Road trip starts with 5-1 loss to Jets
This may have been a costly loss for the Ottawa Senators.
Not only did they drop their fourth straight with a 5-1 loss to the Winnipeg Jets Thursday night, they finished the game without top goaltender Matt Murray, who wasn't in the net for the third period.
Murray left the game after two periods and didn't return to the bench at the Bell MTS Place. TSN's cameras showed a replay of Murray involved in a collision with Nikita Zaitsev while he was trying to defend Paul Stastny with time ticking down in the period.
A hunched-over Murray was receiving attention from head athletic therapist Dom Nicoletta as he left the ice, and Marcus Hogberg finished the third. Neal Pionk, Mathieu Perreault, Blake Wheeler, Dylan DeMelo and Paul Stastny did the scoring while Winnipeg goalie Connor Hellebuyck made 39 stops.
Only Josh Norris scored for the Senators, his second goal in 11 games.
If Murray is out for any length of time, that's going to be a major concern. Yes, he allowed three goals on 12 shots in the two periods he played, but his game had started to come around recently and Murray was doing a good job giving the club an opportunity to win.
After taking over, the struggles continued for Hogberg. He's had trouble finding his net and didn't look good when Perreault beat him 2:58 into the second to open up a 4-0 lead.
Coach D.J. Smith will likely have to study the option of starting third goalie Filip Gustavsson on Saturday afternoon against the Jets if Murray isn't ready to go. Bringing in Joey Daccord from Belleville isn't an option because if he joined the team in Manitoba he'd have to quarantine.
In the best-case scenario, if Murray is out for any length of time, the Senators can have Daccord meet them in Toronto on Sunday to face the Maple Leafs to start a three-game series Monday at Scotiabank Arena.
Defenceman Artem Zub was held out for precautionary reasons after returning an inconclusive COVID-19 test. Although he tested negative Wednesday, before leaving Ottawa, the Senators opted to hold him out of the lineup and dressed Josh Brown in Zub's place.
Coming off a disappointing 3-2 loss to the Edmonton Oilers at home on Tuesday, the Senators have their share of issues scoring goals this season. The club had only seven goals in its last five games coming into this one, and coach D.J. Smith changed all the lines because the club was playing on the road.
Not only did the Senators have to concern themselves with putting the puck in the net, they also had to make sure they kept the Jets off the board. That's why the changes were made, and rookie centre Josh Norris was moved to the fourth line.
“We're on the road and I want to have four lines that I can play,” Smith said before the game.
Rafael Nadal breezed into the third round of the Australian Open following Thursday's 6-1, 6-4, 6-2 victory over Michael Mmoh in Melbourne.
The second-seeded Spaniard recorded 40 winners and won 15 of 16 net points to dispatch the American qualifier in one hour and 47 minutes.
“I always try to be better (than the previous match). Sometimes (I am) better, sometimes not,” Nadal said. “I think (Thursday) has been a positive evening for me, winning in straight sets. (It is) great news, for everything.”
Not only did Nadal fend off Mmoh, the 20-time Grand Slam champion also had to contend with a heckler who yelled out and made hand gestures as he prepared to serve. She was escorted out of Rod Laver Arena as a result.
Nadal will face Cameron Norrie in the third round. The 25-year-old native of Britain rallied to a 3-6, 7-5, 6-3, 7-6 (3) victory over Russian qualifier Roman Safiullin in three hours, 31 minutes.
Also on Thursday, fourth-seeded Daniil Medvedev of Russia celebrated his 25th birthday with a 6-2, 7-5, 6-1 win over Spaniard Roberto Carballes Baena.
“I have the momentum and I feel like I can do a lot things,” Medvedev said after notching 13 aces to win the match in one hour, 44 minutes. “I hope I can keep it up. So far it's working and I hope it doesn't stop. There's no time to celebrate my birthday in a tournament. I got presents from my wife, but I'll soon look to my next match.”
No. 7 Andrey Rublev and No. 19 Karen Khachanov, both of Russia, and No. 21 Alex De Minaur of Australia all won in straight sets.
Rublev secured a 6-4, 6-4, 7-6 (8) win over Brazilian Thiago Monteiro, Khachanov seized a 6-2, 6-4, 6-4 triumph over Ricardas Berankis of Lithuania, and De Minaur notched a 6-3, 6-3, 7-5 victory over Pablo Cuevas of Uruguay.
No. 9 Matteo Berrettini of Italy, No. 24 Norwegian Casper Ruud and No. 28 Filip Krajinovic of Serbia needed four sets to advance in their matches. Berrettini posted a 6-3, 6-2, 4-6, 6-3 win over Tomas Machac of the Czech Republic, Ruud recorded a 3-6, 6-2, 6-4, 7-5 triumph over Tommy Paul and Krajinovic collected a 6-2, 5-7, 6-1, 6-4 victory over Spaniard Pablo Andujar.
No. 5 Stefanos Tsitsipas of Greece and No. 16 Fabio Fognini of Italy had a much tougher time of it, however. Tsitsipas rallied to a 6-7 (5), 6-4, 6-1, 6-7 (5), 6-4 win over Australian Thanasi Kokkinakis and Fognini posted a 4-6, 6-2, 2-6, 6-3, 7-6 (12) win over countryman Salvatore Caruso.
KANEPI OUSTS KENIN
Defending women's champion Sofia Kenin was bounced from the Australian Open on Thursday.
Kaia Kanepi of Estonia recorded 10 aces en route to dismissing the fourth-seeded American with a 6-3, 6-2 decision in the second round in Melbourne. The 35-yearold Kanepi needed just 64 minutes to win the match.
“I'll take one match at a time and one tournament at a time, and it all depends how I feel and how the opponent plays and so on,” Kanepi said. “But I played good today, I served really good and I think it was a good win.”
Kenin struggled to come to grips with her latest setback.
“I obviously felt like I'm not there 100 per cent — physically, mentally, my game. Everything just feels real off, obviously. It's not good,” Kenin said.
Kanepi advances to face No. 28 seed Donna Vekic of Croatia. Vekic posted a 6-2, 6-2 win over Nadia Podoroska of Argentina.
Also on Thursday, fifth-seeded Elina Svitolina of Ukraine recorded a 6-4, 6-3 win over American Coco Gauff in a match that lasted one hour, 17 minutes.
Svitolina, who has twice reached the tournament's quarter-finals, said she missed being able to feed off the crowd.
“I missed that so much,” Svitolina said.
“I knew that Coco is all the time playing with a crowd, like fired up. So I was expecting her to be straight into the match and playing well. I think I faced a break point the first game, and then from then on I was just pushing myself and I was playing great tennis.”
Svitolina saved all four break points against her to set up a match against No. 26 seed Yulia Putintseva of Kazakhstan. Putintseva notched a 6-4, 1-6, 6-2 win over Alison Van Uytvanck of Belgium.
Other seeded winners on Thursday were No. 6 Karolina Pliskova of the Czech Republic, No. 11 Belinda Bencic of Switzerland, No. 18 Elise Mertens of Belgium, No. 21 Anett Kontaveit of Estonia, No. 22 Jennifer Brady of the U.S. and No. 29 Ekaterina Alexandrova of Russia.
Pliskova posted a 7-5, 6-2 triumph over American Danielle Collins, Bencic outlasted Svetlana Kuznetsova of Russia, 7-5, 2-6, 6-4 and Mertens collected a 7-6 (8), 6-1 victory over Lin Zhu of China.
Kontaveit notched a 6-7 (5), 6-4, 6-2 victory over Heather Watson of Britain, Brady breezed to a 6-1, 6-2 win over fellow American Madison Brengle, and Alexandrova secured a 6-3, 7-6 (4) triumph over Barbora Krejcikova of the Czech Republic.