By Ken Hawkins (a.k.a. khawk)
Nothing has come easy to the Senators in 2024/25, but they found a way to pull out an important 2-1 win over the Red Wings on Thursday night. In what had been billed by many as a must-win game, OTT delivered a pretty solid 60 minute effort and were ultimately rewarded with a clean 2-point victory vs. a key division rival. The crowd was further energized by having all of Daniel Alfredsson, Jason Spezza, and Dany Healtey in attendance as part of a tribute to the old Pizza line days. Kudos to the new team ownership/management for continuing to restore positive relations with former players and alumni. It was great to see these all-time greats back in Ottawa, and given a chance to receive their due recognition and appreciation.
OTT 2 - DET 1 (NHL Highlights)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FMHPEdjbr6Q/
Despite no shortage of talent on both rosters, the game was effectively decided by a showdown of each team’s Michigan-born sniper… Alex DeBrincat (Farmington Hills, MI) vs. Josh Norris (Oxford, MI). According to Google Maps there’s just 30 miles between these two towns, and who knows what might have transpired if DeBrincat had been able to register more than 1 shot in this game. Regardless, Norris gets full marks for playing his best game in a while, and burying a clutch last-minute goal to rescue victory from the jaws of defeat. Given that the team is now 9-1-0 when scoring the first goal, you could even make the potential argument that his first period goal was even more important in terms of allowing the team to play with more confidence.
The Good - Josh Norris had a rough November with just 5G-2A in 14GP, but led the way on this night with a strong 2G game that included a team-best 5 shots as well as 2 hits, 1 block, and a +2 rating. Linus Ullmark was solid in this game, and despite making just 19 saves he finished with a 1.00GAA and .950sv%. Even with a disallowed goal, Drake Batherson had 2A and continues to quietly have an outstanding season where he’s maintaining a 30G-60A-90Pts scoring pace. The D-pairing of Thomas Chabot and Nick Jensen also stood out, with a combined 1A, 3 shots, 2 blocks, 1 hit, and +4 rating.
The Bad - Despite the win, there were some clear warning signs in this game. OTT is 7th in the NHL in PP%, 1st in the NHL in Hits/60min, and has earned a reputation for fragility. So when they go 0-for-5 on the PP, get out-hit 15-14 on home ice, and give up a critical 3rd period lead, it means DET was relatively effective at containing their home-ice advantage. This includes limiting the scoring by OTT to just their overloaded top line, and preventing a dominant 13-4 shot advantage in the 2nd period from letting the game get out of reach. Despite being outplayed, DET could very easily have stolen 2 points in this game if not for Norris’ last-minute heroics.
The Ugly - Secondary scoring continues to be a major issue. Even playing with Tim Stutzle couldn’t get players like Claude Giroux or Ridly Greig out of their recent slumps… to say nothing of Shane Pinto or Michael Amadio. In November, those players collectively had just 4G-11A in 51GP. This extends to the blueline as well, where they still have just 4G from all of their D-men combined and no D-man with more than 1G. By comparison, there are 30 NHL D-men with at least 4G by themselves, another 60 NHL D-men with 2G-3G, and not a single other NHL team where at least 1D-man hasn’t scored 2G.
Regardless, the Senators were the better team on Thursday night, and were certainly deserving of this victory. They also showed much better poise in dealing with the momentum swings of the disallowed goal and the game-tying goal in the third period by DET, which is the kind of resiliency they'll need if they expect to move back into playoff contention. The win improves their record to 11-12-2 on the season, and they’re now 2pts ahead of their 11-14-0 pace from last season. Hopefully they continue to show a bit more killer instinct as they head into back-to-back home games vs. NSH on Saturday night, and NYI on Sunday afternoon. Those are 4 points they desperately need, and we’ll see if the positive momentum from this game will carry over.
What did you think of the Senators win vs. the Red Wings? Please leave your comments below, and as always thanks for reading!
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