The Ottawa Senators opened the scoring for the first time in six games this season. But unfortunately for Senators’ fans, they didn’t score the last one.
Islanders captain Anders Lee outmuscled Jordan Spence, lifting the Senators defenseman’s stick, stripping the puck, before spinning and tucking it past Linus Ullmark for his second of the afternoon with 1:03 remaining in regulation, giving his team a slim 5-4 win.
The Senators fell to 2-4-0 on the season in a game in which they led 4-3 after 40 minutes.
The game itself was a see-saw affair with Senators David Perron opening the scoring a PP late in the first period. Shane Pinto continued his hot hand, notching his league-leading seventh goal 5:32 into the middle frame. However, the Isles tallied markers in 3:07 to square it at two. Emil Heineman chipped the puck over Ullmark, while Bo Horvat one-timed Ryan Pulock’s pass.
Tim Stützle briefly restored the Senators lead finishing a Nick Jensen set-up. Stützle netted his team’s go-ahead playing the left side, and not his customary centre position on a line alongside Dylan Cozens/Drake Batherson. Lee brought the Islanders even at three 59 seconds later, then Cozens fired a wrister putting the Senators in front once again, the game’s third goal in 2:01.
Early in the third period, Pinto had an opportunity to provide his club a two-goal lead on a penalty shot after being tripped driving to the net by Islanders rookie Matthew Schaefer. Pinto missed low glove on Islanders goaltender Ilya Sorokin. Unfortunately, the unsuccesful penalty shot came back to haunt the Senators as Kyle Palmieri tied it four with six minutes to go, before Lee netted the Islanders game-winner.
For the Senators, the loss was a microcosm in everything the team was doing wrong in previous years before incoming head coach Travis Green got them on the winning track last season.
The Senators were almost unbeatable in the 2024-25 campaign when leading after two periods, posting a 33-2-1 mark.
Failing to hold leads
The club hasn’t been able to hold leads for extended periods over the opening six games.
Game no.1 vs. Tampa Bay – Senators took lead on Pinto’s goal with 1:47 remaining.
Game no.2 vs. Florida – Never led.
Game no.3 vs. Nashville – Never led.
Game no.4 vs. Buffalo – Led for 2:48 before allowing four answered goals.
Game no.5 vs. Seattle – Led 15:05 before Kraken Chandler Stephenson tied the game.
Game no.6 vs. Islanders – Led for a total of 17:21 before Islanders scored the tying and then winning goal.
Players take accountability
The Senators ended their seven-year drought of not making the playoff by paying attention to the finite details of what it takes to win.
Though it’s early, only six games in, those details have been for the most part non-existent.
t“I think we’re doing a lot of good things, but we shoot ourselves in the foot every time, doing small turnovers, don’t get the puck in deep, and then good teams, good players, make you pay, and that’s just not good enough,” said Tim Stützle.
When asked if the team is having mental lapses or just playing against a strong opponent which is contributing to their missteps, Stützle responded, “No, I mean, i ‘s on us. We got to get pucks deep. Every time we do that, we create chance to hem them in and yeah, we just got to make smarter decisions. I think it’s early in tthe year, but there can’t be excuses, and we just got to play our game. And our game is putting pucks behind him and grinding them.”
Shane Pinto echoed his teammates comments, “I just think our puck decisions in our o-zone, I think maybe sometimes we’re forcing in the middle, and then they get a rush chance, and then that creates zone time for them. Yeah, just little details. There’s just little details about the game, and yeah, we just got to clean it up.”
“I think it’s been the MO the whole year, kind of just not consistent throughout the game, five minute spurts, like we just take our foot off the gas, and teams just always seems to convert on those chances and yeah, just got to clean it up and be better,” added Pinto.
David Perron noted the Senators have to be mindful of momentum swings during a game, especially in the case of the Islanders Saturday who were able to come from behind on three occasions, I think momentum matters a lot. That’s why you got to take care of the puck, kind of err on the defensive side. A lot of little plays were especially later in the game, you have to have the intelligence, you know that little red light in your head that kind of pops up, and you got to buy a shift sometimes.”
Green steamed
The Senators head coach displayed his disappointment postgame in his team falling back into old habits, “Our game got too loose when we had the lead. Lot of things that we took pride in last year, that we were good, we weren’t good.”
On the subject of not readying themselves for shifts in momentum, “No, that’s part of the game. They’re gonna they score some goals, but it’s, how do you keep momentum? How do you stop momentum? How do you keep the lead? How do you play with the lead? What’s your mindset? Are you cheating for offense? Are you cheating? Or are you on the right side of the puck? There’s a certain style of play that we want a lot of talk about creating more offense, but does not mean cheating for offense,” explained Green.
“We’re on the wrong side of the puck. We’re making bold plays, not making hard plays, loose plays, loose passes, losing tough battles in certain areas of the rink. Joining the rush when maybe there’s no time to join, different things like that, making a play inside the blue line. It’s not the time or place where you have the lead. Keep making a team come 200-feet and create offense with your forecheck. That’s when we’re a good hockey team, and we did a lot of good things tonight. We created 18 to 20 chances, five-on-five. But I thought our mindset was a little bit loose.”
Slow starts to seasons have been the Senators Kryptonite. They finally overcame a slow beginning last season, earning a postseason berth despite a 10-12-1record during October/November.
Now they must soldier on without their captain Brady Tkachuk sidelined six to eight weeks after undergoing right thumb surgery.
Senators players and coaching staff know what it takes to be successful, now it’s up to them to perform with Connor McDavid and the Edmonton Oilers coming to Ottawa Tuesday.
