By Ken Hawkins (a.k.a. khawk)
The Ottawa Senators finished up their 3-game road trip in California on Sunday night with an underwhelming 4-3 loss in OT to the Anaheim Ducks. Despite this feeling like a game they could have won, they never actually held a lead, and allowed mental lapses to once again get the best of them. That said, Brady Tkachuk had a stand-out performance and scored game-tying goals in both the first and second period. Nick Cousins tied the game up once again in the third period, but they just couldn’t capitalize on key PP opportunities or in OT. Linus Ullmark held the fort to push the game into a shootout, but the Senators weren't able to score on their shootout chances, which allowed the Ducks to earn the extra point.
ANA 4 - OTT 3 (OT) (NHL Game Highlights)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z5AX5ctr_XQ/
It would be easy to frame this OT loss to ANA as a disappointment, but it once again follows the statistical pattern of fragility they’ve had all year. As soon as the Ducks scored first, they had the Senators fighting an uphill battle vs. their catastrophic 2-11-2 record when giving up the first goal of the game. When the Ducks scored just seconds before period-end to take a lead into the 1st intermission, it cut the Senators chances of coming back to win the game in half vs. when they're tied after 1 period. And despite Brady Tkachuk single-handedly getting the game back to even at 2-2 in the 2nd period, they remain winless on the road when going into the 3rd period either tied or losing.
The Good - This loss certainly wasn’t for a lack of effort from captain Brady Tkachuk, who led the way with 2G and a career-high 12 shots on goal. Tim Stutzle was skating well in this game, and added 1A to maintain his 100-point scoring pace. Thomas Chabot and Nick Jensen were once again the best D-pairing on the ice, and contributed 2A, 6 shots, 4 blocks, and were a combined +2 on the night. Linus Ullmark didn’t stand-out, but 31 saves and a .912sv% should have been enough vs. a non-playoff team. Nick Cousins has been a bit of a 3rd period wild card, but provided a key goal to tie the game in the 3rd period and help the team claim at least 1 point in the standings.
The Bad - It’s become difficult to single out poor individual performances, because there are entire lines and D-pairings that have lapsed into routine mediocrity. However, even more concerning is the team’s lack of intensity at key moments of the game. The Senators were handed 2 very soft PP opportunities in the 2nd period, when they could have taken a stranglehold on the game. But instead of executing like a top-3 PP% in the NHL, they looked flat, disorganized, and ineffective. For a team so vulnerable to a single goal scored at the wrong time, they absolutely can’t afford to keep missing these golden opportunities to impose their game plan and change the script.
The Ugly - People routinely throw shade at the team's D/G, but there’s something really wrong with the Senators’ depth scorers. Norris has been held without a point in 50% of their games, and the team is 2-9-1 when that happens. Giroux has been held without a point in 10 of their last 15 games, during which time they’ve gone 5-9-1. Meanwhile, Pinto, Amadio, and Perron make over $10M, and if you prorated an 82GP season based on their combined production so far this year you’d have a player with 5G-8A-13PTS, and a -25 rating. And this is despite Tkachuk/Stutzle having career-best years, Batherson scoring at a PPG pace, and Gaudette scoring 12G in his first 23GP. It may be time to blend the 2nd/3rd lines more to try to mix up the chemistry, because something needs to change in a hurry.
The silver lining on this night is the loser point in OT, which “improves” the Senators’ record to 10-12-2 for the season. This also effectively brings them back to even with their 11-13-0 record from this time last year. They now face a critical 4-game home stretch where they will face DET, NSH, NYI, and ANA… all of which are winnable games. At this point anything short of 3 wins in those games would be a concern, especially since they will have 11 of the following 12 games on the road, where they are just 4-7-1 on the year. Ullmark will most likely get the start on Thursday night vs. DET, in what is effectively a must-win game against a key divisional rival. We'll see if their energy will match the importance of the game.
What did you think of the Senators’ loss in OT to Anaheim? Please leave your comments below, and as always thanks for reading!
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