Carolina Hurricanes comeback to but fall to Ottawa Senators in shootout 3-2 -NHL Match Update
Ottawa finally showed that they are capable of taking control of the situation after winning their third straight matchup on Tuesday as the Senators avoided a near loss against the Carolina Hurricanes, 3-2, by scoring in a shootout decider at the RBC Center
in Raleigh, North Carolina, United States.
Getting off to a disappointing start, Ottawa only one single match out of the first six during the 2011-2012 National Hockey League (NHL) regular season, but now have won the last three in a row.
Carolina was on a three game winning streak as well but has now lost three straight against St. Louis Blues, Winnipeg Jets and now Ottawa Senators.
"We knew it was going to be difficult to get the first road win", Senators head coach Paul MacLean said about winning their first away game of the season. "And it certainly was, even though we were in a good position going into the third. But we did a good
job bringing it home".
After a scoreless first period, Zenon Konopka scored the opening 6:30 into the second while Jason Spezza potted his fifth of the season with 1:24 remaining in the period on their first power play opportunity to extend the lead.
Carolina was down by two with less than five minutes remaining in the final period but the Hurricanes managed to make a miraculous comeback as Tuomo Ruutu brought the home team within one of the score and Jeff Skinner made the equaliser on a late power play
with Ottawa’s David Rundblad out with a minor.
Letting the levelling goal go through him, Ottawa goalie, Craig Anderson decided to stay concrete in the net for the forced shootout after a fruitless overtime extension.
Anderson blocked all three Carolina attempts in the shootout as Jason Spezza managed to score on Ottawa second chance to take the match.
"I knew I owed my teammates for the second goal", said Anderson, who has been in net for all three wins. "You never want to have a puck go through you, even if it's deflected. That goal was on me, so I wanted to be able to redeem myself in the shootout".
The Senators return home to host the Florida Panthers on Thursday, while Hurricanes play their final home game of the month against the Chicago Blackhawks on Friday.
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