Takeaways: Ottawa Senators let one slip away in final minute against Minnesota Wild

WILD 3, SENATORS 2

The Ottawa Senators’ strong effort on Saturday afternoon was totally pointless thanks to a costly error.

Points are paramount in the battle for a playoff spot in the National Hockey League’s Eastern Conference, but the Senators let at least one slip away in a 3-2 loss to the Minnesota Wild at the Grand Casino Arena.

A failed backhanded clearing attempt by Ottawa’s Tyler Kleven with the score tied 2-2 in the final minute resulted in a turnover to Minnesota’s Marcus Johansson, and he set up Joel Eriksson Ek for the winner with 23.1 seconds left in the game.

Tim Stutzle and Dylan Cozens scored on the power play, but the Senators couldn’t cash in with an even-strength effort for the fourth time in the past five games. They had plenty of chances, but Wild goalie Jesper Wallstedt was excellent, making 33 stops.

Coming off a 6-3 victory over the Columbus Blue Jackets on Thursday, the Senators needed to play 60 minutes against the Wild. This was a solid effort for 59 minutes.

The NHL’s situation room initiated a challenge to determine whether Kleven’s attempted clear was hit by a high stick from the Wild’s Matt Boldy, but ruled “there was no conclusive evidence” that the puck had touched Boldy’s stick.

“I thought we controlled the play for a lot of the game,” Senators head coach Travis Green said. “There were probably seven or eight minutes in the second period we didn’t like, but, other than that, I thought we played a really strong game.

“It’s unfortunate that we didn’t get two points, never mind one.”

The Wild were shorthanded after making a deal to acquire defenceman Quinn Hughes from the Vancouver Canucks on Friday, but Minnesota remained a strong team with good depth.

This game required a hard-nosed, gritty style because that’s the way the Wild like to play; that was exactly what the Senators brought.

Cozens tied it up 2-2 at 5:43 of the third period on a power play, blasting a shot past Wallstedt. That was the Senators’ fifth goal with the man advantage on eight attempts in the past three games.

“We got it around the net a lot, and what we got a lot of pucks to the net,” Cozens said. “It just sucks to come out of that without a point.”

SETTING OLD SCORES

The second period ended with Ottawa forward Ridly Greig dropping the gloves with Minnesota’s Ryan Hartman.

With Ottawa trailing 2-1, Greig served notice that he didn’t like Hartman driving Stutzle’s face into the ice on a faceoff in a game last February at home. The act resulted in an eight-game suspension for Hartman.

Stutzle appreciated it from Greig.

“Massive. He’s a great team player,” Stutzle told TSN after the second period. “It means a lot to my teammates and me. It was special. A great fight and a great team player.”

Stutzle had already exacted some revenge of his own, pulling the Senators to within a goal by scoring with only 22.7 seconds left in the second period at the end of a lengthy 5-on-3 power play.

Hartman’s fifth of the season on the Wild’s third power play of the Game came as he beat Merilainen at the back door 16 minutes into the second period.

“It was a really good game, we played well at times and had a lot of looks,” Ottawa winger Drake Batherson said.

FALLING BEHIND

Minnesota’s Tyler Pitlick opened the scoring at 3:54 of the second period. He tipped a shot through Merilainen’s five-hole. It was the first goal for the nephew of former Senators defenceman Lance Pitlick since he joined the Wild.

That was the 19th time this season the Senators had allowed the opponent to score first in a contest, and they came into this one with a 6-10-2 record in that situation.

The clubs played to a scoreless tie in the first period, but it would have been a different story if not for Wallstedt. The Senators registered seven of the first eight shots and outshot the Wild 8-5 through 20 minutes.

The Senators are at their best when they push the pace and play well defensively. That was exactly what they did in the first period. They showed good poise, played physically and created chances.

STOP THE SKID

The decision to start Leevi Merilainen in goal didn’t come as a shock.

It was his fourth start in 10 games, and eighth of the season. This was his fourth straight loss on the road, and his last win was Nov. 13 at home against the Boston Bruins.

He halted 22 of 25 shots sent his way by the Wild and had no chance to stop the winner by Ek.

The Senators went into this game with the worst combined save percentage in the NHL at .871 in 30 games. Merilainen has played better since he got off to a difficult start, but he still has an .876 save percentage and a 3.36 goals-against average.

Merilainen made some big stops on Saturday, though, including a breakaway by Danila Yurov early in the third period.

bgarrioch@postmedia.com

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