SNAPSHOTS: Senators need a better second effort as they return home

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It’s not about effort, it’s about second effort, and the Ottawa Senators have to have more of it.

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The Senators had Wednesday off to rest up and relax as they prepare to open a two-game stop at the Canadian Tire Centre Thursday night against the Florida Panthers.

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While they had a solid effort in 3-2 loss to the Minnesota Wild to wrap up a two-game road trip, the club’s five-game winning streak was halted, and with only eight games left on the schedule everybody can see the finish line.

Only winger Drake Batherson and defenceman Jakob Chychrun were able to beat Minnesota goalie Marc-Andre Fleury on the 32 shots he faced.

The club has to do a better job creating opportunities against the Panthers.

“When you look at the goals they got, we beat ourselves,” interim coach Jacques Martin told TSN 1200’s Gord Wilson. “They didn’t give us much either. Both of our goals were on the power play.

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“I didn’t think we got on the inside a lot, I didn’t think we drove the net and with a goaltender like Fleury you’ve got to get in front of him. He sees the puck and he’s good, top netminder.”

THE INJURY LIST

The Senators will either have to hope they can bring one of their injured forwards — Rourke Chartier, Matthew Highmore and Zack MacEwen — off the list or call someone up from their American Hockey League affiliate in Belleville to face the Panthers.

Winger Angus Crookshank, called up from Belleville on March 23, left the team’s game in St. Paul, Minn., with an undisclosed lower body injury and didn’t return. He was scheduled to go for further testing Wednesday.

Defenceman Thomas Chabot is closing in on a return from a lower body ailment that has forced him to miss the last three games. He took part in some of the club’s skate Monday in St. Paul, but didn’t stick around for the whole session.

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Chabot skated Wednesday on his own and may be eligible to return Thursday, if not he’ll play on the weekend.

“Hopefully he’ll be ready soon,” Martin said. “We just want to make sure he’s close to 100 percent when he comes back.”

BACK IN TOWN

Winger Vladimir Tarasenko will suit up against the Senators for the first time since he was dealt to the Panthers at the NHL trade deadline.

Signed as an unrestricted free agent by Ottawa last summer, Tarasenko, 32, has five goals and 10 points in 13 games since being dealt to the Panthers in exchange for a conditional fourth-round pick in 2024 and a third-round selection in 2025.

Tarasenko, who had 17 goals and 41 points in 57 games with the Senators, skated on the left side of Aleksander Barkov and Sam Reinhart in the club’s 5-3 loss to the Montreal Canadiens on Tuesday.

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The struggles for the Panthers have been real of late. The club has a 2-7-1 record in its last 10 games.

To make matters worse, Florida is without forward Carter Verhaeghe for an extended period. He’s listed as week-to-week after suffering a lower body injury in a 6-4 loss to the Toronto Maple Leafs on Monday. Then Florida defenceman Aaron Ekblad left the team’s game in Montreal in the first period.

Panthers head coach Paul Maurice won’t let the injuries be an excuse.

“We’re going to lose guys,” Maurice told reporters in Montreal Tuesday night. “I told you that two weeks ago. We’re going to lose bodies. We’re going to get guys sick, get guys injured. It’s just a function of the schedule.

“It’s going to be a grinder. … We’ve got a good chunk of adversity right now and part of it will be the panic that will set in outside the room.”

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The Panthers should have winger Matthew Tkachuk back against the Senators. He didn’t suit up in Montreal because of illness.

“We’re going to face a Florida team that has lost two on this trip so we better be ready on Thursday,” Martin said.

THE FINAL BUZZER

Saturday is Fan Appreciation Night with the New Jersey Devils in town, and only 500 tickets remain unsold. The club said Wednesday that there will be more than $250,000 in prizes handed out as part of the evening. The Gate 1 plaza will be open from 4:30 p.m. until 6:45 p.m. with $5 beers and entertainment. The intermissions will include Juno award winner Preston Pablo, plus the first 10,000 fans receive a Tim Stutzle bobblehead … The Senators will have to wait until next season to see if they can win in Minnesota. That was the club’s sixth straight loss on the road to the Wild. The most recent time the Senators won in St. Paul was March 31, 2016. Cody Ceci scored the third-period winner in that 3-2 victory after being set up by Jean-Gabriel Pageau, who had a three-point night … Fewer than 1,000 tickets are left for the club’s final home game against the Montreal Canadiens on April 13 … Not sure who will start, but goaltender Anton Forsberg has a 1-2-1 record against Florida with a 2.96 goals-against average and a .936 save-percentage. It wouldn’t be a surprise to see him get the net. Joonas Korpisalo‘s numbers against the Panthers aren’t nearly as good and the winning goal in the loss to Minnesota left a lot to be desired.

bgarrioch@postmedia.com

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