Recap: Senators can't get by Blackhawks

The Senators couldn’t bounce back from Thursday’s loss and once again fell 3-2 to the Blackhawks in Chicago on Saturday afternoon.

"I thought we had some really good opportunities in the third period where we could have scored," explained head coach Jacques  Martin post game."They made some big saves, one shot missed the net and that was the big difference in the game."

It was a slow afternoon start for both teams with only four combined shots in the first six minutes of the game.

Just after the halfway point of the period Ridly Greig and Shane Pinto created a ruckus in front of the Chicago net, but couldn’t finish. A second chance and third chance evolved from the play but both Greig chances were turned asid by Petr Mrazek.

The games first goal came at 13:29 off a nifty passing play between Connor Bedard, Philipp Kurashev before the puck ended up in the back of the net off Nick Foligno’s skate.

Fuelled by the challenge of being down by a goal, Drake Batherson had a strong shift forechecking before he fought past the Hawks defender and got a backhand just off the blocker of Mrazek.

With five minutes remaining in the period Jake Sanderson forced a turnover, turned the puck up to Vladimir Tarasenko who was robbed by the glove hand of Mrazek.

Finally the Senators were able to breakthrough when Giroux forced a turnover at the blueline and made a perfect pass across the crease to Tim Stützle for a tap-in goal to tie the game.

The tie game wasn’t enough for Ottawa and with just under a minute left in the period Batherson took a Brady Tkachuk pass and rang it off the right goal post for the final chance of the period.

The second frame opened with the Senators going on the power play for the first time in the game, but they couldn’t maintain a sustained attack and generated only two shots.

The Senators second power play took a little time to get going, but once they gained the zone there was no time before Jakob Chychrun finished a play that included two outstanding passes from Tim Stützle and Vladimir Tarasenko.

On the ensuing shift Artem Zub out raced Connor Bedard to the puck and sent a long stretch pass to Mathieu Joseph. Joseph and Stützle moved into the zone on a two-on-one, but Joseph’s high blocker shot was handled easily by Mrazek.

The shots didn’t stop coming from the Senators as Tkachuk made a great play for the takeaway and got the puck over to Batherson. The Sens forward took a few strides before sending it back to Tkachuk who’s one-timed the 15^th shot of the game off the shoulder of Chicago goaltender.

Just after the mid-way point of the second period Bedard created a turnover to get a shot on Korpisalo from the top of the circle which the Ottawa goalie batted away. The Senators couldn’t clear the zone and the puck came back to Bedard whose shot trickled past Korpisalo tying the game at two goals apiece.

The period came to a close with the Senators captain laying two big hits on Blackhawks players during the final 20 seconds in an attempt to set the tone for the final stanza.

In the first minute of the third the Senators created a chance in front of the Chicago net. The puck bounced loose to Zub who tried to take it from his backhand to his forehand, but Mrazek had other ideas as he poke checked the puck away.

The Ottawa attack didn’t let up there, firing nine shots on the Blackhawks net in the first three minutes. When Chicago did clear the zone Tyler Johnson was pulled down in the Sens end drawing a penalty and sending the Blackhawks to the power play for the first time with just over 12 minutes left to play. The Senators penalty kill quickly dispatched the Hawks attempts.

Moments after the power play Bedard stripped Zub of the puck along the boards before weaving his way around Korpisalo to score what looked like the go-ahead goal. However, the goal was reviewed and discovered to be offside.

The Senators were closing in on 40 shots for the game and Chicago had mustered just 21 when Jason Dickenson scored his 17^th goal of the year during a scramble in front of the net.

Ottawa immediately went back to the attack. With the goalie pulled for the extra attacker, Tim Stützle created a great chance at the side of the net with a minute and 30 seconds remaining but it was smothered once again.

The last chance for the Sens to tie up the game came when Tarasenko had a shot that slid past the right post and Tkachuk narrowly missed a chance to get his stick on it.

The loss was Ottawa’s 11^th straight loss to Chicago and the Senators next chance to snap the streak will come on March 28^th at Canadian Tire Centre.

Up next for the Sens are back-to-back games in Florida when they take on Tampa on Monday and the Panthers on Tuesday.