By Ken Hawkins (a.k.a. khawk)
The Senators extended their recent win streak to 5 games on Monday with a 5-2 road win over Nashville. Despite giving up the first goal early in the 2nd period, OTT came back with a pair of goals from Gaudette & Sanderson to give them a 2-1 lead at the 2nd intermission. The Predators tied the game early in the 3rd period, but the Senators kept leaning on their shot advantage and broke through with 3 goals in the 3rd period from Pinto, Perron, and Greig. Anton Forsberg got the start in this game and earned his 8th win on the season on the strength of a 25-save 0.926sv% performance.
OTT 5 - NSH 2 (NHL Game Highlights)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SqXdbxv6GnI
This is now the second-longest win streak of the season for the Senators, who continue to mount a challenge for a top-3 position in the Atlantic Division. It was also just the 7th win of the season where they failed to score the first goal. Scoring first continues to be a disproportionately big deal for the Senators, as they have the best record in the NHL when scoring first (22-3-0), and the 5th-worst record when their opponents score first (7-17-4). However, wins like this are starting to change that narrative, and demonstrate some of the maturity and resilience the team has developed over the course of the season.
The Good - Despite playing on the road, being out-hit, and playing without the lead for much of the game, the Senators were able to impose their style of play in the second half and earn a tough road win. Scoring came from a lot of different lines, but it was especially good to see David Perron break the ice with a 1G-1A performance. Adam Gaudette made a great play to knock the puck in from mid-air to tie the game early, and assisted on the eventual game-winner. The top D-pair of Jake Sanderson & Artem Zub also had a strong night, where they led the team in ice time, and had 1G-2A with a +2 and 3 blocks.
The Bad - The Senators have now scored 11 goals in their past 2 games, but there are still far too many players going through extended scoring slumps. Batherson has just 1G-3A in his last 10GP, and Tkachuk has just 2G-3A in the same time period… however, 7 of those 9 points came in just the past 2GP. Other supporting forwards like Gaudette/Perron/Amadio have just 1G each in the past 10GP, and they continue to have among the fewest goals scored by D-men. Overall, they have just the 19th best GF/GP, and Norris is now expected be out week-to-week with a mid-body injury. So if GM Steve Staios is going to add at the trade deadline, he would be wise to consider a middle-6 scoring forward.
The Ugly - It was confirmed on Monday that Minnesota Wild forward Ryan Hartman will be suspended for 10 games for driving the head of Tim Stutzle into the ice during their game on Saturday night. With a history of multiple fines and suspensions already established, the NHL wasn’t shy about giving Hartman such a major suspension. It was also clear from Hartman’s reaction on the bench after the match penalty was confirmed that he had virtually no remorse for his actions. There’s no room in the game for that kind of cheap and dangerous play, and quite frankly Stutzle is fortunate to have escaped with just a major cut.
The win improves the Senators’ record to 29-20-4, which keeps them in 3rd place in the Atlantic Division, and puts them on pace for a 96Pts season. However, what lies ahead between now and the start of the Four Nations tournament is a series of 3 critical road games vs. TBL, TBL, and FLA. To say that these games will be a litmus test of where this team is at would be an understatement, and wins vs. TBL in particular could solidify their claim to a top-3 position in the Atlantic Division. It will also showcase the return of Linus Ullmark, who could reasonably be expected to start the first of the TBL games plus the FLA showdown on the weekend.
What did you think of the Senators’ win vs. the Predators? Feel free to comment below, and as always thanks for reading!
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