The Carolina Hurricanes and Ottawa Senators resumed the season following the All-Star break with opposite results.
But there’s no time for either team to dwell too much on those, as they face each other Tuesday night in Ottawa in another make-up game.
It will be a chore for the teams considering the nature of each team’s hectic post-All-Star break schedules, so getting up to speed as soon as possible will be the key.
“It’s hard to get ramped up and get back to that game pace,” Carolina coach Rod Brind’Amour said coming off a break of more than a week.
The Hurricanes dropped a 4-3 overtime decision Monday at Toronto. Ottawa was home for its 4-1 win against the New Jersey Devils.
“We have to worry about ourselves,” Senators coach D.J. Smith said. “It doesn’t really matter who we’re playing. We’ve got to take care of ourselves. We’ve got 11 games in 20 days and we just have to keep doing what we do.”
For each team, there’s no real advantage at this stage.
“There’s going to be other teams in the same scenario, so we just have to try to be as fresh as possible,” Smith said. “We’re going to use all kinds of bodies here.”
That figures to be the case for the Hurricanes as well. They were without forward Teuvo Teravainen for Monday night as he dealt with an ailment, but Brind’Amour said his availability could change by the time the team arrives in Ottawa.
“It’s going to be a challenge for everyone,” Carolina goalie Frederik Andersen said. “See how we feel and adjust.”
The Hurricanes came out of the All-Star break with the second-highest winning percentage in the NHL.
“That’s a lot of hockey still to be played,” Brind’Amour said. “There’s no more time off. Hopefully, they used (the break) right. We push hard, and now we’re going to get pushed even harder.”
The Hurricanes used Andersen (28 saves) on Monday night against his former team.
The Senators expect to divvy up some of the goaltending duties during this busy stretch, though a hot goalie could deter the tentative plans. So even after Matt Murray’s 32-save effort against the Devils, there could be a change there for Tuesday.
“There’s so many games coming up that you’re going to have to share these games,” Smith said.
Ottawa brought back right winger Connor Brown, center Dylan Gambrell and defenseman Nikita Zaitsev from injuries for Monday night’s game, so it’s unclear if they’ll be on the ice for the second part of the back-to-back.
“They’re guys who have been in the league and they know how to manage the game,” Smith said.
Smith said Ottawa’s penalty killing had been better prior to the break, something that the Senators need to continue trending in that direction. So with Ottawa allowing its lone goal on a New Jersey man advantage, that aspect will be addressed further.
For the Hurricanes, this will be their second visit to Ottawa in a two-week span. Carolina won 3-2 in its only shootout of the season in that game, which was contested without fans as will this rematch. The Senators won a road matchup 3-2 on Dec. 2.
–Field Level Media
