Amid a storm surrounding the firing of general manager Pierre Dorion, the Ottawa Senators lost 3-2 to the Los Angeles Kings on Thursday at the Canadian Tire Centre.
However, DJ Smith’s players didn’t give up after conceding the first three goals of the game. Within about five minutes, Dominik Kubalik and Josh Norris cut the lead to one goal, but it was too little, too late.
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Phillip Danault scored the first goal for the Los Angeles Kings (6-2-2). The net marked the second time in as many games that the red light had flashed. Carl Grundstrom and Anze Kopitar were the California team’s other two scorers.
This loss is the fourth in five games for the Senators (4-5-0). They now have a record of three wins and three defeats at home. As for the Kings, they still haven’t lost on their opponent’s ice.
The Sens will face the Tampa Bay Lightning on Saturday.
A narrow win for the Rangers
Despite the injury to Adam Fox, who left the game after a collision with Sebastian Aho, the New York Rangers (8-2-0) defeated the Carolina Hurricanes (6-5-0) 2-1.
It was Will Cuyle who scored the winning goal with 9:39 minutes left in the game, with assists from Jacob Trouba and Barclay Goodrow. It was Chris Kreider who scored the first goal of the game on the first power play. Seth Jarvis also equalized a few minutes later during a power play.
Former Montreal Canadiens Jesperi Kotkaniemi was left off the scoresheet for the third time in five games.
The Lightning are surprised by the Blue Jackets
With a win, the Tampa Bay Lightning (4-3-3) could have caught up with the Detroit Red Wings for second place in the Atlantic Division, but the Columbus Blue Jackets (4-4-2) played a trick on them.
The third third ended fatally for Jon Cooper’s team, who conceded three goals, two of them within around three minutes. Kirill Marchenko, Boone Jenner, Erik Gudbranson and Johnny Gaudreau were the scorers for Columbus.
Steven Stamkos and Conor Sheary provided the answer for the Tampa Bay team.