The message is clear for the Ottawa Senators, “No one is going to feel bad for us…We just need to keep grinding,” said Claude Giroux Wednesday morning.
With losses in five of six games, there’s little doubt the Senators are in a funk. And when playoff races are as close as they are in the Eastern Conference’s Atlantic Division, one misplay during a game can be the difference between winning and losing.
Turnovers by defensemen Tyler Kleven and Jordan Spence combined with a puzzling disallowed goal ruling of Drake Batherson‘s redirect off his skate deemed a kicking motion, cost the Senators two points Tuesday versus the New Jersey Devils.
Ottawa outshot St.Louis 42-20 Saturday, despite losing 2-1 to the Blues. Scoring only one goal on seven power play opportunities was the difference on that night.
Brady Tkachuk played in all six of those games, compiling one goal, five assists since returning from his thumb surgery, attempted to calm the mood after falllng to the Devils.
“For sure, frustrating, that’s just been a theme. play solid, can’t find a way. I mean, still positive, still long a season, I know it’s gonna get magnified because it’s happening now. But a rough stretch of games that everyone goes through, we’re going through right now, we’ll be fine. But, yeah, it’s frustrating. I’m not gonna sugarcoat that. It’s frustrating. It feels like we just can’t buy a point, can’t buy a win right now, but I know it’s just gonna turn and we’ll be better because of it.” noted the Senators captain.
Yes, there were several defensive foibles against New Jersey, but the fact is not scoring on a regular basis at even-strength once again is the topic of conversion. Despite breaking a seven-year playoff drought last season, the team finished second-worst in goals, five-on-five, and this season the Senators penalty kill, though better of late has been sub-par for the majority of it.
On the whole, the Senators have been outscored 96-88 in all situations, and sit 24th overall in goals against average (3.31). The club’s PK ranks 31st league-wide (70.7%), one spot better than the Seattle Kraken which possess 66.2% mark.
Over 29 games this season, Ottawa’s five-on-five metrics aren’t that bad. Heading into Wednesday’s action, the Senators were tied for 14th five-on-five in goals (58). The PP rose five spots to the NHL’s fifth-best after going a perfect three for three Tuesday. But the inconsistency of not tallying even-strength markers is costing the team points. The Senators unbelievably have yet to dent the net at while at even-strength in 187:17, a Brady Tkachuk goal in Montreal, the squad’s last win three games ago.
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Fresh off a seven-game road swing and a turbulent three-game home stand, the Senators return to the road for games in Columbus (Thurs,), Minnesota (Sat.), Winnipeg (Monday), not a murderers row these days, but they’re almost all must-wins if they wish to remain on pace with remaining divisional clubs. And they will have to do so minus injured centre Shane Pinto and d-man Thomas Chabot, each will miss all three games.
There’s a silver-lining. The sky isn’t quite falling for Senators’ fans. At the same 29-game juncture last season, the team had possessed an equal number of points (30), 14-13-2 in 2024-25, 13-12-4 to date in 2025-26.
The Senators managed to play at an impressive 31-17-5 clip the rest of the way to earn Wildcard berth.
More good news if you trust analytic guru Micah McCurdy; McCurdy’s Hockey Viz predictive standings based on remaining strength of schedule, still projects the Senators finish second in the Atlantic with 93 points.
Parity is ruling the East, thus setting final total points predictive models lower than normal to earn a playoff spots.
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