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This past weekend was a tale of two games for the Ottawa Senators after playing back-to-back games with the Boston Bruins and the Washington Capitals. Ottawa split their weekend contests but in a greedy type of way, the Sens left points on the ice. The Bruins outcoached and outplayed the Sens from puck drop after scoring less than a minute into the game. Bruins head coach Bruce Cassidy had his team ready to play and exploited the Sens weaknesses on defense whenever Nikita Zaitsev or Josh Brown were on the ice. It was very similar to when the Vegas Golden Knights came to town in November and you could hear the GM and scouts shouting from the press box to dump the puck in on Brown or Zaitsev's side of the ice. If not for Matt Murray, the game could've been 5-0 in the first period as he saved Brown and Zaitsev from looking like junior hockey players! Boston initiated and dictated the play all game long against Ottawa. I hope DJ Smith made a mental note on this game as Boston was without their two best forwards and half of their top defensive pairing in Matt Grzelcyk, yet found a way to win the game.

Sens head coach DJ Smith realized how his team was getting worked over so he kept changing his forward lines looking for any type of success. The biggest problem with this coach is that he needs to realize it's alright to change your defensive pairings too when your team is getting exposed over and over on the blueline! Murray was brilliant against Boston and Pittsburgh, sadly Ottawa got shut out in both games and he got no offensive support. Ottawa came away from both of the games with nothing to show for the outstanding play by Murray. Boston won 2-0 but this truly could've been one of the Sens' worst defeats at home this season, if it wasn't for Murray.

This team showed so much character on Sunday afternoon in defeating the Caps 4-1. Washington was rested and hadn't played since Thursday night, while Ottawa had a very physical game against Boston, then had to travel to finish off the weekend with back-to-back afternoon games. DJ talked about how he needed fresh legs in the lineup, so inserted Clark Bishop and Parker Kelly. But he refused to put Victor Mete into the lineup when speaking about fresh legs. This coach constantly contradicts what he says. Yet again, his constant inability to want to change things on the blueline led to Thomas Chabot getting injured.

The biggest issue for Ottawa coming out of their toughest stretch of the season is how the coaching staff put Chabot in needless situations, which eventually led to Chabot leaving the Caps game with an injury. Zaitsev clearly doesn't want to handle the puck and it doesn't matter where he's on the ice when he gets the puck because he slings it back to Chabot as soon as he gets it. Teams are focussing on Chabot and dumping the puck into his side or loading up on Zaitsev's side to counter how Ottawa releases from the defensive zone. When talking to scouts or former players, they all say Chabot needs to be paired with the right teammate or risk further injury. I know upper management isn't happy with DJ's lineup decisions on the blueline and the Chabot injury was their boiling point.

Zaitsev needs to be put into situations where he isn't playing against the opposition's top two lines as he clearly can't handle the talent level that comes at him in waves. It makes me think back to Erik Karlsson and how Filip Kuba then Marc Methot were paired with him, to make him effective with his skill set. By having Chabot paired with Zaitsev, it's clear he can't play the style of the game that makes him effective. Teams are game-planning for this and DJ isn't making any adjustments which make Chabot vulnerable it happened against Washington as he's open season for being put into some horrible defensive spots. Chabot has gone on record saying how much he likes playing with Erik Brannstrom, Lassi Thomson, and JBD. All three have one thing in common, they don't mind handling the puck and pushing the pace through the neutral zone whereas Zaitsev is clearly struggling with his confidence and can't execute anything offensively.

When looking back at the insane schedule Ottawa faced last week, I think every Sens fan would've taken 6 out of a possible 10 points when the week started.

This week is still a tough task for the Sens, playing 4 games in 6 nights. It starts with the St. Louis Blues tonight at home, then on the road to Buffalo on Thursday while finishing up at home with back-to-back games against the Boston Bruins and NY Rangers. By the time Ottawa plays the Rangers, it will be their 9th game in 14 nights!

Sens fans can expect to see a different lineup tonight, with the biggest change coming with Thomas Chabot out Victor Mete will dress on the blueline tonight. Dylan Gambrell returns after missing the Caps game and Mark Kastelic out, while in goal it will be Murray starting over Anton Forsberg. Murray should start three of the four games this week with the way he's playing. The loss of Chabot is massive as he leads the league in TOI while playing in all situations. Maybe this coaching staff will finally find Chabot a proper defense partner instead of rolling out Zaitsev over and over!

Former Sen Logan Brown returns to Ottawa tonight, but he has been a healthy scratch for 4 straight games, and he won't draw into the lineup to face his former team.

Sens fans, how do you see this week playing out for Ottawa?! If Ottawa grabs four of a possible eight points, would you be fine that?

Thanks for reading.
Kevin

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