OTTAWA — At the start of the month, the Ottawa Senators were only two points back of the Toronto Maple Leafs for second place in the Atlantic Division.
Now, 22 days and a 4 Nations Face-Off break later, that gap is eight points. The main reason is four straight Senators’ losses, including a 5-2 defeat Saturday to the Montreal Canadiens in their first game back from the NHL's two-week break.
“Rusty. Not very good with the puck. It wasn’t a very pretty game,” was the way Senators coach Travis Green described the contest that saw the Senators play without captain Brady Tkachuk and forwards Shane Pinto and Josh Norris.
“They’re big parts of our team. Three of our top players, three skilled players, and we need other players to be on the top of their game, and I don’t think we were on the top of our game.”
Now the Senators are out of the top three in the Atlantic and tied with the Detroit Red Wings and Columbus Blue Jackets for the final wild-card berth, just one point ahead of the Boston Bruins.
“It just goes back to what we’ve been talking about all season. Whether you win or lose, you evaluate your game and you move on and get ready for the next one,” Green said.
Goaltending has been an issue as the Senators have surrendered 19 goals in their past four games, including five in each of the last three.
What hasn’t been a problem is the play of Tim Stutzle who had a goal and an assist Saturday and has a nine-game points streak. But the team is losing so he is laying blame on himself.
“It doesn’t matter. We should be able to win those games and I’ve got to be better,” said Stutzle, who leads the team with 58 points.
“Obviously it’s really disappointing. We’re just not sharp enough. We didn’t make any passes, we just flip the puck out. Sometimes you have to do that but sometimes you have to make tape-to-tape passes and spread the puck out. We didn’t do enough of that.
“There’s 25 games left to go and we want to play our best every night. We’ve got to practise hard, bounce back and get back to the way we want to play.”
If the Senators want to be taking part in the playoffs for the first time since 2017, they will need to right the ship and fast. That won’t be easy as their next opponent will be the league-leading Winnipeg Jets.
“We know that, but we’ve just got to get better. It’s frustrating but we can’t get too frustrated. We just have to keep playing and be better. It’s as easy as that, we just have to be better as a whole group and bear down,” Stutzle said.
Defenceman Jake Sanderson, who played for Team USA at the 4 Nations Face-Off, knows time is slowly becoming the enemy of the Senators.
“Standings are so tight right now. Every game matters, every point, so we just have to have that next game mentality,” he said. “Winning the day. It doesn’t matter what you do just keep going and put your head down,” said Sanderson.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 22, 2025.
Darren Desaulniers, The Canadian Press
