GLENDALE, Ariz. — It was a battle between two of the NHL’s basement dwellers Saturday night at the Gila River Arena.
And, the Ottawa Senators were plagued by one of the issues they’ve had all through this difficult season: An inability to string two wins together on the road.
Coming off a 5-4 victory only 24 hours earlier over the Vegas Golden Knights and trying to get two straight victories on the road for the first time since sweeping Western Canada in early October, the Senators came up short with a 2-1 loss to the Arizona Coyotes.
While Mike Condon gave the Senators a chance to win he wasn’t able to do it all himself, only Jean-Gabriel Pageau was able to beat Arizona’s Antti Raanta. Coupled with a 2-1 loss at home on Nov. 18th, the Senators were swept by the Coyotes this season.
Jordan Martinook and Oliver Ekman-Larsson did the scoring for Coyotes who have now won eight of their last 11 games. The Senators didn’t have much in the way of chances on the Coyotes in the third and Ottawa had only four shots in the third period.
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The Ottawa Senators’ Jean-Gabriel Pageau (44) celebrates his goal against the Arizona Coyotes with Mark Stone during the first period.
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Arizona Coyotes goaltender Antti Raanta makes a save on a shot as Ottawa Senators left-winger Zack Smith looks on during the first period.
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Senators netminder Mike Condon sags to his knees after giving up a goal to Coyotes defenceman Oliver Ekman-Larsson, right, during the first period.
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Coyotes defenceman Oliver Ekman-Larsson celebrates his goal against the Senators with centre Derek Stepan (21) and left-winger Brendan Perlini, left, during the first period.
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Coyotes forward Max Domi, right, skates past Senators defenceman Erik Karlsson during the second period of Saturday’s game.
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Despite the presence of Senators players Jean-Gabriel Pageau, left, Thomas Chabot (72) and Erik Karlsson, Coyotes winger Jordan Martinook scores a goal against netminder Mike Condon during the second period of play. It turned out to be the game-winner.
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Senators netminder Mike Condon pulls the puck from the net as Coyotes players celebrate what proved to be the game-winning goal by Jordan Martinook in the second period.
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Senators centre Matt Duchene (95) is shoved by Coyotes defenceman Alex Goligoski as a shot gets blocked by goaltender Antti Raanta during the third period.
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Senators goaltender Mike Condon makes a save on a shot by Coyotes forward Christian Fischer (36) during the third period.
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Ottawa centre Jim O’Brien (40) tries to redirect the puck as Arizona defenceman Oliver Ekman-Larsson tries to keep him from blocking the view of netminder Antti Raanta during the second period.
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Coyotes netminder Antti Raanta exchanges high-fives with defenceman Alex Goligoski as time expires and Arizona records its 2-1 victory against Ottawa on Saturday night.
Coach Guy Boucher wasn’t impressed with the third period at all.
“The disappointing part was the third period. We sabotaged ourselves,” a frustrated Boucher said. “We took penalties, so we had to kill that, and when you’re on a back-to-back in the third period, the guys you want to get goals have to be on the penalty kill.
“You’re sabotaging yourself. There was no push in the third and that’s the disappointing part.”
Sitting four points ahead of the last-place Coyotes, nobody would have imagined when the puck was dropped in October that the Senators would have been close to Arizona for the No. 1 ranking in the draft lottery than the 29th-ranked club is to the playoffs.
But, here the Senators are with only 18 games left and only the Buffalo Sabres standing between Ottawa and Arizona in the standings.
You can bet there’s a portion of the fanbase that was hoping the Senators wouldn’t win this one so the Coyotes can catch them to give Ottawa better odds for Swedish sensation Rasmus Dahlin in the draft lottery in April but Boucher wants no part of that discussion.
“I don’t think there’s one game that you go into that you’re trying to be different,” Boucher said before the game. “When you think that way you’re not a competitor and we’re competitors. There’s nothing I go into in life where I say, ‘I don’t care if I lose’.
“I don’t even let my kids win a game of cards. If I lose at cards with my buddies, I’ll play until 6 a.m until I win the thing. I never go into any game thinking, ‘Alright, are we going to half-ass it?’ No, I go into every game wanting to win because everything we do matters. It matters for now, it matters for later and everything you can add or take out will make a difference in the short run and the long run.
“We’re coming into win and our players are the same. When you compete, you compete. Period. And you can’t turn that off.”
Since the NHL trade deadline passed last Monday and all the trade talk went away, the Senators have done a better job competing and they showed some push here for two periods before they completely fell apart in the third to allow the Coyotes to take the play to them.
For the most part, the effort was there through 40 minutes against the Coyotes but the Senators were having a hard time cashing in on Raanta by outshooting Arizona 20-17 and were trailing 2-1.
“I thought we were better in the second and in the third we couldn’t get anything going,” said defenceman Mark Borowiecki. “These guys were 7-2-1 in their last (10) and they’ve got some skill.”
The Senators have had a hard time scoring all season and that’s put a lot of pressure on the goalies. That trend hasn’t changed all season.
The Coyotes pulled ahead 2-1 at 14:08 of the second when the Senators got caught in their own end. Standing alone and untouched in front, Martinook took a perfect pass from Brad Richardson to fire it by Condon, but there wasn’t a whole lot he could do on this one.
With the Coyotes pressing after the Senators took an early lead in the first, Ekman-Larsson tied it up 1-1 at 18:46 when he beat Condon on the glove side. It’s too bad because Condon had looked sharp and halted Martinook on a breakaway when the Senators were outshot 12-8 in the first.
Didn’t take long for the Senators to get on the board. Only 3:24 into the game, Pageau scored his 10th of the season when he chipped a slick pass from Bobby Ryan by Raanta into a wide open net on the glove side to give Ottawa a 1-0 lead.
“That team keeps it really simple and they play with a lot of energy,” said centre Matt Duchene. “Not enough shots on net and in games like that you’ve just got to find a way and give a bit more to make it happen. We weren’t able to do that tonight.”
The Senators will have Sunday off to prepare to face the Dallas Stars on Monday at American Airlines Arena to wrap up this trip.
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