Tim Stutzle scores on a breakaway goal on Saturday night (Imagn Images)Based on their sloppy performance on Saturday night, not to mention some key injuries, the 4 Nations Face-Off break did not serve the Ottawa Senators very well.
The Senators continued the losing slide they started earlier this month, dropping their fourth game in a row, 5-2 to the Montreal Canadiens at Canadian Tire Centre. Sens starter Linus Ullmark allowed 5 goals on 15 shots and was pulled from the game. According to Sportnet, that's the first time that's happened for performance reasons since November 2022.
The Senators played without captain Brady Tkachuk, who was injured at the 4 Nations Face-Off but played the entire championship game on Thursday night. The Sens had hoped that the break would be enough time for Josh Norris and Shane Pinto to heal from their injuries, but they were out as well.
Brendan Gallagher and Nick Suzuki each had two points for Montreal.
The two teams combined for five goals in the first period, which felt disjointed on both sides. That might have been due to the two weeks of rust, or simply because we’ve been so used to watching the highest-caliber hockey of the 4 Nations Face-Off.
The Canadiens opened the scoring early when Drake Batherson was behind his goal line and tried to make a saucer pass to Claude Giroux. Batherson fanned on it, and the puck went right to the slot for Brendan Gallagher, who beat Ullmark to make it 1-0.
That was pretty much the kind of night it would be.
Two minutes later, Cole Caufield made it 2-0 with his 27th goal of the season. The Senators battled back in the first with goals by Jake Sanderson and Tim Stützle. But that was as good as it would get for them.
Nineteen seconds after Stützle’s slick breakaway goal, Patrick Laine’s power-play one-timer put the Canadiens ahead to stay, ripping a shot through Ullmark who was unable to get over in time.
The Habs added to their lead in the second period with goals by Josh Anderson and Juraj Slafkovsky and didn't get much pushback from the Senators in the third.
Frustration boiled over when Ridly Greig took a hard run at Slafkovsky, and they squared off in a fight. Greig, who’s 40 pounds lighter than Slafkovsky, did pretty well in the tilt.
The Senators now have some more time to heal and refocus. They’re off until Wednesday when they host the Winnipeg Jets. The Sens’ skills competition is set for Sunday at the CTC.
By Steve Warne
This article is from The Hockey News Ottawa. Be sure to bookmark the THN Ottawa site for more great Sens coverage.