Head coach D.J. Smith said the second period against the Hurricanes on Tuesday was "as bad as we've played this year."
The Ottawa Senators' ugly trend of poor second periods continued Tuesday night in a 4-1 home loss to the Carolina Hurricanes.
Sebastien Aho broke a 1-1 game wide open in the second, scoring twice and adding an assist, and that was all the Carolina Hurricanes needed for a 4-1 victory. The Sens couldn't kick the 'Canes when they were down, as Carolina snapped a four-game skid.
Josh Norris scored Ottawa's only goal of the game, staking the Sens to an early 1-0 lead, but it was all downhill from there.
Pyotr Kochetkov didn't look at all like a goalie with a .883 save percentage. He made 30 saves for Carolina, including stops on at least three breakaways. Kotchetkov also had Brady Tkachuk furious in the third period after he tripped the Sens captain on a penalty shot, causing him to slide hard into the end boards.
Safely protected by the referees and his many layers of gear, Kochetkov made a "bring it on" gesture to Tkachuk, only adding to the Sens winger's rage. Eventually, after barking at both Kochetkov and the Carolina bench for a little too long, Tkachuk was handed a misconduct, ending his evening.
Very few NHL players, if any, have ever been handed a misconduct after taking a penalty shot.
Joonas Korpisalo allowed four goals on 28 shots for the Senators, whose mistakes made things way too easy on the 'Canes. The backbreaker was a terrible Ottawa line change that led to a Carolina 2-on-0 and, despite Jake Sanderson's hard backcheck, Seth Jarvis scored to make it 3-1 'Canes.
The Hockey News Ottawa's Alex Adams was in the locker room after the game and heard from DJ Smith, who didn’t mince words after the game, focusing on their terrible second period.
“That second period, that's probably the worst period of the year,“ said Smith. “You’re not going to win if you play like that.”
Josh Norris relayed the same sentiment of the Senators play. “Yeah, just not good enough," said Norris. “It was pretty embarrassing to be honest with you.”
Norris was critical of the team’s power play that went 0/4 and is now 0/17 in it’s last 5 home games.
“It’s s**t. It’s brutal,” said Norris.
Brady Tkachuk explained to the media why he got so upset at Kochetkov’s poke check on his penalty shot.
“I was about to make my play there," said Tkachuk. “And of course, he came out. So yeah, don’t like going that hard into the boards.”
After starting the season with a 3-1 record, the Senators have been quietly drifting and bobbing in the Atlantic as a .500 club. In the past 19 games, they've never been better than a game over .500 or worse than two games under. 500.
With very little time left to save the season, and no cavalry on the way, the club now embarks on a crucial five game road trip to St. Louis, Dallas, Vegas, Arizona, and Colorado.
By the Numbers: It was Jake Sanderson’s 100th game. As well, Claude Giroux is aging like fine wine. Has now 23 points in 23 games and counting. He is still a point-per-game player and turns 36 next month.