Senators let another one get away
Stalock wins battle of backup goaltenders as the Wild beat Condon twice in third period
This night was supposed to be about redemption for the Ottawa Senators. The effort was better, but the result was the same as the NHL season continues to slip away.
The Senators saw their losing streak extended to three Monday night and while they didn’t go down without a fight in a 3-1 loss to the Minnesota Wild at the Xcel Energy Center, only Matt Duchene was able to beat backup goalie Alex Stalock to start this two-game road trip.
Mikael Granlund and Jason Zucker scored third period goals and Zach Parise also beat Mike Condon, who was making a rare start in the Ottawa net. The search for answers continues for the Senators, and this is no time for moral victories. However, at this point they have to cling to just about anything they can get.
After blowing a two-goal third period lead in the loss to the Leafs, the Senators were hoping they’d get their act together against the Wild.
“This is a big game for us. We didn’t like how things turned out, especially in the third period last game, so we’ve got to come back here,” said winger Zack Smith after the morning skate. How was this a big game? “To show our character and how we’re able to bounce back,” Smith said. “We were a little undisciplined (against the Leafs) and it was an emotional game with the Battle of Ontario. When you blow a two-goal lead it’s easy to get down and be hard on ourselves. It’s a good time for us to prove we can bounce back.”
The Wild put this away on the power play when Granlund took a pass from Matt Dumba and beat Condon at 10:09 of the third. The Senators didn’t score on either of the power play chances they had, which is really nothing new.
Zucker, who left the game briefly in the first after taking a Thomas Chabot slapshot off the back of his helmet, put the Wild ahead 2-1 after 4:59 of the third. Zucker beat Condon on the stick side after pushing a Granlund pass home to break a 1-1 tie. Condon didn’t get much help on that goal.
There were concerns about how Condon might look since he was making his first start since Dec. 30 against the Bruins. He saw relief duty when he gave up four goals in an 8-2 loss to the Chicago Blackhawks on Jan. 9 in Ottawa.
But through 40 minutes Condon was equal to the task, with the Senators outshot 25-23.
The score was tied 1-1 after two periods and Condon played a key role. He made a couple big stops on odd-man rushes — including a stop on Daniel Winnik in the final two minutes.
Those are the kinds of saves the Senators have needed from Condon all season.
With the Wild unable to finish on their chances, Duchene scored his 11th of the season at 9:38 of the second to tie the game 1-1 when he took a pass from Chris DiDomenico and put the puck through Stalock’s fivehole. It was Duchene’s first goal in five games.
Ottawa trailed the Wild 1-0 after the first period — it was the 15th time in 45 games the Senators found themselves down after 20 minutes.
The Senators had some chances, but any time they got a shot through, Stalock was there to smother the puck. It’s not about chances, it’s about second chances some nights, and the Senators didn’t have enough of them.
For good measure, the Senators were called for their league-leading 12th bench minor of the season. This one was for too many men — the 10th time it’s happened this season.
It didn’t help that, for the 26th time this season, Ottawa gave up the first goal.
Only 45 seconds into the first, the Senators were down 1-0 to the Wild. Left all alone in front after a horrible defensive effort by Ottawa, Parise took a cross-crease pass from Eric Staal to beat Condon glove side on only the second shot he faced.
The Senators had to dig deep in this one.
They were without winger Mark Stone, who suffered a leg injury in Saturday’s 4-3 loss to the Toronto Maple Leafs at home. Ottawa has struggled to score, but Stone has 44 points in 44 games.
There will be no rest for the Senators as they face the St. Louis Blues Tuesday night at the Scottrade Center to wrap up this short trip.