Hurricanes drop drowning Senators, 4-1

The Ottawa Senators out shot the Carolina Hurricanes, but that’s about all they did well as their goaltending issues cropped up again, meanwhile Brandon Bussi made 33 saves once again looking stellar in net, and the Canes won their 14th on the road by defeating the Senators 4-1. It was the fifth straight game with a point for Carolina and their fourth regulation win out of those five games. It was also Bussi’s 19th win in 23 starts.

The first period honestly looked as if it were a Canes home game—in that the team on the ice in black jerseys carried the play, outshot the team in white uniforms, but the goalie was the difference on both sides. The start was delayed as once again an opponent for the Hurricanes had a ceremony honoring a past great—this time Jacques Martin. So, a listed start of 7 PM eastern didn’t really get going until 7:30 PM, and as can be expected the Senators looked like the better team from the jump. An early Power Play for the Hurricanes was completely lifeless, but before Ottawa could take advantage Jalen Chatfield threaded a beautiful pass up to Mark Jankowski, which created a 2-on-1 that was basically a 2-on-0. Jankowski popped it over to Will Carrier, taking advantage of starter James Reimer committing to the shot, and Carrier easily bounced it past Reimer to help the Canes take a 1-0 lead.

Less than two minutes later the Canes were back in the offensive zone with the puck going deep into the corner. Somehow Alexander Nikishin was able to not only get to the puck, but then zip along a perfect pass to Seth Jarvis who banged home the one-timer past Reimer to give Carolina a 2-0 lead.

From there Ottawa really carried play for the rest of the period, and that’s where Bussi would shine. Ottawa would get a Power Play thanks to a Nikishin slash, but the combination of having Jaccob Slavin out on the ice and Bussi in net shut it down. The Senators took that positive momentum and poured it on in the end, outshooting Carolina 14-8 in the first, but none got by Bussi, and then near the end of the first Taylor Hall took in a great pass from Jackson Blake, and Hall just shot it on net. The shot seemed to confuse Reimer who let it in, giving the Canes their 3-0 lead.

Things evened out in terms of play in the second, but the Canes were able to put a real hammerlock on the game. After successfully killing a power play from a Sean Walker knee to Tim Stützle, the Canes once again were on the man advantage thanks to a high stick on Sebastian Aho. It got off to a rough start, until Claude Giroux tripped Jarvis, creating a 5-on-3. Ottawa got it off to a great start, denying Carolina any chance to set up in the offensive zone, but then Andrei Svechnikov was finally able to get a good entry, drawing all three Senators to him. He tried to feather a pass that instead bounced off Tyler Kleven and past Reimer to give the Canes a 4-0 lead.

Bussi would lose the shutout bid a few minutes later as the rest of the Power Play fizzled, and Ottawa went into desperation mode, trying to turn the tables after giving up a 3-0 lead on Thursday Night to Nashville. Stüzle would receive a pass and while falling down, wristed a shot past Bussi to let the Senators at least salvage something. The second would end at that 4-1.

The Canes played the type of third period that they needed to play having a three goal lead. Ottawa would put up some shots, and near the end of the third would get a Power Play thanks to a trip by Walker. However, Bussi would make all the saves he needed to, and Ottawa never had any really easy shots. Ottawa even tried pulling Reimer during that fruitless power play, but the Canes would preserve the lead.

Carolina will now try to get home before the worst of the winter weather hits the Raleigh area—or just hang out in Ottawa until it’s safe to travel back as they don’t play again until Whalers Night on Thursday. The four days off will be good news for everyone, including Shayne Gostisbehere who still hasn’t come back into the lineup with his lingering injury. The game Thursday starts the final push before the Olympic Break with five games in eight days, including a back-to-back next Saturday and Sunday. It also includes a return trip to Ottawa. Expect the Canes to take full advantage of the break to be able to go into the Olympics with the similar eight point cushion in the Metro that they have now.