Every now and again, Senators head coach Travis Green reminds us, “Sometimes you win games you don’t deserve and lose games you deserve to win.” And that was the case for the Ottawa Senators on Saturday in Minneapolis.
Despite outshooting the Wild 35-25 and out-attempting Minnesota 74-43, the Senators were done in by a late Joel Erikkson Ek go-ahead goal with 23.1 seconds remaining in a 3-2 loss.
Tyler Pitlick’s first of the season and Senators nemesis Ryan Hartman propelled the Wild to a 2-0 second-period lead. Tim Stützle notched his fourth in the three games on a power play late in the middle frame to get the Senators on the board. Senators’ Dylan Cozens buried his team’s second PP marker 5:45 into the third to square the game at two until Eriksson Ek’s dramatics put the match away for the Wild.
Losing deserving games
While Green’s phrase rings true for all NHL teams on occasion. This one stings for the club. Saturday’s defeat comes in the wake of a similar loss, not getting scored on in the final minute, but dominating a team territorially. The Senators fell 2-1 to the St. Louis Blues after peppering 42 shots against goalie Joel Hofer.
On this day, Wild rookie netminder Jesper Wallstedt was the difference, stopping 33 shots, many on the doorstep. The Senators were credited with 17 high-danger chances to the Wild’s 11. But the “Wall” stood tall Saturday, though he was the beneficiary of a pair of quick whistles. The 23-year-old upstart is currently one of, if not the top, goaltenders in the league statistically. Wallstedt leads all goalies in goals against average (1.95), save percentage (.937) and leads the NHL with four shutouts in only 12 games.
“We played three strong games at home that we didn’t win, and the league’s tight right now. One little mistake here and there can cost you,” said Green postgame.
The main issue for the Senators is that these losses are piling up, six out of their past eight outings. Topping it off, none of the six defeats resulted in points earned.
The Senators are currently five points out of an Eastern Conference Wildcard spot and trail third-place Boston Bruins in the Atlantic Division by six points. Ottawa does hold games in hand on several clubs ahead of them in the standings, but as the old adage goes, ‘You have to win them.”
Senators miscue or a great play by the Wild?
On Eriksson Ek’s game-winning marker, Senators defenseman Tyler Kleven attempted to backhand the puck out of the defensive zone. The puck just missed Wild Matt Boldy’s stick who made a stab to knock the puck down. Marcus Johansson jumped to keep it in and fed Eriksson Ek who was against the far-side boards for a one-timer into a yawning cage.
https://twitter.com/Sportsnet/status/1999961052080201817
Give Johansson and Eriksson Ek credit for anticipating the play. Johansson had to make an extraordinary effort to rein the puck in. While Eriksson Ek immediately found an open spot on the ice as Kleven backhanded the puck.
Could Kleven reverse and rim the puck around the boards? Possibly, but as a d-man with seconds remaining, he made the decision to make a high backhand clear, which Johansson made a great play on.
What would be the result if Kleven rimmed the puck? Eriksson Ek would’ve gone to the boards. If he failed to corral it, the Wild ‘D’ would’ve likely kept the puck in inside the blue line. However, Senator Michael Amadio may have had an opportunity to meet the defender.
The Senators had four players on the right side when Johansson made his cross-ice pass. Eriksson Ek was uncovered.
Lots to dissect, and this is the reason why I’m not a hockey coach.
https://hockeyhotstove.com/category/bloggers/murray-pam
Senators’ Sanderson’s time management
One question raised online was why Jake Sanderson wasn’t on the ice in the final seconds? The Senators rearguard is a minute-muncher and is generally on the ice in crucial situations. With Thomas Chabot missing the past 10 games, Sanderson has played more than 25 minutes in eight of them.
Sanderson’s past five outings have seen his time-on-ice, 27:30, 31:04, 28:55, 27:17, and 27:46 versus the Wild.
The fact is, the 23-year-old played exactly four minutes in a 5:47 span leading up to the Wild GWG. The online crowd wondered why no timeout was called by the Senators head coach to get Sanderson more rest? The last stoppage prior to Eriksson Ek’s marker was at 18:10. At that time, Sanderson had a short respite and had the benefit of a whistle to get his wind back. He went on to play the next 53 seconds. There was no other stoppage.
The Good
Losses are disappointing, but one can usually find there’s light at the end of the tunnel. This is the case with the Ottawa Senators.
Thanks to a pair of power play goals, the team is nine for 21 with the man-advantage in December. The club has tallied PP goals in five consecutive games. During the entire month of November, the Senators netted only four on the PP.
Tim Stützle, Drake Batherson, Dylan Cozens are all heating up.
Stützle has scored in three straight, all multi-point games (four goals, two assists).
Batherson’s hottest month career-wise is December, and this month is no different. Batherson earned one assist Saturday, giving him five goals and four assists in six December games.
Cozens who blasted a PP shot, like Stützle has three straight multi-point outings, recording one goal, six assists.
Next up for the Senators is the Winnipeg Jets on Monday on Prime Video in Canada. Once again, the Senators will be challenged as the Jets activated Vezina Trophy winner Connor Hellebuyck off injured reserve Saturday.
