The game was under the ‘Must-Win’ category for the Ottawa Senators.
Unfortunately, the result was all too familiar for the Senators’ faithful in a pivotal game against the two-time defending Stanley Cup-champion Florida Panthers and an Atlantic Division rival.
The Senators’ hopes of making the National Hockey League playoffs continued to slip away as they dropped a fourth straight game 3-2 against the Panthers in front of 17,085 at the Canadian Tire Centre.
It’s the first time this season the Senators have lost four in a row, and it had better stop soon, or they will be out of it before the NHL takes a break for the Olympics next month.
“I don’t think the season is over by any means,” said goaltender Leevi Merilainen, who made 18 stops. “We can’t be too hard on ourselves, but at the same time, we know that we’re losing and we’ve got to find a way not to let it go any further, and start winning.”
The clock is ticking on the Senators. The club is seven points out of the final wildcard spot in the Eastern Conference with 39 games left. Every point is paramount, and the Senators need to start stringing some wins together.
Coming off an 8-2 loss to the Colorado Avalanche on Thursday, the Senators needed to have a good response in this one.
The Senators couldn’t be much worse than they were against the Avalanche, but the players knew they needed to compete better, but Ottawa lacked emotion in this one.
“I thought we lacked a little bit of desperation,” said coach Travis Green. “Just a bit. There’s another level of desperation we can play with. And, it’s not just offensively, it’s defensively, it’s taking a hit to make a play, taking a check to get to the net. I just think there is another level for us.
“When you’re not winning, it’s hard. When you’re winning, everything comes easy. Everything flows. You feel great. And when you’re not, it’s hard, and that’s when you have to dig in and play hard.”
Ottawa barely tested Florida netminder Sergei Bobrovsky. They had to do a better job of creating scoring chances.
The Senators pushed once they were down two goals, and Claude Giroux pulled his club within a goal with 1:42 to go, but that was as close as they got. Fabian Zetterlund also scored for the Senators.
Gustav Forsling gave the Panthers a 3-1 lead with a blast by Ottawa goalie Leevi Merilainen at 3:48 of the third period. You didn’t get any sense that the Senators were coming back in this one.
Fans not happy
The Senators were sideways at the officials after Carter Verhaeghe made a dangerous hit from behind on Artem Zub. It was originally called a major penalty after Zub went face-first into the boards.
Referees Pierre Lambert and Graedy Hamilton then reviewed the play and overturned it into a minor penalty. That had fans throwing drinks and debris on the ice, which delayed the game momentarily.
It should have been a major.
Verhaeghe scored on the power play at 13:13 of the second period to give the Panthers a 2-1 advantage. He fired a shot from the right faceoff circle that beat Merilainen high.
The Senators were doing a lot of soul-searching after this one.
“We played okay. We’ve got a lot more. We can play better for 60 minutes. Right now, we’re in a tough position, and the only way to get out of it is by working and staying together,” said Giroux. “A lot of guys in this room care. We know we can be a dangerous team, we’ve just got to dial it up a little bit.”
Carter Verhaeghe of the Panthers and the Senators’ Shane Pinto (12) and Tyler Kleven (43) watch the puck slide away in front of goaltender Leevi Merilainen in the first period.
Busy stretch for Leevi
Merilainen made his seventh straight start in net for Ottawa on Saturday.
It was his eighth straight appearance in the club’s net since he took over for Linus Ullmark on Dec. 27 against the Toronto Maple Leafs. Since then, Merilainen has a 2-6-0 record with an .857 save percentage and a 3.67 goals-against average. That’s not going to win you anything.
We could see James Reimer, recently signed to a pro tryout deal, start against the Vancouver Canucks on Tuesday. He’s expected to suit up for the Belleville Senators in an American Hockey League game on Sunday.
A small step
The Senators and Panthers were tied 1-1 after the first.
The first 20 minutes weren’t the Senators’ best of the season, but, given the way it has been going lately, they had to be satisfied with being in a good place. They had played closer to their identity, which is being strong defensively.
Florida’s Evan Rodrigues tied it up 1-1 on a power play at 11:34. He was patient, moving through the top of the slot before firing a blast by Merilainen on the glove side with Zub in the penalty box.
The Senators ended an eight-game stretch of allowing the first goal by opening the scoring. Zetterlund picked up a loose puck in the corner, threw it towards the net and got a fortunate bounce off Bobrovsky at 4:03.
Giroux picked up assist No. 773 of his career on Zetterlund’s goal, which tied him with Vincent Damphousse and Teemu Selanne for 42nd all-time in the NHL.
bgarrioch@postmedia.com
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