Recap: Canes Comeback Falls Just Short In Ottawa

OTTAWA, ON. -The Carolina Hurricanes scored three times in the third period Tuesday, but ultimately it was not enough as they fell to the Ottawa Senators, 4-3.

The Rundown:
Both teams entered the contest having played last night, Carolina falling in overtime to Toronto and Ottawa taking down New Jersey at home.
Of the two clubs it looked like the Senators had their legs ready to go right out of the gate. Their first goal came just 1:11 in, as an attempted pass from the corner by Brady Tkachuk caught a piece of Sebastian Aho in front of Antti Raanta and ricocheted past him for an early 1-0 advantage. A handful of minutes later it was 2-0 and the Canes were forced to start playing from behind.
A slew of penalties in the final few minutes of the first period forced Raanta to continue to be sharp and what wound up being one of the pivotal moments in the game was when Aho was able to beat Anton Forsberg for the first time all night. The only issue was that it came approximately 0.1 seconds after the buzzer sounded to end the first, so the game moved into the second with Ottawa leading by a pair.
In the second they'd extend that lead to 3-0 and then 4-0 in the opening 2:54, leaving a sizeable gap for the Canes to try and overcome.
It looked as if the visitors "just didn't have it" going into the final frame of regulation and perhaps the main objective would be to just make it out with everyone healthy, however, instead they put together quite the fight in the third.
After struggling against Ottawa's 1-1-3 defensive structure for most of the night, Andrei Svechnikov was able to tuck one home just 2:07 into the final frame to give his team a bit of hope.

The engine got going for Carolina following that, as Svechnikov's tally was one of 16 shots that they were able to get through onto Forsberg in the final 20 minutes. The former Hurricane was up to the task on the next handful that would come his way but then with 6:06 left Brendan Smith was able to get a blast through traffic from the point to make it a 4-2 contest.
Then with Raanta on the bench and just 1:12 to go Vincent Trocheck chimed in on the scoring action. Making it a one-goal contest, a cross-body shot from the blocker-side circle found its way home.

Unfortunately that would be as close as the Canes got though, as their comeback bid fell just short in Canada's capital.
They Said It:
Brendan Smithelaborating on if the team can take the third period as a positive moving forward:
"The third period was good. That's tough though. If we want to be the best team in the world, right from the time the puck drops, you've got to have it. You have to play the whole 60 minutes. You can't spot them four and expect to win the game. We talked about it after the second, we needed to do the right things, have good habits and get ourselves prepared for the next game. We didn't want to let bad habits creep in. We'll take the positives out of the third, but that's not what we want."
Rod Brind'Amoursharing his thoughts on the contest as a whole:
"It was a weird game. I thought the first two shifts were actually great. Then they threw one on, it bounces in and we're behind the eight ball. Then we made a couple real bad decisions with the puck. I loved the fact though that going into the third down 4-0 it would've been just easy to roll over, but that's not how these guys operate. Really, a pretty good second half to the game, we just gave them too much at the start. You don't want to spot any team that, but I loved the fact that we kept digging in."
Jordan Staalon what he thought was the difference tonight:
"It's pretty obvious the start we had was below average for us. Give them credit, they came out and they played our style, they kept moving pucks forward. The first goal was the perfect example, it's a crappy bounce, but at the same time it's in our end and it's going towards our net instead of the other way around. We got to our game, just a little late.
What's Next?:
The Canes fly to Boston post-game ahead of Thursday's meeting with the Bruins. They are scheduled to be off tomorrow.
Bonus Notes:
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