Fans of the Ottawa Senators got an ugly reminder of just how difficult things can be without Jason Spezza.
Eric Staal was the only Hurricane to score on the night but it was enough to earn the W as the Senators struggled to generate offence against Dan Ellis and the rest of a defensively sound home side. The end result- a 1-0 loss at the hands of the Carolina Hurricanes.
Without their number one centre, it's pretty clear the Senators are going to have to work hard to create chances and tonight they just couldn't seem to get anything going.
Despite throwing 33 shots his way, it really was an easy night for the Hurricanes back up goaltender, Dan Ellis. MacLean shuffled the lines a few times over the course of sixty minutes but there just didn't seem to be any chemistry between the trios he was sending over the boards.
Kyle Turris, who assumes first line duties for the forseeable future, logged 20:33 of ice time and registered a couple shots on goal. He looked pretty good with the Sens on the power play but obviously his success is going to measured in points and tonight he came up empty.
Craig Anderson held up his end of the bargain at the other end of the ice.
The only shot to beat him through forty minutes was a nifty deflection by Canes Captain Eric Staal. Beyond that, Anderson was excellent, bailing his team out on multiple occasions. Anderson was actually able to keep his incredible run of shutout hockey in the 2nd and 3rd periods alive despite the loss.
While the Senators obviously missed him tonight, the good news is Jason Spezza's surgery was a success and his rehab period can begin in just over a week. While it's impossible to know exactly how long Spezza will be out for, Murray did mention ideally they would have him back around the April 3 trade deadline.
Murray also told Ian Mendes that while no deals are expected this weekend, he does have some possibilities in play that he has already discussed with other teams. As I mentioned this morning, Murray is not going to make a panic move here but he will be active and closely monitor the market for available options in the event he does decide a trade is the best option.
The Sens are off tomorrow and then back at it on Sunday afternoon when they visit the Montreal Canadiens.
