DUCKS 6, SENATORS 3
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The Ottawa Senators suffered a complete collapse on Sunday.
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They say it never rains in California, but the Senators got completely drenched as they wrapped up their tour through the Golden State with a disgraceful 6-3 loss to the Anaheim Ducks at Honda Center.
The Senators raced out to a 3-0 lead after the first period, then came apart at the seams by surrendering six unanswered goals over the final 40 minutes to finish this road trip with a 1-2-1 record.
Fingers will be pointed at No. 3 goaltender Jonas Johansson, who gave up six goals on 33 shots, but the Senators allowed the Ducks to run away with the game by surrendering four power-play goals on five opportunities.
Philip Tomasino, Claude Giroux and Michael Amadio scored for the Senators, who are now 0-4-0 in the second game of back-to-back sets this season. It should be noted that the opposition was rested in all four instances.
Coach Travis Green wasn’t upset with the club’s effort. He didn’t like the result.
“Special teams played a big part in the game,” said Green. “I liked a lot of our game. If you took the special teams out, I’d be really happy with the game. That’s a tough game to play. We’re tired on the back end of a back-to-back.
“They’re a good team, and it’s a tough game to play when you’ve played the night before.”
But the Senators needed to find a way, and they didn’t.
“We did a lot of good things. We weren’t consistent enough to get the win,” Giroux told the club’s website. “It was kind of a weird game, too. A lot of penalties. But 5-on-5, I think we did a pretty job overall, but not enough to get us the win.”
Centre Dylan Cozens will likely be getting a call from the NHL’s department of player safety. He was assessed a five-minute major and a game misconduct in the third period for a hit to the head of A.J. Greer. Such plays are automatically reviewed.
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The Ducks entered the game with a 1-6-1 record in their previous eight contests. Coach Joel Quenneville was disappointed with the play of goaltenders Ville Husso and Lukas Dostal, so the club turned to Laurent Brossoit.
Brossoit, 33, suited up for his first NHL game since March 15, when he was with the San Jose Sharks. He allowed six goals on 23 shots in a 7-4 Senators victory at the Canadian Tire Centre.
The Senators scored three goals on their first seven shots of the game, and that’s where the offensive magic ended.
Backup plan fails miserably
The decision to start Johansson in this scenario was no shock.
This was Johansson’s fourth start since being called up by the Senators after Linus Ullmark suffered a lower-body strain on Oct. 21. Johansson was pulled after allowing four goals on 16 shots in Los Angeles.
The issue is that he couldn’t make the stops when the Senators needed them the most.
Cutter Gauthier completed his hat-trick with his second in 36 seconds to give the Ducks a 5-3 lead on the power play at 2:26 of the third. That was Gauthier’s second with the man-advantage.
He gave the Ducks their first lead of the game at 1:50 of the third by scoring on a 5-on-3. That is one Johansson would want back because Gauthier fired it through the five-hole.
An area the Senators have to find answers is the power play. The club went 0-for-3 with the man advantage, including a 5-on-3. The Senators have so much offensive talent, it’s shocking.
The Senators are ranked No. 29 in the National Hockey League on the power play. They don’t shoot the puck enough and hardly create any opportunities. They paid the price in this one.
“We didn’t get it done and that’s where we have to be better for the next game in Buffalo,” said captain Thomas Chabot, who added the power play and penalty kill were equally off on this night.
Ducks claw their way back
This turned into a tough, nasty battle in the second.
And, when push came to shove, the Ducks charged back.
Anaheim erased a 3-0 deficit when Judd Caufield tied it up with his second of the game by tipping a shot from Tristan Luneau at the point past Johansson on the power play with only 42 seconds left.
The Ducks scored twice in a span of 1:58 in the second after being booed off the ice at the end of the first. Caufield closed the gap to 3-2 by jamming a puck home during a battle in front.
Shane Pinto was unable to handle a pass in the Ottawa zone, and it resulted in a terrible giveaway. That sent Gauthier in alone, and he fired it home on the glove side at 1:35 of the second.
“They were the better team in the second, maybe not by a lot, but the chances they had they were able to put in and quickly it was 3-3,” Giroux added. “We felt confident going into the third, but their power play handled the puck pretty well.
And, so it should.
Fast start for the Senators
The Senators couldn’t have scripted a better start on the road than a 3-0 lead after 20 minutes, especially on the second night of a back-to-back set.
Ottawa has been on fire offensively since mounting a comeback from a 5-1 deficit on Thursday in a 6-5 overtime loss to the Los Angeles Kings, and that was showing no signs of stopping in Anaheim.
Amadio’s fourth of the year extended the club’s lead to three goals. He took a perfect pass from Giroux, skated in alone and fired it by Brossoit at 17:37. Giroux tied Guy Lafleur for No. 38 all-time in assists with 738.
The Senators scored twice in a span of 62 seconds to pull out to a 2-0 lead on the Ducks. Giroux scored his third of the year at 7:02 by firing a shot by Brossoit on the stick side.
Tomasino scored his first with the Senators only six minutes into the first. A blast by Chabot, redirected off Tomasino’s glove and by Brossoit into the top corner.
Batherson extended his point-scoring streak to eight straight.
