STINGY PRICE KEEPS SENS AT BAY
Loss to Canadiens a costly step backward for Ottawa in pursuit of wild-card spot
CANADIENS 5, SENATORS 2
So much for making a statement.
The Ottawa Senators had a chance to move into the final wild-card spot in the East at the Bell Centre on Tuesday night, but the result was a stunning 5-2 loss to the Montreal Canadiens.
The Senators would have required some help on the scoreboard to move into a playoff spot, but they let an important two points slip away.
The club’s three-game winning streak came to end as Ottawa opened a home-and-home set with Montreal.
Max Domi and Jonathan Drouin led the charge with three-point nights for the Habs, while Artturi Lehkonen and Brendan Gallagher also scored on Sens goalie Craig Anderson.
Only Ottawa defenceman Dylan DeMelo and winger Mark Stone were able to beat Carey Price as the Senators fell to 3-9-1 on the road this season.
“Everything tonight was self-inflicted for us,” DeMelo said. “They did a good job of capitalizing on their opportunities. It was just things that weren’t making us successful earlier on this season that kind of crept back in. We hung (goaltender) Andy out to dry on a few of those goals.
“It would be a setback if there’s a snowball effect. If we can rectify it, and I’m very confident we can, I think when Thursday comes you’ll see a better effort from us.”
Trailing the Habs by two points for the final wild-card spot coming into this game, the Senators were determined to get their act together on the road. The club had improved defensively in the last four games and they felt they were on the right path.
There was no third-period comeback as Gallagher put it away at the 4:21 mark. Stone cut the Habs’ lead to 5-2 when he scored with 7:31 left in regulation time.
The Senators lost this game when they fell apart in the second period. That’s when the Habs pulled out to a 4-1 lead. Lehkonen and Domi, with his second of the game, scored in a span of 48 seconds to give the Habs a three-goal margin.
“You’ve seen that before on the road,” said coach Guy Boucher. “We’re right there, it’s 1-1 with (six) minutes left in the second and we gave it away, gave them a goal. We try to get it back, we overdo it, and it bites us in the butt.”
It was Drouin who opened the scoring for the Habs at 14:30 of the first period on the 12th shot Anderson faced. Breaking in on a twoon-one, he took a pass from Domi and backhanded the puck through Anderson’s five-hole to break the scoreless tie.
“For five to seven minutes in the second, they turned up the tempo, got the momentum and were able to bury us there,” said Anderson, who faced 41 shots. “We weren’t able to re-establish ourselves after that.”
The Senators know the road effort has to improve.
“We kind of came unravelled (in the second period). I don’t know what we’re going to do about it, but we’re going to have to find something and correct it,” Stone said.
“We can’t dwell on this too much. It wasn’t a good effort by us. It’s unfortunate we’re struggling so much on the road. We can’t cry about it, but we’ve got to find ways to improve.”
GLAD TO SEE EXPANSION
Confirmation Tuesday the NHL will add a 32nd team with expansion to Seattle in 2021-22 is good news for the players. It means more jobs down the road, and ultimately, grows the business.
Seattle has a great model to follow after the Vegas Golden Knights went to the Stanley Cup Final in their first season.
“It’s more jobs for guys that are up and down, and maybe they can get a chance,” DeMelo said before facing the Habs. “You look at a lot of those guys in Vegas. A lot of them, for the most part, were kind of buried on their teams.
We kind of came unravelled. I don’t know what we’re going to do about it, but we’re going to have to find something …
“They went to Vegas, they got an opportunity and they ran with it, because there was an opportunity for them elsewhere. Maybe they weren’t getting the opportunity with their parent team. I’ve never been to Seattle, but I hear it’s a great city. I can only see positives.”
Vegas performed like a team with a chip on its shoulder last season as the Knights were out to prove people wrong.
“I don’t think (Seattle) will catch people as much by surprise,” DeMelo said. “Once Seattle gets in the league. people will say, ‘Look what happened with Vegas.’ The summer rankings had Vegas at the bottom, but people are smart enough to know there are no games that are gimmes.”