After the bye week, the Senators were coming into Minnesota having lost their first two games in what is essentially the second half of the year. With Mark Stone out of the lineup, expectations were even lower than they normally have been the past few months.
On a stormy night in Minneapolis, this game was anything but wild.
The game started as bad as possible, as Zach Parise opened the scoring just 45 seconds in. Erik Karlsson failed to pick him up on the backside of the net, and Mike Condon had no chance on the play:
The rest of the period was better, with Condon making some nice saves, and there were a few tame chances at both ends of the ice.