Canes survive their first shootout test, take down the Senators on the road in Ottawa
It took 40 games but the Carolina Hurricanes finally were involved in a shootout. They also won it, beating the Ottawa Senators 3-2 at an empty Canadian Tire Centre on Thursday.
Andrei Svechnikov had the only shootout goal as Canes goalie Frederik Andersen stopped all three Ottawa shooters. Andersen had 37 saves in the game as the Canes got goals from Derek Stepan in the second period and Nino Niederreiter late in the third in the comeback win.
Svechnikov, up second for Carolina in the shootout, beat goalie Matt Murray with a forehand to the blocker side for the fourth game-deciding shootout goal of his career. It was the Canes’ first shootout in 56 games.
The Canes (29-9-2) moved back into first place in the Metropolitan Division. Carolina, Pittsburgh and the New York Rangers all have 60 points but the Canes have games-in-hand on both the Penguins and Rangers.
Five takeaways:
▪ It was a grinding game, with more gritty defensive stops than slick offensive plays. It was 0-0 after the first period and 1-1 after 40 minutes with both teams getting sticks on pucks in the defensive zones and minimizing high-danger chances.
The Sens’ goals both came on redirections -- the first by Canes defenseman Tony DeAngelo, who tried to block a Nick Paul shot in the first period. The Sens took a 2-1 lead in the third on a redirect by Alex Formenton with 14:10 left in regulation.
For the Canes, Sebastian Aho’s line was kept in check and had a quiet game. The Canes’ third and fourth lines were the more effective, playing a heavy game. Stepan scored in the second and Niederreiter’s goal, on a scramble in front of the net, tied it 2-2 with 3:22 left regulation.
Andersen stopped seven Ottawa shots after Formenton’s goal until Niederreiter tied it, and had three saves in the overtime,denying Brady Tkachuk on a partial breakaway with some back-checking help from Svechnikov. The shootout win was his first since Nov. 2, 2019, with Toronto.
“Freddie was the difference in the game,” Canes coach Rod Brind’Amour said. “He came up huge a lot and allowed us to hang in there, to get the tie and a chance to win it.”
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▪ Andrei Svechnikov is a strong player who likes a physical style of game and doesn’t avoid collisions. As the Canes forward said Thursday morning, “I don’t ever try to go and just kill somebody, but when I have to do that I will do that.”
That is, hit somebody, hard. Svechnikov did that Thursday and it cost the Sens one of their best players. Svechnikov and Josh Norris collided as they fought for a puck in the opening period, Svechnikov claiming the puck and Norris tumbling into the boards.
Norris, who had the winning goal against Carolina in the Dec. 2 game in Raleigh, left with an upper-body injury and did not return. The Senators (13-20-4) lost their leading scorer, forward Drake Batherson, to a high-ankle sprain Tuesday against Buffalo when Batherson was knocked into the end boards by Sabres goalie Aaron Dell.
▪ The sight of an empty Canadian Tire Centre was a reminder of all that has occurred the past two years with the pandemic. The Ottawa attendance restrictions will be changed later this month but the Sens had no fans in the stands Thursday for the third straight home game.
It was an eerie flashback to the 2020 Stanley Cup playoffs and the games in the empty arenas in Toronto and Edmonton, or the early season games in 2021 before the pandemic restrictions were eased and the fans finally returned.
▪ Maybe it was the empty house but the Canes didn’t have the same jump or energy much of the game Thursday they did at home Tuesday against the Vegas Golden Knights.
“It’s tough playing a game when it feels like it’s practice, with the environment,” Brind’Amour said. “Especially when we’re now getting used to the electricity of the (full) buildings. It was the same for both teams but it was obvious it was a factor in the game.”
The Canes’ fourth line produced the first goal of the game. Jesperi Kotkaniemi first kept the Sens from clearing the puck, allowing Brady Skjei to get off a shot that Stepan redirected.
“Overall, any time you win you don’t critique it,” Stepan said. “I thought we played a strong enough game to win and get two points.”
▪ Tony DeAngelo had the right idea but went about it in the wrong way. The Canes defenseman attempted to block an outside shot by the Sens’ Paul but did it by sticking out his left leg.
DeAngelo got a piece of the puck with his leg, only to redirect it past Andersen on the blocker side for a 1-1 tie. Andersen had 19 saves in the second period as the Sens outshot the Canes 20-6 -- Ottawa had a 39-29 shooting edge in the game.
This story was originally published January 27, 2022 at 9:55 PM.
