One week ago, the Ottawa Senators gave away a game they seemingly should’ve won versus the New York Islanders. The Isles scored with 1:04 remaining, leaving the Senators without a point after leading 4-3 heading into the third period.
Tim Stützle said they didn’t get pucks in deep, hem them in on the forecheck. Shane Pinto noted his team lacked maturity, not playing to their identity forged last season.
Senators head coach Travis Green described his team as playing too loose, lacking execution, not making hard plays, and not winning battles.
What a difference a week makes
The results: a point gained in a hard-fought 3-2 overtime defeat at the hands of the Oilers; a tidy defensive performance in a 2-1 win over the Flyers; followed by an impressive 7-1 thrashing of the Washington Capitals in DC.
One could make an argument, the loss to the Islanders was the kick the Senators needed to right their course.
While the Senators came up short versus Edmonton Tuesday, they were edged in extra time on a Jake Walman Oilers power play goal with a mere second remaining on the man-advantage, they played the “right way” as players say.
Down 2-0 after 40 minutes, the Senators didn’t permit the game to slip away. Thomas Chabot and Dylan Cozens each scored to tie it in the opening 2:24 of the third period.
The Senators held the high-powered Oilers to only 12 shots through the first two periods. Goalie Linus Ullmark stood tall when needed to procure a point.
Thursday, Flyers Tyson Foerster scored 29 seconds in, but yet again, the Senators stuck to their game plan. Former Flyer Olle Lycksell notched his first goal as a Senator 3:05 into the third period to give his team the lead. Lycksell’s marker held up as the game-winner in a 2-1 victory.
Then Saturday in Washington, the Senators not only denied Alex Ovechkin from scoring his 900th regular season goal, they held the Capitals to a minuscule 13 shots on goal, only six during the first 40 minutes, in a 7-1 rout which lifts the team back to .500 (4-4-1).
It was easily the Senators most complete game of nine played this season.
The Senators head coach pushed the right buttons. Not satisfied with the shift of Stützle to the left wing from his usual centre position, the several outings, Green slotted the 23-year-old back to his familiar spot, this time with Nick Cousins on his left and Drake Batherson on his right. Batherson had been a fixture last season, and in his six games in the 2025-26 campaign, skating on Cozens right side.
Ridly Greig/Cozens/David Perron became the second unit.
There were plenty of Senators fans questioning Green’s line combos when they were posted on social media earlier in the day.
Fans’ angst notwithstanding, it was a great night for the Cousins/Cozens.
Nick Cousins tallied is his first of the season on a breakaway feed from Stützle. Dylan Cozens arguably played his best game since being acquired from the Sabres at last season’s trade deadline. The “Workhorse from Whitehorse” registered two goals, adding an assist, peppering seven shots on goal.
Better news: Drake Batherson got on the board for his first time since missing the Senators first three games after sustaining an injury during training camp. Batherson who had four assists entering the game, matched Cozens offensive numbers, garnering two goals, one assist.
Other multi-point performances included two assists each from Claude Giroux, Stützle, and defenseman Artem Zub.
Even better news: the Senators scored three power-play goals in four opportunities, and they were two for two on the penalty kill.
And probably the best news of all, Linus Ullmark had a great week. The Senators netminder posted a 2-0-1 record, .911 Save Percentage, 2.44 Goals Against Average. If the Senators are to stay with the pack in the highly competitive Atlantic Division, they will need their goaltender to lead the way.
Green was impressed by how his team shut down the Capital, but most of all, his team stuck their plan and didn’t take their foot of the gas.
“You know, we’ve talked about it a lot this year and last year, about our team just playing the right way, no matter what the score is. And a lot of times in the NHL nowadays, teams can score like quickly you can be up four, nothing, five, nothing. All of a sudden the other team gets going give them a little life. But I thought we did a good job of just playing the right way throughout the game.”
With the league’s schedule being condensed to the Olympics in February, nothing comes easy. The Senators play back-to-back Monday/Tuesday. The club hosts the Boston Bruins on Monday and travels to Chicago immediately after, for a date with the Blackhawks on Tuesday. returning home to face the Calgary Flames on Thursday and a game with their arch-rival Montreal Canadiens at the Bell Centre Saturday.
Note: Monday’s game time vs. Boston is 7:30 pm ET due to airing on Prime Video Canada. Tuesday’s game time is 8:45 pm ET in Chicago as all NHL teams are in action with games starting in 15-minute intervals.
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