Ottawa Senators head coach Travis Green was not happy with the effort his team put forward in a 6-3 loss to the Florida Panthers on Tuesday.
The Senators allowed the opening goal just eight seconds into the loss and were down 5-0 when Linus Ullmark was pulled in favour of James Reimer with 5:24 still to play in the first period.
The defeat cost the Senators a chance to jump back into the playoff picture. Entering play Wednesday, Ottawa sits two points back of the Columbus Blue Jackets for the final wild-card spot with one game in hand.
“Disappointing. We talked about the importance of a good start in this building and that was the opposite,” Green said postgame. “We just looked flat, didn’t have a lot of energy. … We just weren’t good enough tonight. Flat out, we had a lot of players who weren’t good enough.”
The Panthers scored the fastest goal in their franchise history when Senators defenceman Jordan Spence and Ullmark had a miscommunication as the puck was dumped into their end, allowing Noah Gregor to jump on the loose puck and score.
“Just weren’t ready to play at the beginning. Myself included,” said Spence. “It’s tough. It’s hard to crawl back when they score two quick goals like that. We’ve got learn from it, move past it, and focus on the next game.”
Ullmark gives up five goals in the first period as Sens playoff push takes another hit Linus Ullmark gave up five goals on 16 shots as the Senators drop their third-straight game in an ugly 6-3 loss to the Panthers Tuesday night. TSN’s Hockey analyst Frankie Corrado joins Lindsay Hamilton to breakdown what went wrong for Ullmark and the Senators.
Sitting second last in the Eastern Conference, the back-to-back champion Panthers had little to play for Tuesday as the team closes on being mathematically eliminated from the playoffs.
“Ottawa is fighting for their lives and I think we were more afraid of them than they would be of us. And rightfully so,” Panthers coach Paul Maurice said. “Some good things happened. We got on the power play. It has had chances … but nothing is going for it. Then a couple go and now, you have the juice, the energy, the home crowd. We haven’t had a lot of fun nights in the last month, so it just lights the bench up. You’re playing for that good feeling.”
A difficult schedule awaits the Senators as the team looks to push their way into the playoffs over the next two weeks. Ottawa will host the Atlantic Division-leading Buffalo Sabres Thursday in the first of four straight games against teams currently sitting in playoff spots. After the Sabres, a back-to-back set against the Minnesota Wild and Carolina Hurricanes awaits over the weekend.
The Boston Bruins are moving out of reach, now sitting eight points ahead of the Senators for the top wild-card spot, leaving the Senators to battle with Blue Jackets, Detroit Red Wings (tied with Ottawa at 86 points), Philadelphia Flyers (86 points), and Washington Capitals (85 points) for the final wild-card spot.