The Ottawa Senators trashed Carolina Hurricanes with 4-1 last night, mostly because of a superb performance in the opening period. The Sens delivered three goals, in an intense and rough sequence, which saw six penalties, four minor and two major.
The hosts adjusted to the circumstances on the ice and netted three times in the span of a little bit more than seven minutes. But what was superb for them is the fact that they struck twice in four seconds for the second and the third goal.
It made the Hurricanes very frustrated, which eventually led to them losing the composure and focus. Their captain Jordan Staal didn’t have kind words for his team’s performance in the opening frame.
“We weren’t ready to play, to a man. The first period was a joke,” Hurricanes captain said. “We gave them three goals, and that was it.”
Even when the visitors outplayed the Senators’ defense, they couldn’t get past the fantastic Anders Nilsson who had 38 saves this Saturday night and was the key reason for Ottawa’s calm closure of this event.
Filip Chlapik netted first with 9:34 into the event. After a 2-on-1 rush of the hosts, Chlapik scored on a rebound.
Then came the absolute shock for the visitors. Vladislav Namestnikov double the advantage for the hosts at 16:47, once Tyler Ennis’ shot deflected off of his body. Four seconds later, Jean-Gabriel Pageau knocked out the guests, stealing the puck and drilling from the left circle.
“It’s a snowball effect both ways. When you’re going good, it’s easy and it can roll that way. When it goes bad, it’s tough to get out sometimes,” explained Hurricanes head coach Rod Brind’Amour.
Ottawa was a bit inferior in the second period, and that allowed the guests to decrease their deficit, with Andrei Svechnikov’s power-play goal.
Hurricanes gave their best in the final period, but Nilsson was there to calm them down, and to stop all the shots going toward his net. With 4:07 until the end of the game, Brady Tkachuk sealed a win for the home team. Anthony Duclair’s cross-ice pass led to Tkachuk shot, which was stopped by Carolina’s goalie James Reimer. But the 20-year old left-winger had a massive amount of luck as the puck deflected off Dougie Hamilton’s skate to cross the goal line. It is surely something that Hurricanes’ defenseman didn’t want to happen.
“I think we’ve just shown that we can beat some top teams in the league, and that gives you confidence. Everyone is hungry and everyone wants to win and it’s really fun right now,” the scorer of the opening goal, Chlapik said.
The Senators (6-9-1) posted their second win in a row after beating the LA Kings two days ago. They now head for Raleigh to meet the Hurricanes on Monday. After that, Ottawa meets the New Jersey Devils on the road on Wednesday.
As for Carolina (9-7-1), the game against the Sens precedes to a three-game road trip, during which Brind’Amour’s team faces Sabres, Wild and the Blackhawks.
