The Carolina Hurricanes took down the Ottawa Senators 4-2 Saturday to sweep the Eastern Conference Quarter-Final four games to none.
The game itself was probably the Senators’ best in the series. After first period which had Ottawa defenders on their heels as Carolina recorded 35 shot attempts, but only eight found their way through to goalie Linus Ullmark. Another 18 Hurricanes shots were blocked.
The Senators started to take the game to Carolina early in the second period. A thunderous check by Senators defenseman Tyler Kleven on Hurricanes d-man Alexander Nikishin altered the mood for the remainder of the middle frame which ended up taking the better part of an hour to play.
Kleven’s hit brought the Canadian Tire Centre to decibel levels rarely heard in the building. It also led to an open season of players hitting everyone in sight. Brady Tkachuk threw a pair of crushing blows. Then there was these shenanigans which saw Sentators Ridly Greig throw an unwarranted punch to Hurricanes Sean Walker.
Then it was Walker’s turn for revenge as the Carolina blueliner received a boarding minor going out of the way to chase down Greig. But prior to this, Hurricanes Taylor Hall buried a Mark Jankowski pass to open the scoring 15:17 into the second period.
Moments later, Tim StĆ¼tzle’s shot redirected off Drake Batherson to tie the game at one. Inserted into the Senators lineup by head coach Travis Green in place of injured defenseman Jake Sanderson, Carter Yakemchuk registered a secondary assist in his NHL postseason debut.
But 9:10 into the final period, Logan Stankhoven tallied his fourth goal in four games putting Carolina in front 2-1. Hurricanes d-man K’Andre Miller’s point shot missed the net. However, it turned out to be a perfect bank shot, landing right on Stankhoven’ stick on the power play.
Sebastien Aho appeared to ice the game sending a shot into an empty Senators cage with 2:22 remaining with Ullmark off for a sixth attacker.
However, the Senators didn’t fold, Dylan Cozens one-timed, Batherson’s pass from behind the net 33 seconds later to get his team within one. But Aho notched a second empty-netter to seal game and the series for the Hurricanes, 4-2.
Senators Post-Mortem
After the final buzzer sounded, the feeling in the Senators dressing room was a sombre one. A short time for players to collect their thoughts on a consecutive first round exit, but also not winning a game.
A distraught Senators captain said the series loss was “heartbreaking.”
“It was a really tight series. Give credit to them. They’re a great team, play hard, don’t give much,” added Brady Tkachuk.
“Everybody in this room gave absolutely everything they had to try to extend the series.”
Injuries to Artem Zub in Game 1 and the Senators top defenseman Jake Sanderson concussed from a Hall elbow in Game 3 left Ottawa minus their no. 1 d-pairing. In fact the Senators dressed 10 d-men over the four games, unheard of in such a short timeframe.
Senators’ power outages were a leading cause of being swept.
Ottawa was outscored 11-5 which included two Hurricanes ENG’s.
Per Sportlogiq’s Mike Kelly; Expected Goals for the series favoured Carolina 17.7 – 15.0. Hurricanes dominated slot shots 71-47.
While Ottawa’s penalty kill performed admirably with the Hurricanes scoring only two goals on 15 power play opportunities, their PP was their kryptonite. The Senators PP was 1 for 21 in the series. Being awarded nine opportunities in one game and three two-man advantages in Game 4, one PP marker didn’t cut it
Scoring dried up completely. No Ottawa Senator not named Batherson or Cozens were able to send a shot past Hurricanes netminder Frederik Andersen. And the Senators never led for even one second in the entire series.
Travis Green noted the difference between winning and losing to Carolina was “What if?”
“Probably a lot of What ifs? You can say could’ve won, or should’ve won, we had lots of chances to win. You know, having “Sandy” (Sanderson) and Zub would’ve been a world of difference. I think we were definitely the underdog going into this series, but I felt like if we were healthy, a lot of ifs,” the Senators head coach told assembled media including Hockey Hot Stove postgame.
Ottawa hit five posts in Game 2, twice in double overtime prior to Canes Jordan Martinook’s game-winner. An even series returning to Ottawa would’ve certainly changed the trajectory.
What was tough, Linus Ullmark gave his club an opportunity to win each game. Ullmark’s goaltending down the stretch helped get his team into the postseason. The 32-year-old posted a 14-4-3 record, 2.41 Goals Against Average, .941 Save Percentage after returning to the Senators after his leave of absence January 31.
Over the four games, Ullmark put up a 2.03 GAA, .932 Sv Pct., excellent numbers.
“He was fantastic. He showed us exactly what he’s capable of, exactly what we’ve envisioned all year, since he signed, since he came here, and I’m really proud.” Green said of his goalie.
“And he’s played phenomenal, not just the playoffs, but for the last couple months, and this playoffs, even down the stretch, he looked like a goalie that you envision winning. Envision winning Vezina, that you envision that you can win a Stanley Cup. He was exceptional…So he’s shown a lot of people, a lot of doubters, and I’m proud of him, because it hasn’t been an easy year.”
Green’s message to his players after immediately after the game:
“This series this year, we probably played a lot better than last year, and even though we lost four in a row, it’s a different series than I think. We’ve taken a lot of steps this year to really having a lot of belief that we’re a lot closer than we were, you know, hopefully competing for a Stanley Cup. That’s what we’re here for. And you don’t say that very often when you lose four-nothing, but after last year, I felt like, Okay, we’ve taken some steps. And then, after this year, I feel like we’ve taken a lot more steps. We’ve played a lot better all season, fought through a lot of different things. Played through different types of adversity. Played 10 defensemen in the first four games of the playoff series and we lost every game by goal. So we learn and move on, but I’m proud of our group.”
Home › Forums › Anatomy Of The Senators Playoff Loss