SENS WRAP UP SOUR ROAD TRIP
Team’s 3-6-3 record in last 12 games ‘not good enough,’ Karlsson admits
At least the Ottawa Senators made a small point to conclude their dismal five-game road trip, but there was small satisfaction inside the dressing room.
Thomas Hickey’s wraparound attempt bounced off the skate of Senators defenceman Cody Ceci to give the New York Islanders a 3-2 overtime victory.
The result left the Senators with a disappointing record of 1-3-1 on a seemingly endless 10-day road trip. The Senators flew home immediately after the game on a threegame losing streak, with only one victory in their past six games and a 3-6-3 record in their past 12 games.
“We’ve been playing better for the past two games, but in the end, it’s not good enough,” said captain Erik Karlsson. “We’ve got to stay a little more detailed throughout.”
It was a rough break for Ceci, who also had a puck deflect off his skate leading directly to the Islanders’ first goal.
At least there’s one bright light for Senators fans: Daniel Alfredsson’s retirement party will come Thursday at Canadian Tire Centre when the Islanders and Senators conclude the home and away series.
Too bad Alfredsson is finished. The Senators could sure use a big goal or two right now.
By picking up only three of a possible 10 points on the trip, they lost considerable ground to their Eastern Conference foes who are also battling for the final playoff spots.
The latest defeat comes after owner Eugene Melnyk gave coach Paul MacLean something less than a ringing endorsement about his job security.
The Senators did show some mettle in fighting back from a 2-1 third period deficit to tie the game 2-2. They also pushed hard in the final minutes in an attempt to win in regulation. Clarke MacArthur tied the game 2-2 with 8:45 remaining, beating Islanders defenceman Travis Hamonic to the net and converting a pass from Mark Stone, who won a puck battle behind the net. It was MacArthur’s first goal in seven games and only his second in 12 games.
“Got a point,” said MacArthur. “We’ve got to build off something here. One point is better than nothing. We’ve got to do a little better puck management throughout the game. The legs get tired and the brain kind of shuts down a little bit and we’ve got to be smarter. It’s tough at the end, there. They get a wraparound and it goes off a skate. That’s just the way it goes when you’re not (winning).”
In a rare twist from this season, it was a case of the Senators’ scorers bailing out their goaltender.
Only 1:07 into the period, Craig Anderson allowed a weak goal.
Hickey’s shot from a terrible angle slipped through the goaltender’s pads and across the goalline, where Ryan Strome tapped the puck into the open net.
Anderson and the Senators caught a huge break at the end the second period. With time ticking down and the sides playing four aside, Casey Cizikas took a slap shot from just inside the blue line. The shot deflected off Anderson’s glove and into the net, just as the buzzer sounded.
The Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum crowd erupted, believing the Islanders had taken a 2-1 lead.
Upon further review, however, the puck crossed the line 0.1 seconds after the horn. Call it the Senators Escape From New York.
The Islanders pushed hard to close the period and with 1:34 left in the period, Brock Nelson finally solved Anderson.
In the neutral zone, Jared Cowen cleared the puck along the boards directly to Kyle Okposo, whose pass to Nelson deflected off Ceci’s skate. That allowed Nelson to break in all alone and beat Anderson high to the stick side.
Up to that point, the Senators had nursed their 1-0 lead, which came courtesy of Mike Hoffman’s goal — his eighth of the season and his first in eight games — midway through the first period.
Anderson made a big early save off Nelson following a turnover deep in the Senators zone and stopped Cal Clutterbuck on a deflection.
His best stops of the period, however, came off Strome.