In Ottawa, the Carolina Hurricanes’ Nino Niederreiter scored with 62 seconds left in the third period to tie the Senators, 2-2, and send the game to extra time and the skills competition.
Andrei Svechnikov was credited with the deciding goal i the skills portion of the match.
Frederik Andersen made 37 saves in the Hurricanes win.
“[Andersen] was the difference in the game,” Hurricanes head coach Rod Brind’Amour said. “He came up huge a lot and just allowed us to hang in there and finally get the tie and get a chance to win.
“They got two really fluky goals, so nothing got by him, in my opinion.”
Nick Paul and Alex Formenton were the Senators strikers in regulation.
“You don’t want to make excuses, but it’s tough playing a game here,” Brind’Amour said. “It feels like it’s practice, the environment, especially when we’re just now getting used to the electricity being back in the building. It’s the same for both teams, but it was obvious that was a big factor in the game.”
The Sens dropped to 13-20-4.
“I think you can see that everyone is stepping up for each other,” Ottawa’s Tim Stutzle said. “We’re working really hard. Everyone is hitting really hard and playing good defensively, and I think that helps a lot. With Drake and Josh [out], we’re missing a lot, and we have Pinto and White out. We literally have all our top centers out right now, but I mean, everyone is stepping up.”
Derek Stepan also scored for the Hurricanes.
“I feel like as the season goes on, it seems like that’s how the goals are scored during the second half,” Stepan said. “Tonight it was no different.”
Carolina moved to 29-9-2.
“I try not to think too much. It’s important to keep my reaction time and my instincts,” Andersen said. “My movements get slower if I start thinking too much. When guys are too skilled, they can make you look really silly. If you’re expecting one thing, they can easily do something else.”
Matt Murray made 27 saves in the Ottawa loss.
“[Murray] has been awesome,” Paul said. “He’s been making great saves for us. You know, he’s been the backbone right now. Tie games, big chances, sliding across making huge saves, just putting the wind in our sails. He’s been playing awesome. It’s huge for our team.”
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