Senators Handle Hurricanes

RALEIGH, N.C. — Bobby Ryan and Mark Stone scored 13 seconds apart in the second period, and the Ottawa Senators beat the Carolina Hurricanes 4-1 Friday night.

Magnus Paajarvi and Christian Wolanin also scored for Ottawa, which has won four of five after an eight-game losing streak. Anders Nilsson made 33 saves to improve to 4-1 in his last five starts after going 0-10-1 in his previous 11.

Ryan and Stone’s goals pushed the Senators’ lead to 3-0 and they held on from there to get their first regulation win in Raleigh since Dec. 2007.

Ottawa Senators
The Ottawa Senators celebrate a goal (AP Photo/Karl B DeBlaker)

Warren Foegele scored for Carolina, which saw it’s five-game home winning streak snapped. Petr Mrazek stopped 22 shots in place of injured starter Curtis McElhinney.

Paajarvi opened the scoring with just under five minutes remaining in a sleepy first period as he batted a rebound out of mid-air mid-air past Mrazek’s right pad.

The Senators’ 13-second flurry in the second changed the dynamic of the game.

After the Hurricanes repeatedly failed to clear the puck out of their own zone, Ryan sneaked all alone in front of the Carolina net and chipped in Ryan Dzingel’s pass to double Ottawa’s lead.

Before Ryan’s goal could even be announced, Stone took a draw won by Chris Tierney at the top of the left faceoff circle and snapped a wrist shot through traffic and over Mrazek’s left shot shoulder into the net.

The Hurricanes got on the board when Foegele intercepted Mark Borowiecki’s clearing attempt toward the corner and redirected the puck off Nilsson’s stick from a short angle, but Wolanin’s goal in the waning minutes of the period gave Ottawa a three-goal advantage heading into the final period.

That was more than enough, as Nilsson stopped all 12 shots he faced in the third to finish off the win.

NOTES: Nino Niederreiter made his Carolina debut after being acquired in a trade with Minnesota on Thursday. Niederreiter started the game on the left wing and had four shots in 16:30 on the ice. … McElhinney (knee) did not dress for the Hurricanes. He is day-to-day. … Carolina was 16-0-2 in its last 18 home games against Ottawa, with the Senators’ only wins coming via shootout.

UP NEXT

Senators: At St. Louis on Saturday.

Hurricanes: At Edmonton on Sunday.

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The Associated Press