The Carolina Hurricanes braved some poor ice conditions in an empty Canadian Tire Centre on Thursday, Jan. 27 to take down the Ottawa Senators 3-2 in a shootout. Goaltender Frederik Andersen continued to assert himself as one of the NHL’s premier netminders, holding the Senators to two goals on 39 shots plus three saves in the shootout.
The lack of fans seemed to affect the Canes (29-9-2) throughout the night as they lacked the intensity that fans have grown accustomed to witnessing in PNC Arena. The Senators (13-20-4), on the other hand, took advantage of some uninspired play by the Canes, outshooting them 39-29 and 32-14 after the first intermission.
“It’s tough to play in buildings that are empty,” said center Derek Stepan. “But you have to find ways to generate it. It may be tough, but as a group, somehow you got to find a way to push through it and build your own energy.”
With the puck skittering around on the ice in often unpredictable fashion, Andersen factored heavily into the Carolina victory, stopping shot after shot with his skaters struggling to win possession of the puck and boot the Senators out of the Canes defensive zone.
“You’re going to need that over the course of a season,” said head coach Rod Brind’Amour. “Your team plays against a team that’s on it — and you’ve got to give the other team credit. They were good tonight — but he allowed us to hang in there.”
After an uneventful first period, the Hurricanes drew first blood with a shot by defenseman Brady Skjei getting redirected into the net by Stepan early in the second period. The lead didn’t last long, however, as Nick Paul pulled Ottawa back to even footing only two minutes later. A long-range shot by Paul deflected off DeAngelo and Andersen could not quite make the adjustment in time.
Alex Formenton threatened to spoil Carolina’s night with a goal early in the third, and with the Canes still struggling to adjust to the on-ice conditions, it looked like they might drop two crucial points in the Metropolitan divisional race with the New York Rangers and the Pittsburgh Penguins to an Ottawa team that they should easily beat on paper.
The Hurricanes rallied in the nick of time to force an overtime period as Matt Murray lost his grip on what was at first a save, and right wing Nino Niederreiter jumped on the loose puck and buried the game-tying goal.
If not for Andersen’s stellar play, Carolina might have dropped a point in overtime as well. With under two minutes left in the overtime period, Brady Tkachuk had a breakaway chance nearly one on one with Andersen. Right wing Andrei Svechnikov skated back just in time to rattle Tkachuk a bit, but Andersen still had to make a sprawling pad save to keep his team in it.
Andersen stood tall in the shootout as well, stifling Tyler Ennis, Tim Stützle and Tkachuk to deny Ottawa any chance of coming away with a win. After center Vincent Trocheck failed to convert on his shot, Svechnikov beat Murray to set up the game-winning save on Tkachuk.
“At first I thought I was going to go five-hole,” Svechnikov said. “But once Trochy went five-hole and he was sitting very low, I tried to go low blocker, and it was a good try.”
The Hurricanes will return to Raleigh for a revenge matchup on Saturday, Jan. 29 against the New Jersey Devils, who thrashed the Canes 7-4 in their last meeting. Puck drops in PNC Arena at 7 p.m.
