Ottawa Senators waste another brilliant performance from Linus Ullmark in Game 2 loss to Hurricanes

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Dylan Cozens: B

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Cozens moved his legs much better in Game 2. He fed Giroux for a Grade A chance on a rush in the first and caught Andersen napping with a quick shot from a tough angle to tie it 2-2 in the second. He had three shots and four hits in 27:25.

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Shane Pinto: B

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Pinto was more direct with the puck in the offensive zone in Game 2 and grittier around the goal, nearly potting a rebound on his first shift of the game. He had three blocks, two of them on one shift in overtime. Unable to get the matchups on the road, the shutdown line lost the possession battle in back-to-back games. That should change on Thursday.

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Michael Amadio: C+

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Amadio doesn’t have his legs this series. He’s second to pucks a lot, and that’s killing his game. Once coach Travis Green juggled the lines midway through the second, Amadio immediately linked up with Lars Eller for a couple scoring chances, and it seemed to be the jolt his offensive game needed. He had the game on his stick all alone in double overtime, but Andersen performed more wizardry, getting enough of Amadio’s chip to have it hit the post and stay out.

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Nick Cousins: B

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Cousins, hard on the forecheck, had seven hits in 15:04. He showed decent poise with the puck after winning some board battles.

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Warren Foegele: B

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Not much was going for the fourth line again in Game 2, so Foegele got some time on the shutdown line alongside Amadio and Pinto, and it worked a charm. Shot attempts were 12-7 at 5-on-5 for the trio in 10:55 of ice time together.

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Fabian Zetterlund: D-

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Zetterlund was rarely on his toes in the defensive zone, always reacting, not anticipating. There were a few fly-bys, too. He didn’t do much offensively. Everyone elevated their game at the halfway point of regulation except Zetterlund. Both of his shots came from long range.

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Lars Eller: C+

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Once Green shuffled the deck midway through, Eller kind of snapped out of it, but he wasn’t good enough to be trusted with more than 12:24 of ice time across five periods. He had his moments, hustling back to break up an odd-man rush in the third, and winning a face-off clean in overtime before nearly scoring at the edge of the crease when Jake Sanderson’s point shot bounced off the wall. Eller was 12-for-18 in the dot.

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Defencemen

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Jake Sanderson: B+

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The power play is a disaster, and Sanderson is partly responsible for that as the first-unit quarterback. He’s stagnant at the point, not using his agility to open up passing lanes. At even strength, he was a difference maker, reading the play extremely well. Sanderson gloved down a Carolina clearing attempt with millimetres to spare at the blue line and fed Batherson at the netfront ahead of the 2-1 goal. Minutes later, he intercepted a poor lead pass from Logan Stankoven in the neutral zone and sent it across the ice to Greig ahead of the game-tying goal. Sanderson played a team-high 43:06.

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Nikolas Matinpalo: A+

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Matinpalo was on for zero offensive zone face-offs and managed to be plus-1 in over half an hour of ice time. He took massive hits to make plays, defended like a warrior and didn’t slow as the game went long, sprinting at every loose puck. With Artem Zub out, he rose to the occasion and then some.

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Jordan Spence: B

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Spence left Stankoven uncovered in front of Ullmark on the only penalty kill of the game, leading to Carolina’s opening power-play goal. However, Spence played 39:01 and really did give the Senators some good minutes, blocking three shots and throwing three hits. He was the team’s top defenceman in the possession department; shot attempts were 54-32 at 5-on-5 when he was on the ice.