Sens Lose 4-1 to Predators as Josh Norris Leaves With Apparent Shoulder Injury

Pain.

The one nice thing about a back-to-back is that if you suck in the first game, you don't have to dwell on it. Just turn things around the next day and just like that, all is forgiven. The Sens had a chance to do that tonight against the Nashville Predators, after a demoralizing loss to the Capitals. They did not succeed.

Ottawa picked up right where they left off last game, which is to say, playing badly. Nashville got the first goal of the game only a few minutes in, and then Chychrun took a penalty and Nashville scored on the powerplay. Just wonderful.

The old Sens might - no, absolutely would - have given up on the game right then and there, but thankfully the Jacques Martin era Ottawa Senators are better than that. The Sens pulled themselves together and put together a great second half of the period, full of excellent scoring chances and total domination in the shot clock. They finally broke through on their second powerplay of the game.

Drake stays hot with his 20th of the season! 🚨 #GoSensGo https://t.co/FcdrPKOLJO pic.twitter.com/cvCukDMHrP
— Ottawa Senators (@Senators) February 28, 2024

Ottawa kept things rolling in the second period, as Predators goaltender Juuse Saros put on a show for a team that may or may not be scouting him. Although the Sens were still looking good, the game quickly took a horrifying turn as Josh Norris took a weird hit behind the net and skated off holding his left shoulder. I don’t even know what to say except let’s all hope it doesn’t end up being as serious as it looked. What an awful, awful situation for him.

That really took the wind out of Ottawa’s sails. Nashville started to close the massive gap in shots between the two teams, and the Sens weren’t exactly terrible, but that stretch of total domination was definitely over. Eventually, Josi scored again right at the end of the period to restore the Predators’ 2 goal lead.

A two goal deficit is hardly insurmountable, but I’m not sure the Sens even tried to come back in the game. The third period started out chippy, as is to be expected from two of the most penalized teams in the league. Mostly, though, the Sens were just bad, as they got so thoroughly outplayed by Nashville that they didn’t record a shot for the entire period. Just no life at all.

It felt inevitable when Nashville buried their fourth of the game as the “no shots in x amount of time” clock hit 13 minutes. They kept that clock going all period. I really appreciated it.

Things somehow got even worse when Thomas Chabot left the bench right at the end of the game. It's especially demoralizing to see that happen when he's been playing so well. Sanderson and Tarasenko were also shaken up toward the end. Cursed game.

Game Notes

Korpisalo had a very typical Korpisalo game. Gave up two goals right at the start, then stood on his head in the third when the team was being outplayed. I wouldn't say he was the reason they lost this time, but man, it would be nice if just once he could be the reason they won.
Travis Hamonic, man. Get this guy off the ice. He simply can't play anymore.
It's hard to take any positives from this game when I've been scarred by that awful third period, but I did write down at some point much earlier in the game that I felt like Brady Tkachuk was one of the few players making things happen. He's been good lately.