SENATORS STAY MIRED IN CELLAR
Another good effort goes for naught in missed chance to close gap with Detroit
The long climb out of the NHL basement continues to be an exercise in frustration for the Ottawa Senators.
With trade talk continuing to circulate around their biggest names in advance of the Feb. 25 trade deadline, the Senators were presented Thursday with a golden opportunity to close within two points of the Detroit Red Wings.
While they had their chances and controlled lengthy portions of the game here at Little Caesars Arena, their 3-2 loss amounted to little more than yet another road defeat — their 20th in 27 contests away from Canadian Tire Centre.
Frans Nielsen took advantage of a terrible giveaway from Dylan DeMelo to break a 2-2 tie late in the second period for the winning margin. Senators-killer Andreas Athanasiou scored the other two Red Wings goals — one on a penalty shot — while Brady Tkachuk and Matt Duchene replied for Ottawa.
“A few goalposts and it was one of those games again, where I felt we were probably the better team,” Duchene said. “In the first period, those breakaways hurt; make what you will of the penalty shot call, but after that, I thought the rest of the game, we carried the play. It was one of those games we were right there. Probably deserved the win.”
Woulda, coulda, shoulda. Doesn’t add up to anything but another defeat.
Red Wings goaltender Jimmy Howard, playing his 500th career game, stopped 40 shots. Senators counterpart Anders Nilsson, making his fourth consecutive start, turned aside 26 Red Wings shots.
“We had a lot of chances to put the puck in the back of the net,” Tkachuk said. “Nilsson was exceptional again tonight. We’ve just got to help him out a little bit more, focus on not letting those lapses happen.”
Howard also had a fair share of luck. On a third-period power play, a Colin White shot deflected off Howard, off the post and lay on the goal-line before staying out.
The Senators couldn’t get any closer than that.
Down 2-1 after Athanasiou dominated the first period, the Senators worked their way back into the game in the second, which they dominated for the most part. They were finally rewarded when Duchene burst through the middle of the ice and past Jonathan Ericsson before ripping a shot over Howard’s shoulder.
It was yet another reminder of the uncertainty surrounding pending Senators unrestricted free agents Duchene, Mark Stone and Ryan Dzingel in the lead-up to the trade deadline.
The three have combined for 10 goals in the past five games and their names are circulating wildly in trade speculation. Now, back to the game at hand. The 2-2 tie didn’t last long. With time ticking away in the second period, Helm stripped the puck from DeMelo behind the Senators net. In turn, Helm fed Nielsen in the slot and he buried a shot past Nilsson.
It was a tough blow for the Senators, given their rally.
The opening 20 minutes centred on Athanasiou. He got the scoring started by sprinting behind Max Lajoie and then tucking the puck past Nilsson on the resulting breakaway.
The Red Wings had several chances to pad the lead to 2-0 — many on the strength of Athanasiou setups — but Nilsson was sharp to keep the Senators close.
The Senators rallied and Tkachuk was in the perfect spot to bang home his 13th of the season, after a follow-the-bouncing-puck play in front of Howard. Earlier in the period, Tkachuk took on Ericsson in a spirited fight, leaving him only one assist shy of registering the first Gordie Howe hat trick of his career — in Detroit, no less.
“I wasn’t really thinking about that,” he said. “That would have been cool to do it here because Gordie Howe was unbelievable for Detroit, but I was more (interested) in looking for the two points for our team. But you’ve got to live and learn.”
The 1-1 tie didn’t last long, as Athanasiou went back to work.
With Christian Jaros draped over his back on yet another breakaway, Athanasiou was awarded a penalty shot. He converted, allowing the Red Wings to take their 2-1 lead into the second period.
Senators coach Guy Boucher didn’t like the penalty shot call — he thought it should have been simply a penalty — but he said the Senators gave the speedster too much room.
“We gave Athanasiou two breaks,” he said. “We know we’ve got to two-man that guy. You can’t expect to, on your own, be able to catch up to him. There’s no defensive mistake there it’s just one on one, one is faster than the other.”
STATUS QUO ON UFA FRONT
Facing a new media audience in Detroit, Mark Stone and Matt Duchene were again grilled about what’s new in their contract/trade situations, leading up to the Feb. 25 trade deadline.
But what’s new became what’s old again, as Stone and Duchene remained tight-lipped on that front.
“I’ve said since Day 1, everything I do is between myself, (my agents) and the team. It’s the same answer,” Stone said.
Over to Duchene: “We’re still working through it. It’s an ongoing process, that’s it, that’s all there is to say. I’ve talked about it already. I’m not going back into it. There are a lot of things that go into it, but I would rather keep them internal between my agent and the team. It’s not an easy thing, for sure.”
Should be fun in Winnipeg — potential suitors for either of the two — where the Senators are scheduled to practice Friday and play Saturday.
General manager Pierre Dorion has helped add to the intrigue, too, showing up early in Winnipeg to do some pre-scouting work.