Senators' Stutzle looks to turn frustration into breakthrough

Nobody wants to win more than Tim Stützle.

Nobody gets more frustrated when he doesn’t produce enough to make that happen.

To say that Stützle had the game on his stick in the wildest overtime in Senators history, is to say that he had to get in line. Who didn’t have a glorious chance at some point during the epic, nearly 94-minute double OT loss to the Carolina Hurricanes Monday night?

Ottawa’s third-longest playoff game was so crazy that the Hurricanes scored the winner off a slot shot in the second overtime after missing on a penalty shot in the first overtime, which ended a unique sequence in which Carolina had the potential winning goal called back on an offside call.

All the while, Stützle was pushing, pressing, missing, cursing.

In the early moments of the game, it was Stützle who faced a yawning net, the puck in on his feet a bit, causing him to fan on his shot, the puck harmlessly slapping the side of the net.

Late in a power play, a Stützle turnover in the offensive zone sent the Canes off on a rush that ended in Sebastian Aho’s goal for a 2-0 lead just as the man advantage ended.

Stützle. Toujours Stützle.

The 24-year-old could have hung his head after missing a breakaway chance on Frederik Andersen, looking for a five-hole opening when the payoff might have been to hold the puck a half-second longer and tuck it inside the post.

It was Stützle who had a glorious chance from the low slot late in the third period, his shot missing wide on the stick side.

And yet again, Stützle was in alone in overtime, his shift to the left a winning one, but his deke tuck hitting the post and bounding back out of harm’s way.

On the Sportsnet broadcast, Stützle’s F-bombs resonated on the arena microphones, competing with the play-by-play call of John Bartlett.

&!!!%%##!!!!
!!%%###!!!!!!

For a while, it seemed as though the younger Stützle might surface, the one who would throw a tantrum and sulk as the young Senators of D.J. Smith struggled to mature into a playoff team.

And yet after a difficult first half of the game, Stützle pushed play and was a key reason that the Senators more than held their own in the third period, outshooting Carolina 8-5 with both teams in search of the go-ahead goal. The shots were 28-16 for the Canes after two periods, and it was due to goaltender Linus Ullmark in his finest hours as a Senator that the Sens were still in the hunt after 40, 60 and even the 80-minute mark. The shots ended 46-39, advantage Carolina.

The Senators hit a post or crossbar five times, including a crossbar shot off the stick of Michael Amadio in the second overtime.

When would this end?

How would it end?

With Ullmark lunging and battling to keep puck after puck from getting past him – the upward body thrusts to get a shoulder on a shot was a lasting image from this wild night – it was going to take a clean shot to beat him. And Jordan Martinook’s shot at 13:53 of the second OT just inside the post on Ullmark’s trapper side, was perfect. If also lucky.

“I’d be lying if I said I picked my head up and looked to pick the corner,” said Martinook, whose penalty shot effort in the first overtime was swatted away by Ullmark’s glove.

“At that point (of double OT) you’re trying to put as many pucks on the net as you can and I felt like we kind of had them on the run a bit. I got it and just ripped it.”

It was Drake Batherson, Ottawa’s first goal scorer of the game and series, and Stützle who were victimized on the winning passing play.

Dylan Cozens had tied the game on a sharp-angle shot in the second period.

Stützle finished with just two shots on goal, which looks like a typo on the scoring sheet considering the number of looks he had. He had five missed shots.

During the overtime intermissions, the Hockey Night panel had his back.

“If anyone deserves to score in overtime, it’s Tim Stützle,” said Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman.

It wasn’t to be for Ottawa or their flashy centre as they dropped their second consecutive game in Raleigh. Growing pains for a young-ish Senators core that has known just eight career playoff encounters.

Stützle had five points in his inaugural playoff experience last spring, a six-game loss to the Toronto Maple Leafs.

Experience matters in the playoffs, in particular against a ready club like Carolina.

In Game 1, it felt as though the Canes brought a coarse level of sandpaper to the proceedings compared to Ottawa’s medium grade. By Game 2, particularly in the second half, the Senators matched blow for blow and chance for chance. They won puck battles and produced chances. A game there for the taking.

This was a surprisingly free-wheeling event compared to the opener, with its expected defensive approach from both teams. That’s the rub – with room to operate and wheel this could have been, should have been, Stützle’s night to celebrate rather than curse like a German sailor.

There have been moments in this series when Stützle has resembled his younger self, trying too hard and wanting to succeed too badly.

Hockey is a funny game. All macho talk and physical play, but certain critical moments require poise and patience that might be better equated to a game of chess than a brawler’s contest.

That’s when finishers finish.

So now what, as the Senators and their fans anticipate Game 3 at the Canadian Tire Centre Thursday night?

In their history, the Senators have never erased a 2-0 series deficit, and they’ve been in the situation 10 previous times.

If any group is equipped and familiar with being in a hole, it has to be this 2025-26 edition of the Senators, who fought long odds just to have the privilege of being in this post-season.

They need to win four of their next five games, the kind of streak they managed in the long road to get here. The task grows in stature considering the opposition is a playoff-hardened group like the Hurricanes.

It starts with one game, one win.

To see Stützle end his frustration and the Senators' power play do some damage would be a welcome sign as the series shifts to Ottawa.