Recap: Hurricanes lose 4-1 to Sens, suffer fourth straight loss

The Carolina Hurricanes have lost their fourth straight game, and nearly all momentum off their unbeaten start to the season, after an embarrassing 4-1 loss to the Ottawa Senators. The team is now just 4-7-1 since their 5-game win streak to start the season.

The Hurricanes conceded a power play just seconds into the first period after Jordan Staal was whistled for a slash. Sebastian Aho had a shorthanded 1-on-1 opportunity with Senators goalie Anders Nilsson just a few moments into the Senators man advantage but was stopped and slashed in the process and the game went to 4-on-4 hockey.

Tensions started to boil early on after an Andrei Svechnikov scoring opportunity and festivities occurred behind the net when former Hurricane Ron Hainsey roughed up Svechnikov behind the net. Just moments later, Vladislav Namestnikov hit Ryan Dzingel up high and Dzingel didn’t like it and immediately dropped the gloves.

Midway through the period, the Senators broke in on a 2-on-1 rush. James Reimer made the initial stop but Filip Chlapik followed up on the rebound to give the Senators the early 1-0 lead. A few minutes later, Anthony Duclair had a chance for an early back-breaker goal but Reimer stopped it with his outstretched glove and leg.

But the back-breaker goals nevertheless came, just after a bit more time. With a few minutes left in the first period, Namestnikov caught a piece of Tyler Ennis’ shot and gave the Senators a 2-0 lead. Right off the ensuing face-off, J.G. Pageau blew by Dougie Hamilton and extended the lead to 3-0, four seconds after Namestnikov’s goal.

The second period was not as eventful as the first with the teams exchanging opportunities in the first half of the period. New call-up Eetu Luostarinen stormed in for a chance with around nine mintues remaining in the period but was stopped by Nilsson. The Hurricanes finally broke the shutout after Svechnikov scored on a wrist shot on the power play with just over eight minutes left in the period. The goal gave the Hurricanes life and the pace of play ramped up with a few chances after the Svechnikov tally.

The late second-period energy carried over to the third but quantity of shots were apparent while quality of shots were not. The Hurricanes instead resorted to throwing pucks on net in an attempt to get back into the game but failed to generate legitimate offensive zone sustained pressure. The Canes couldn’t find an answer for Nilsson even after a scramble in front with around 6 minutes to go that could have cut the lead to one. With around four minutes to go, Anthony Duclair centered a pass to Brady Tkachuk who was out all alone in front. Reimer made the initial stop but the puck glanced off Hamilton and into the back of the net.

The Hurricanes will look to break their winless streak when they take on the Senators again, this time in Raleigh, on Monday at 7 p.m.