can repeat history. 

Overtime

Scoring

None

Thoughts

Things got hairy with the Slavin penalty, but Andersen made two big saves during the abbreviated kill. The Canes had one really good possession in the offensive zone, with Ottawa controlling the play. We'll get our first shootout of the season after a relatively boring overtime period. 

Shootout

(OTT)- Tyler Ennis stopped by the toe of Andersen

(CAR)- Vincent Trocheck stopped trying to go five-hole by Murray

(OTT)- Tim Stutzle tried to go five-hole on Andersen but does way too much with it

(CAR)- Andrei Svechnikov scores on the blocker side off the post 

(OTT)- Brady Tkachuk is stopped with the pad by Andersen

Canes' Three Stars of the Game

Third Star- Andrei Svechnikov (Shootout Winner, 19:33 TOI)

He only had one shot on Murray and his point streak is going to come to an end, but Svech looked like he was buzzing for most of this game. He led the forwards in time on ice and was very physical. Though the streak came to an end, he scored the only goal in the shootout, helping earn the second point for the Canes tonight. 

Second Star- Nino Niederreiter (Goal)

I noted during the second period that he had a few chances that went just wide of the net. He rode that momentum from the second period into the third and scored the game-tying goal late in the frame by fighting in front of the net and pouncing on the rebound. He helped secure the first point on a night where the Senators were the better team. 

First Star- Frederik Andersen (37 Saves on 39 Shots, Stopped All 3 Shots in the Shootout)

Both goals scored tonight were on deflections that Andersen didn't have a chance on. Outside of those two goals, Andersen carried the team on his back all night and is the real reason they won this game. Ottawa controlled the play for most of the final two periods and overtime, but he shut the door. Add the perfect performance in the shootout and Andersen had himself an excellent night. 

Final Thoughts

This is a game that the Canes never felt like they had total control over which probably says more about the Senators than it does themselves. Ottawa played down a forward for the final 45 minutes of this game, but they were the better team for most of the night. Regardless, the Canes are the team that will leave the empty arena tonight with the second point as they head back to Raleigh for a back-to-back this weekend. Both Svechnikov and DeAngelo had their point streaks ended tonight, but I'm sure they'll take the win. The set over the weekend will feature second matchups with the New Jersey Devils and San Jose Sharks on Saturday and Sunday. Saturday is a special night with it being Whalers night, so there'll be some added excitement in the air. The Canes have lost to both of their opponents this weekend this season, most notably the 7-4 loss to the Devils last weekend. It'll be a big set of games as they're the last two before the All-Star Break. The Canes have games in hand, but they don't mean anything if they don't win those games. Tonight's win should catapult them back into first in the Metro with New York and Pittsburgh with a few games in hand on each, a Rangers loss, and a Penguins overtime loss tonight. It's a big weekend for the Canes, so the hope is that they can head into the break with a lot of momentum.