Goalie Dan Ellis, ‘Canes blank Spezza-less Senators

Raleigh, NC, United States (4E Sports) – Eric Staal’s goal in the first period proved just enough as the Caroline Hurricanes defense came through with excellent play to edge the Ottawa Senators, 1-0, Friday at PNC Arena.

The Senators have realized that life is tough without their leading goal scorer in Jason Spezza. Coming off a convincing 5-1 win over the Montreal Canadiens, the Senators’ offense fizzled out against the ‘Canes.

Spezza, set to have a back surgery for a herniated disc, will miss the next two months for the Senators. Spezza’s five points in five games for a plus-3 is evidence that the Senators will really miss his play on the offensive end.

The Senators still fired 33 shots and won 28 faceoffsm but could not crack into the Hurricanes defense, which ranked 28th in goals against (3.6).

Fresh off a 40-save performance in a 3-1 win over the Buffalo Sabres, Canes net-minder Dan Ellis recorded 33 saves to record his first shutout win.

The Senators slipped to 5-2-1 (11 pts) while the Hurricanes improved to .500 with 3-3-0 (6 pts) record.

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