Hammond was the difference in the period as he made a number of key saves to keep the game tied before Karlsson’s goal.
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With Henrik Sedin sitting in the penalty box for high-sticking, the Senators got an insurance goal with just 1:55 to play, and it was one that Ryan Miller certainly wants back.
Vancouver lost 3-2 to Pittsburgh in its final home game before heading out on the road and has a 1-3-1 record over its last five games. “I thought we played a good game”.
Vancouver opened the scoring at 7:48 of the first period with Sven Baertschi’s second goal of the season, and second in the past three games. I think we’d played a little bit more with poise, we didn’t just throw the pucks away, just to throw them away. But the Senators tied it at 13:02 on their first power play as Bobby Ryan’s quick shot from 45 feet went through Milan Michalek’s screen and past Miller’s stick side. The Senators were ranked 28th in the category as recently as Tuesday, but they’ve now scored five times on nine power play chances in the last three games.
Karlsson put the Senators ahead 2-1 with 6 minutes left in the second period by jumping into a play and beat Miller through the legs.
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“I thought we played real well in the first and then had a letdown in the second and gave up too many opportunities”, said Kyle Turris. “The Canucks power play was 0-for-3 on the night and 0-for-19 in the last six games”. And there was still more available to him including a nice rush during which he created his own breakaway and could have extended the lead shortly after he had given his team the 2-1 edge. That’s where it needs to be better. “We know we have to be better”. The Senators host the Rangers on Saturday. The Sens return home to face Vancouver here but the problem lies in Ottawa’s home ice play against Vancouver’s road play and as a dog I think the Canucks are well worth a shot on the money line. Turris-Duchene would be a dynamic duo up the middle and Duchene would definitely make the Senators better, but like any trade for a star player you are going to have to give up something in other areas in order to make it happen. The British Columbia native has a decent chance to earn a win against his home province Canucks on Thursday evening, as Vancouver has dropped three of their previous four contests. Canucks D Alex Biega was also scratched…. D Patrick Wiercioch and LW Shane Prince were healthy scratches, replaced by D Chris Wideman and LW Matt Puempel, and backup G Andrew Hammond made his second start in three games by taking over from G Craig Anderson…. Senators D Mark Borowiecki played his 100th National Hockey League game…. Canucks rookie D Ben Hutton, who grew up just outside of Ottawa, estimated he had about 100 friends and family in attendance.
