Ottawa Senators Postgame: Senators Shut Out by Hurricanes

For the first time this season, the Ottawa Senators were shut out, losing to the Carolina Hurricanes 4-0. To make matters worse, this wasn’t to the Hurricanes number one goalie, or even their number two. It was Spencer Martin, the third string goalie recording his first ever NHL shutout at the age of 29. The journeyman goalie made his share of big saves, but it was really the great team in front of him that led the way in shutting down the Senators. Let’s dive into the details.

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Horrible Calls Hurt the Senators

I may as well start here. No, this is not the sole reason the Ottawa Senators lost this game. But my oh my, how bad were those two penalty calls? The first was against Tim Stützle, who called for interference as he headed to the net looking for a scoring opportunity. It was a horrible call, and that might be putting it mildly. Stützle was getting ready for a David Perron pass by putting his stick on the ice. In the process, Andrei Svechnikov’s stick was knocked out of his hands, and with that, the referee decided to make the call. Stützle finished off the Perron pass into the back of the net, but instead of celebrating the tying goal, he was sent to the penalty box.

Later in the second, Pinto went to the net and had his stick come down on the ice. Once again, the refs hand went up, and Pinto headed to the box, dumbfounded. The call was made for slashing, with the ref clearly making his second straight brutal call. The two many men penalty shortly after led to a 5 on 3 for the Hurricanes, which they took advantage of to go up 2-0. Another power play goal early in the third put this game out of reach. You hate to see the refs hurt a team’s chances with missed calls, and that’s exactly what happened here. That certainly wasn’t the full story, though.

Hurricanes Work Ethic

The Hurricanes deserve a ton of credit for how they play the game. Nothing comes easy for their opponents. Despite playing with their third string goalie, they showed why they’ve been one of the best teams in hockey for the last several years. They skate so well, their passing is phenomenal, they have a ton of depth, and they are able to possess the puck for such long lengths of time. Their dominance in the first was incredible. It wasn’t as if the Senators looked all that flat, but every Hurricanes pass was perfect, and the Senators couldn’t get anything going offensively. This is a team that lost Jake Guentzel, Teuvo Teravainen, Brady Skjei, Stefan Noesen, and Brett Pesce from last season, yet have started this season at 12-4. The likes of Martin Necas, Sebastian Aho, Jaccob Slavin, and Jordan Staal all buy into putting the team before themselves. Rod Brind’Amour is everything you could want from a coach, too.

Stützle, the best Senator

Well, he deserved one goal, but that’s already been discussed above. Stützle had himself another noticeable game, despite being held off the scoresheet. It’s the two way effort from Stützle that really stands out lately. His offensive ability had been obvious for quite some time now. It’s his willingness to give the same type of effort on the defensive side as on the offensive side that makes me think he’s the right superstar to lead this team to the playoffs. There’s a chance some Sens fans had stopped watching by the end of the game, but his spinorama play to set-up Tkachuk late in the game was ridiculous.

Additional Notes

It’s back to .500 for the Ottawa Senators. They’ll need to beat the Edmonton Oilers on Tuesday to avoid falling under .500, which is no easy task. It’ll be Linus Ullmark in net for that game, and it’s time for him to step up. Anton Forsberg’s first goal against was the type that frustrates Sens fans beyond belief. A shot from behind the goal-line cannot go in. Forsberg was pretty solid after that, but these types of bad goals have plagued the Ottawa Senators for years now. It was great to see David Perron back. He has a good chance in the first for a goal, and then deserved an assist on the pass to Stützle, but you know, the refs.