2022-23 Regular Season, Game 80: Hurricanes (50-20-9) at Ottawa Senators

The Hurricanes need to find a way to make something of this road trip after dropping the first two games in Nashville and Buffalo. They were helped out a little bit by the Boston Bruins on Saturday night by beating the New Jersey Devils, so it's time to capitalize on it. The loss in Buffalo on Saturday afternoon was a major bummer because it felt like the Canes could've and should've won it. They allowed an early goal but scored twice in 22 seconds courtesy of Seth Jarvis, breaking a long goalless drought, and Jesper Fast to close the period up 2-1. The Sabres got a power-play goal early in the second period to tie it back up before Sebastian Aho scored his 35th of the season to give the Canes the lead once again. Rasmus Dahlin, who was easily the star of the game, made a beautiful play walking down from the line to set up Mittelstadt for his second of the game late in the second to tie it once again before intermission. Early in the third, Dahlin saved a goal off the stick of Martin Necas before the Sabres went the other and scored the eventual game-winner from Tage Thompson. Devon Levi earned his third win in four starts as the Canes once again came up short. While Antti Raanta's point streak came to an end, he played a solid game for the Canes, stopping 26 shots in the loss. Tonight, the Canes look to put the pressure on the Devils by earning two points and looking to sweep another season series. 

Projected Lines/Pairs

Teuvo Teravainen-Sebastian Aho-Jesse Puljujarvi

Seth Jarvis-Jesperi Kotkaniemi-Martin Necas

Jordan Martinook-Jordan Staal-Jesper Fast

Stefan Noesen-Jack Drury-Derek Stepan

Jaccob Slavin-Brent Burns

Brady Skjei-Brett Pesce

Shayne Gostisbehere-Jalen Chatfield

Frederik Andersen

Antti Raanta

Injuries/Scratches- Paul Stastny (healthy), Calvin de Haan (healthy), Dylan Coghlan (healthy),

IR- Andrei Svechnikov (Torn ACL), Max Pacioretty (Achilles), Ondrej Kase (concussion)

Stefan Noesen will return to the lineup tonight after missing the Buffalo game with a lower-body injury. This will make Paul Stastny the healthy extra for the game. Frederik Andersen will get the start in the net for the Canes tonight. He's dropped four of his last five decisions (1-3-1), including a 3-0 loss to Nashville on Thursday night. He's 9-6-4 in 19 starts against the Senators in his career. 

Tonight's Opponent: Ottawa Senators (38-35-7, 83 Points, 6th in the Atlantic)

Ottawa's loss on Thursday to the Florida Panthers officially eliminated them from playoff contention, pushing their postseason drought to six seasons. With nothing left to play for, the Senators are free to go crazy and start having fun. That's exactly what they did on Saturday against the Tampa Bay Lightning. The Senators picked on Briant Elliot early and often in this one, starting it just 30 seconds in the game thanks to Drake Batherson. Alex Killorn responded on the power play a few minutes later but former Hurricane Julien Gauthier gave the Senators the lead again just past the halfway point in the first. Another former Hurricane found the back of the net to open the second as Patrick Brown made it 3-1 for Ottawa. The Lightning would take advantage of a 5-on-3 given to them as Branden Hagel and Victor Hedman each scored on the power play to tie it 3-3. Ottawa would get back ahead of Tampa Bay before the end of the period with Alex DeBrincat scoring a power-play goal of his own 17 seconds before the intermission. Egor Sokolov would add to the lead with his first NHL goal and point to start the third. Brayden Point got one back for Tampa Bay but it wouldn't be enough as Mark Kastelic responded and Claude Giroux scored into the empty net to give the Senators the 7-4 victory. Cam Talbot needed to make just 20 stops as he earned the win, his 17th of the season. 

Last Meeting v. Carolina- It was just six days ago that these two met for the second time this season in Raleigh. Leevi Merilainen made his NHL debut and the Canes didn't seem to care that much. Jesperi Kotkaniemi opened the scoring just 1:50 into the game, redirecting a pass from the point by Brady Skjei. Toward the end of the period, Skjei would score one on the power play to push the lead to 2-0. The Senators fought back from there as Merilainen started to settle into the game. Giroux would finally break through Antti Raanta in the second period to cut the Canes' lead in half. Brady Tkachuk would tie it up early in the third on the power play, capitalizing on a beautiful passing play with DeBrincat and Batherson. Both Merilainen and Raanta would keep it tied at two as the two sides each earned at least a point. In overtime, Martin Necas returned to his element and released a missile that would get some help from the iron and beat Merilainen to secure the win and the second point. 

Ottawa's Starting Goalie: Mads Sogaard (7-6-2, 3.37 GAA, .887 SV%)- The Senators will send their backup out to face the Hurricanes again, this time deploying Sogaard. This will be the third different goalie the Senators have thrown at the Canes this season. Sogaard had started to recover from a five-game losing streak he suffered in March, winning his next two stars. However, he's seven goals on the last 34 shots he's faced. His last start was a 3-0 loss to Toronto on April 1 before serving as the backup to Merilainen on Thursday against Florida and allowing four goals on 18 shots. This will be his first time facing the Hurricanes and the 20th game of his NHL career. 

Ottawa Player to Watch: Jake Sanderson- While he doesn't have the ties to the team as a former player, Sanderson's dad, Geoff, has the eighth-most goals in Whalers/Hurricanes history during his eight-season run with the franchise. Sanderson is another in a great crop of rookies this season and he appears to be a big part of Ottawa's future defensively. He's put in some solid work on offense this season too. He's tied for tenth among all rookies and second among all rookie defensemen with 31 points, while currently fourth among all rookies with 27 assists. Add him to a group that features Thomas Chabot and Jakob Chychrun when healthy and this could be a tough Ottawa defense in the future. 

Scoring Summary

1st Period

(OTT) 5:51- Claude Giroux (33) (assisted by Brady Tkachuk (46) & Tim Stutzle (50))

(OTT) 17:26- Tim Stutzle (38) (assisted by Claude Giroux (44) & Brady Tkachuk (47))

2nd Period

(CAR) 15:30- Brett Pesce (5) (assisted by Martin Necas (42) & Brady Skjei (19))

3rd Period

(CAR) 2:23- Brent Burns (15) PP (assisted by Seth Jarvis (23) & Martin Necas (43))

(OTT) 9:37- Claude Giroux (34) (assisted by Shane Pinto (15) & Erik Brannstrom (16))

Let's Talk About the Game

A road trip where you're playing three teams that are not in the playoff picture provides you three chances to get points in the standings. The Canes got none. It's simply amazing in all the worst ways imaginable. I'll be honest with you, this game changed with the goalie interference call on Stefan Noesen in the third period. The Canes were on a power play when Noesen was called for making contact with the head of Mads Sogaard. Was there contact with the head? Yes. Do I think Sogaard helped it along? Yes. Is it ridiculous that Noesen got an additional two for unsportsmanlike conduct? Without a doubt. It negates the man advantage for the Canes and Ottawa scores 14 seconds later to eventually win the game. The Senators ran the show to begin the game. In each game during this road trip, the Canes allowed an early goal and tonight it came courtesy of Claude Giroux after a beautiful pass from Brady Tkachuk along the boards to get the Senators rolling early. Late in the period, Giroux would be on the giving end of the play as he fed Tim Stutzle to record his 1000th point and give Ottawa a 2-0 lead shortly before the intermission. 

The second period would feature the two sides trading power play. The Canes would take the first penalty of the period and would kill it off but Shane Pinto would get a puck past Frederik Andersen almost immediately after it ended. Rod Brind'Amour was very quick to challenge the play and it would be the right call as the Senators entered the zone early. The Canes would then draw a power play of their own though it would come up empty. Jordan Martinook wasted little time getting the penalty kill back on the ice as he was called for boarding Pinto nine seconds after the failed power play. The kill was easily the best part of the Canes' game tonight as they killed it off again. Tkachuk and Jack Drury would get into it, causing both men to take the worn path to the box. During the 4-on-4, the Canes would find some life. Martin Necas carried the puck almost the entire length of the ice before dropping a pass for Brett Pesce. The defenseman brought the puck to the net and sniped it over the glove of Sogaard to get the Canes on the board and create some life on the bench. Sebastian Aho would be called for his second penalty of the period in the final minutes but the kill did it again as the Canes entered the intermission down a goal. 

At this point, I noticed that this was following a very similar script to the game in Raleigh last week. That meant the next thing that was going to happen was a Canes goal on the power play, which almost made me laugh a little because the thought of the power play scoring felt impossible. Almost as if to prove me wrong, the Canes would draw an early power play and Brent Burns would tie it was a blast from the point that beat Sogaard to draw the Canes even with plenty of time left. The Canes would draw two more penalties to set up a 5-on-3 opportunity to take the lead. Ottawa would kill the first penalty before the aforementioned Noesen penalty was called for goalie interference. 14 seconds after the call, Giroux buried his second of the game on the backhand to get the Senators back ahead. From there, Sogaard was fantastic. He stopped so many shots that should've been goals. His biggest of the night came on Shayne Gostisbehere on a beautiful seam pass after he'd rung the post a few seconds earlier. Sogaard stood tall during the final flurry from the Canes as he willed his team to a victory to push the Canes' losing streak to three games. 

I won't go as far as to say that the Canes deserved to win this game because they didn't based on their first 40 minutes. Ottawa was the better team through two periods and they were a little lucky to be down just a goal heading into the third. The Canes tilted the game back in their favor early in the third period with the power-play goal and had they capitalized on the 5-on-3, we're singing a much different tune. It was a noticeably rough night for Aho and Teuvo Teravainen. Aho spent some time in the box and never felt like a major threat until the very end of the game. Teravainen struggled to handle the puck all night. I don't think Andersen had a bad night. The Senators got him moving side-to-side on the two goals in the first period and outside of the backhand from Giroux, Andersen was very solid. He made some huge saves to keep the team in the game and give them a chance to win the game. The power play scored a goal but you would've liked to see them convert more. The penalty kill was fantastic, going a perfect 6-for-6 tonight. They've been excellent in the regular season the last few seasons, so the hope is that it'll translate into success in the postseason. This was the Canes' game in hand over the Devils and they failed to get anything. It puts a ton of pressure on them to win these last two games. It's not impossible but they need to make a major change heading into tomorrow's game. 

Canes' Three Stars of the Game

Third Star- Seth Jarvis (Assist)

Jarvis' night is proof that being a -2 isn't indicative of how well he truly played. I thought he was the most lethal forward the Canes had in the offensive zone all night. He tied for the team lead with five shots, including a few chances in tight that Sogaard robbed him on. Jarvis added a few hits and a block as he rounded out his night. I think the goal on Saturday will be a huge building block heading into the postseason.

Second Star- Brent Burns (Goal)

When you desperately needed the power play to show some signs of life, Burns delivered in a big way. It drew the Canes back even and gave them life in a game where they otherwise didn't have any. He also was in the group that finished the night with five shots and he too could've added more than just one goal. He was crucial on the penalty kill also, spending over four minutes on the ice on the kill.

First Star- Martin Necas (2 Assists)

While I'm not completely certain Necas is back to playing like he has been, seeing him add a couple of points was nice. He's now over 70 points for the season and he's likely to finish the season with the team lead. Necas still had his moments with the puck where it looked like his legs were going faster than his brain but he produced positive outcomes tonight in an otherwise tough game for the Canes. 

What's Next for the Canes

There is no time to pout or feel sorry for yourself as the Canes return home for the final home game of the regular season. They'll play host to the Detroit Red Wings, who also played tonight. Detroit was demolished 6-1 by the Stars with Ville Husso lasting only 12:10 after allowing three goals on five shots. Magnus Hellberg served as the backup and he finished the game, allowing three goals on 17 shots. David Perron scored Detroit's only goal of the night late in the second period. The only good thing in the Canes' favor is their performance in the second half of back-to-backs. They hold the third-best point percentage (9-2-2, .769) in the league with no days of rest, behind only Colorado and Boston. Detroit is 6-7-1 in similar situations. Though Hellberg was the backup tonight, my guess is that Alex Nedeljkovic is going to get the start in Raleigh. The Canes will end their season against the Florida Panthers, who will be in desperate need of a win in their finale as they try and clinch a playoff spot of their own. They currently hold a one-point lead for the 1st Wild Card over the Islanders but Pittsburgh has a game in hand over both teams. Florida won't be in action until the game on Thursday. 

As for the division race, there is still hope for the Canes. This is what needs to happen based on the final two games as they try to hold off the Devils and the Rangers. 

To beat New York:

The Canes need at least one point in their final two games to finish ahead of New York. The Rangers have 107 points, two behind the Canes, with one game left on Thursday against Toronto. The most they can finish with is 109 points, the same as the Canes currently, meaning one point pushes the Canes to 110 and ensures they'll play at home to open the series if the two teams meet in the first round. 

To beat New Jersey:

This is where things get a little trickier. Currently, the Canes hold a one-point lead in the division as both teams are set to play on Tuesday and Thursday. 

The Canes can clinch the division as early as tomorrow if they beat Detroit in any fashion and the Devils lose to Buffalo in regulation (Canes 111, Devils 108). 

If both teams win tomorrow (Canes 111, Devils 110), then the Canes need to win on Thursday to guarantee the division crown no matter what (113 to no better than 112) because if the Canes only get one point (112) and the Devils win on Tuesday and Thursday (112), they win the division on a tiebreaker since the Devils have one more regulation win than the Canes at the moment (38-37 Devils as of tonight). Even if both teams end up with the same number of regulation wins, the Devils have two more regulation + overtime wins than the Canes as of now (48-46 Devils). As long as the Canes finish these last two games with the same number of points or more than the Devils, they will host a Wild Card team in the first round. 

What's Next for the Teams in the Playoff Hunt

New Jersey (108 Points, 2 GR, 1 Point Behind the Canes for 1st)- The Devils' loss to Boston on Saturday gave Canes fans a slight breather but the pressure is back on. They'll face a Buffalo team that is playing the second half of a back-to-back tomorrow night before finishing in Washington. 

New York (R) (107 Points, 1 GR, 2 Points out of 1st, 1 Point out of 2nd)- The Rangers made up a little bit of ground on the Canes and the Devils, though they'd end up losing 3-2 in a shootout to Buffalo. They will finish their regular season at home against Toronto on Thursday. 

Florida (92 Points, 1 GR, 1st WC, 1 Point ahead of New York)- The Panthers saw their winning streak come to an end tonight but they managed to pick up a point in a 2-1 overtime loss to Toronto. It keeps them a point up for now and gets them closer to the playoffs. They'll host Carolina on Thursday to finish the season. 

New York (I) (91 Points, 1 GR, 1 Point Ahead of Pittsburgh)- Despite the Capitals playing short-handed, the Islanders failed to get much past Darcy Keumper, losing 5-2 in a huge blow to their playoff hopes. They'll have one more left against Montreal on Wednesday and a loss could doom them for good.

Pittsburgh (90 Points, 2 GR, 1 Point Out with a game in hand on both WC teams)- The Penguins are probably feeling pretty good right now with both Florida and New York losing tonight. They'll have two chances to jump them both against two of the worst teams in the league.