The Ottawa Senators got a first-hand look at how playoff-bound teams protect multi-goal leads on Saturday night.
The Carolina Hurricanes jumped out to a 4-0 lead and then expertly shut things down the rest of the way, skating to a 4–1 win at Canadian Tire Centre. Seth Jarvis led the way for Carolina with a goal and an assist, while Brandon Bussi, a Canes’ waiver claim earlier this season, stopped 35 shots.
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Ottawa has now lost four of its last five games, and three of the losses feature multi-goal Sens leads. The shot clock did little to tell the real story, as despite outshooting the Hurricanes 36–19, the Senators were never truly in the game.
William Carrier opened the scoring less than four minutes into the game. The Senators were in the middle of a wholesale line change, and Jordan Spence drifted way out of position, allowing an easy 2-on-0 rush that Carrier finished off for his sixth goal of the season.
Less than two minutes later, Jarvis was left all alone in the slot. Alex Nikishin threaded a pass to him through traffic, and Jarvis beat James Reimer to make it 2–0. Before the period was over, Taylor Hall made it 3–0 with his 12th of the season on what looked like a harmless wrist shot from distance, one Reimer would likely want back.
The score held until midway through the second period. After a sketchy tripping call on Claude Giroux, Carolina had a five-on-three advantage, and Svechnikov scored his 18th of the season by simply floating a puck toward the front of the net. It went in off Tyler Kleven and through Reimer to make it 4–0.
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Tim Stützle finally got the Senators on the board with his 23rd of the season, a close-range wrist shot after a nice pass from Jake Sanderson. That would be the final goal of the night, as Carolina completely shut the door over the final 28 minutes.
The Senators now sit nine points out of the final wild-card spot and ten points back of the Atlantic Division’s top three, which is perhaps a sign it’s time to stop checking the playoff standings altogether.
Things don’t get any easier for the locals. Ottawa hosts the Vegas Golden Knights on Sunday at 5:00 p.m., followed by the top-ranked Colorado Avalanche on Tuesday night.
Steve Warne
The Hockey News – Ottawa
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