Hurricanes win their first shootout of the year in Ottawa

Remember when I said that the Ottawa Senators seem to give the Hurricanes fits when they meet? I’d love to have been proven wrong about that, but the fact that a team that is currently 3rd from bottom in the NHL standings took the Hurricanes to the shootout should be a bright red flag for fans. However, that won’t matter in the playoffs because Ottawa would need several miracles to make it.

Ottawa was in control of this game for the most part, but some choppy ice conditions from the start made this a sloppy game for both teams. They were a lot of chances for both teams that probably don’t happen on a cleaner ice surface, but it was the same for both teams and the Senators seemed to control the flow of the game, and the shot clock agreed with that statement as the Canes got smacked on that one.

However, if the shot clock one game, hockey would be a very different sport, and the Canes were able to get 2 goals from the bottom six and push this game to the shootout. Make no mistake, this was almost entirely the work of their Vezina trophy candidate netminder, but how you get the two points doesn’t matter as long as you get them. Carolina’s star netminder was the big difference in this one all night long.

Carolina’s first shootout of the year saw their Danish giant in goal stop all three of the Senator’s shooters as the Canes got their first shootout win of the year in their first attempt. This was the Canes’ first shootout since April or something, the fact the team was this responsive in the exhibition portion of the game is a promising sight. The first shootout of the season leads to the first shootout win of the season