Grieving Ottawa Senators drop second straight with loss to the Carolina Hurricanes
The Ottawa Senators are probably feeling like there are more important things in life than hockey after their assistant coach Luke Richardson lost his daughter who committed suicide last weekend. The team
stayed in Ottawa to attend the funeral and left for Carolina only moments before the start of the game. The Hurricanes didn't share any sympathy by handing the grieving Senators a 7-1 defeat on Wednesday 17 November.
How it happened
Understandably, the Senators came out a little flat, surrendering four goals in the first period. Tim Gleason got things started with his second of the year before Eric Staal added back-to-back power play
goals. Staal's first of the game was his 200th of his career.
Chad LaRose got his fifth of the year with the last goal of the first period, then got his sixth with the opening goal of the third after a scoreless second period.
The Senators pulled one back when Daniel Alfredsson scored on the power play, but the Senators' minds seemed to be elsewhere as the Hurricanes added two more before the end. Staal completed his hat trick
with his ninth of the year before Tuomo Ruuttu scored his fourth of the season.
What they're saying
Since the tragedy, the Ottawa Senators have lost twice and have been outscored 12-2. No one in the Senators locker room was ignoring the fact that recent events have factored into the team's performance
on the ice.
"We went through a lot today and couldn't get the job done," Senators defenseman Chris Phillips told reporters after the game. "It was pretty much the worst-case scenario. "We wanted to win this game for
so many reasons. A couple early mistakes and lost battles, and before we knew it, we were down 4-0."
For the Hurricanes it was an opportunity to bounce back from a pair of lopsided losses, but they acknowledged that the victory came against a team with more than hockey on their mind. "We weren't happy
with our last two games, we came out ready to play and they looked like a team with a lot on their mind," Staal said.
The Hurricanes now travel to Pittsburgh where they take on the Penguins on Friday 19 November and will be looking for a win which could hurdle them into the top eight in the Eastern Conference.
The Senators will be looking to put recent events behind them as they finish off their four-game road swing by taking on the struggling St. Louis Blues on Friday night.
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