Tuesday night in the NHL | With 12-game win, Senators want to forget November

The Ottawa Senators are hoping they can forget November, but it is possible that it will leave its mark until the end of the season.

After posting a 1-10-1 record during the month, the Senators find themselves last in the NHL overall standings with a 4-14-1 record.

“I don’t know why there would be just one reason to remember November,” head coach DJ Smith said on Tuesday. “I think it’s a thing of the past for everyone.

“It’s probably one of the toughest months that every player, staff, management, owners has had to face, with everything that has happened. The defeats, the COVID, the injuries. We’re done with (November) and couldn’t be happier moving to December. ”

Turning the page may be easier said than done.

It was a formation that was supposed to start winning, after four mostly miserable seasons – “The rebuilding is over,” general manager Pierre Dorion said after he initialed a contract extension in September – but in The current situation, it’s hard to believe the Senators will achieve a radical turnaround.

While it would be easy to blame the current situation on a recent outbreak of COVID-19 that affected 10 Senators players and forced the postponement of three games, that would only be an excuse.

The problems were there long before.

Defensively, the team was in trouble and still is. After 19 games, the Senators are posting a league-worst 3.84 goals-against average. In its defensive territory, the team is a disaster.

Part of the problem is the goaltending trio of Matt Murray, Anton Forsberg and Filip Gustavsson.

Murray’s name, who hasn’t won a single game this season, was recently placed on waivers. He and his contract, with an average annual value of US $ 6.25 million, were sold to Belleville, in the American League. Murray still has two years to his agreement.

Beyond goalies, there is room for improvement among Senators defensemen aside from Thomas Chabot and Artem Zub.

With their training bald by COVID-19, the Senators were forced to recall Lassi Thompson. The 21-year-old Finn has done well, but this defensive unit still makes way too many blunders.

With a 15-game schedule in December, the Senators will have a long way to go to prove they are more than a bottom team.

“When we looked at (the calendar for) December over the summer, we thought it would be our toughest month because of our opponents,” said Smith.

“If you look at our schedule, the clubs we’re going to face this month are the toughest. There is no better way to get up, to have a good feeling, than to beat a good team, and that is what we will have to do here during the month of December. We have to play better and we have to find a way to beat a good team and to feel good about ourselves. ”

Work will begin Wednesday night as the Senators host the Vancouver Canucks (7-14-2) who are also in trouble.

The Senators will then be able to count on Drake Batherson, their leading scorer (seven goals, nine assists), whose name has been withdrawn from COVID-19 protocols and who is ready to take over.

The Canadian Press

Meier scores twice in Sharks win

Sharks leading scorer Timo Meier led by example with two goals and San Jose prevailed 5-2 over the New Jersey Devils on Tuesday.

Noah Gregor, Jacob Middleton and Erik Karlsson had the Sharks’ other goals, while James Reimer made 32 saves.

The Sharks won the first two games of a five-city trip.

Tomas Tatar and Jesper Bratt fired back for the Devils, while Mackenzie Blackwood stopped 26 shots.

The visitors led 4-0 after Karlsson’s fourth goal of the season, halfway through the second period.

The push included a goal from Meier on the power play. Meier completed his brace in an empty net.

Devils captain Nico Hischier scored a 100^e moves on to a career at 22.

Associated Press

Irresistible rise of the Panthers in 3^e

Sam Reinhart took advantage of a power play to score the winning net with 14.4 seconds left in regulation and the Florida Panthers defeated the Washington Capitals 5-4 on Tuesday night.

Facing a 4-1 decline, the Panthers had four goals on 26 shots in the third period, a team-high this season, and ended a two-game losing streak.

Eetu Luostarinen and Ryan Lomberg contributed to the Panthers’ offense with one goal and one assist each. Sam Bennett and Joe Thornton pulled off the other winner’s nets. Defenseman Aaron Ekblad added three assists.

Goalkeeper Sergei Bobrovsky repelled 23 shots to improve his home record to 8-0-0.

In the loss, Nick Jensen got a goal and an assist. Lars Eller, Beck Malenstyn and Connor McMichael also hit the target. Dmitry Orlov had two assists and goalkeeper Ilya Samsonov made 45 saves.

Lomberg’s goal at 3:23 of the third period made it 4-2. Luostarinen added a shorthanded goal less than three minutes later to reduce the visitors’ lead to one goal.

Bennett then deflected a shot from Ekblad to tie the game, with 7:59 to go.

The Capitals took a 2-0 lead thanks to goals from McMichael and Malenstyn in an 11-second gap in the first period.

Thornton hit back with his second goal of the season and the 1533^e point of his career. Suddenly, he joined Mark Recchi at 12^e rank in NHL history.

Eller and Jensen beat Bobrovsky in the second period.

Associated Press

The Red Wings sign their 3000^e Victoire

Marc Staal’s first goal of the season broke the tie with just over eight minutes to go in the third period and gave the Detroit Red Wings the 3000^e victory in their history, 2-1 over the Boston Bruins, Tuesday night.

Filip Zadina scored the other goal for the Red Wings, who have won a third straight game and have 7,001 points since joining the National Hockey League.

In net for the Red Wings, Alex Nedeljkovic blocked 41 pucks. He only faltered in front of David Pastrnak.

Linus Ullmark made 16 saves for the Bruins, who had won five of their last seven games.

Earlier today, the Bruins learned that their head coach Bruce Cassidy would miss the game after being placed in COVID-19 protocols.

In addition, Bruins leading scorer Brad Marchand served the first of a three-game suspension for giving the Vancouver Canucks Oliver Ekman-Larsson a leg up on Sunday.

Staal scored the winning net as the Red Wings dispatched a sixth skater to the ice during a delayed penalty against the Bruins.

Zadina gave the Red Wings the lead in the second period and Pastrnak tied the game at 6:20 of the third period, on a two-man power-play.

Associated Press

Greenway and Kaprizov lead the Wild to victory

Jordan Greenway had one goal and two assists on Tuesday, helping the Minnesota Wild to a 5-2 victory over the Arizona Coyotes.

With a goal and an assist, Kirill Kaprizov brought his total to 14 points in seven games – the best streak in the NHL during this period.

Kaapo Kahkonen stopped 29 shots for Minnesota, which won a fourth straight game.

Joel Eriksson Ek, Jonas Brodin and Marcus Foligno also scored for the Wild, which leads the league with 59 goals since November 2.

Clayton Keller and Anton Stralman fought back for Arizona.

Scott Wedgewood made 32 saves.

Minnesota are eight straight wins against Arizona. Each victory was signed with at least three goals difference.

The Wild has also registered Frédérick Gaudreau in the protocol related to the pandemic.

His teammate Mats Zuccarello was missing a second game in a row, with a hand injury.

Associated Press

O’Reilly makes the difference in shootout

Ryan O’Reilly was the only one to score in the shootout and the St. Louis Blues defeated the Tampa Bay Lightning 4-3 on Tuesday.

The Blues lost 3-0 after 5:29 in the first period, following goals from Anthony Cirelli, Corey Perry and Erik Cernak.

O’Reilly started the comeback early in the second period, with his fourth goal of the season.

Logan Brown closed the gap with a first goal this season and Ivan Barbashev leveled early in the third period on the power play.

Brian Elliott and Jordan Binnington both made 30 saves.

The two clubs will face off again Thursday in Tampa.

The Canadian Press

Three Hintz goals win the Stars

Roope Hintz completed the first hat trick of his career scoring in an empty net late in the third period, and the Dallas Stars defeated the Carolina Hurricanes 4-1 on Tuesday night.

As a result, the Stars collected a fifth straight win and won a sixth straight home game – the longest winning streak in the NHL.

Joe Pavelski did his part with one goal and two assists for the Stars, who were outscored 40-17 in shots on goal.

At his 500^e A career NHL game, goaltender Braden Holtby blocked 39 pucks for a second straight win.

Former Montreal Canadiens Jesperi Kotkaniemi, with his sixth goal of the campaign, deprived Holtby of a shutout with 3:33 left in the third period.

Goalkeeper Frederik Andersen made 13 saves for the Hurricanes, who are 1-3-1 in their last five outings.

Hintz has 10 goals in his last nine games and three game-winning goals in the Stars’ last six victories.

The trio of Hintz, Pavelski and Jason Robertson have 12 goals and 11 assists in the Stars’ last five games. Pavelski has collected at least two points in each of his last three games.

Hintz scored the first goal of the game after 73 seconds of play. He doubled the Stars’ lead with about five minutes left in the second period and he scored in an empty net 43 seconds after Kotkaniemi’s goal.

Pavelski put on his 7^e goal of the season at 9:31 of the third period.

The Hurricanes played the game in the absence of defensemen Tony DeAngelo and Brett Pesce, who were placed in NHL protocols on Monday.

Associated Press

4 goals for Forsberg; a 1^er shutout for Saros

Filip Forsberg had four goals, Juuse Saros made 27 saves and the Nashville Predators beat the Columbus Blue Jackets 6-0 on Tuesday.

Forsberg punctuated his night with a power-play net, a 10^e goal for him this season.

He scored the first goal with a wrist shot from the right circle. The second came from a shot on reception, from the enclave.

He also converted a brilliant pass from Mikael Granlund, before redirecting a point shot.

Saros earned a first shutout this season, a 15^e in career.

The Canadian Press