By Ken Hawkins (a.k.a. khawk)
After a pair of disappointing road losses vs. VGK/COL, it had been suggested that Tuesday’s home game vs. STL was effectively a must-win game for the Senators, and they conducted themselves accordingly. Josh Norris opened the scoring just 1:04 into the first period, followed shortly after with a goal from the newly-formed 3rd line care of Noah Gregor. From there, Tim Stutzle and Brady Tkachuk took over with 2 goals each, and Adam Gaudette also provided 2 goals from the 4th line. It was a very consistent offensive effort, with the teams having 3 multiple goal periods, and goal production from all 4 lines. STL had no answer in this game, and were perhaps struggling to find their legs during an extended road trip. They certainly haven't looked good since an emotional match-up vs. TOR last week where they faced their former head coach.
OTT 8 - STL 1 (NHL Game Highlights)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xnaPiQe_L8I/
There were some notable changes to the lineup made for this game, and they seem to have paid off handsomely. Linus Ullmark got the start, and even though the game was never in doubt it was a very solid performance. Zack Ostapchuk was recalled from the AHL to bolster the 3rd line, and allow Ridley Greig to move up and play with Tim Stutzle and Brady Tkachuk. The much-improved 2nd D-pair of Thomas Chabot & Nick Jensen was given top billing in terms of ice time, and were a combined +5. The lopsided score also allowed the 3rd D-pair of Jacob Bernard-Docker and Tyler Kleven to play nearly 20min in this game, and get valuable game experience.
The Good - There was a lot of good in this game, but Tim Stutzle stood out with a huge 2G-2A performance, which tied his career-high. Brady Tkachuk was all over the scoresheet with 2G, a +1, 4 PIM, 3 hits, 1 block, and 7 shots. Adam Gaudette had 2G and continued to provide valuable production from the 4th line. It was also the first game of the year for Zack Ostapchuk, who stepped into the 3rd line role, played over 15 min, and got his first point of the season early in the first period.
The Bad - This will be a game that the whole STL team will want to forget, but even more so for the Blues’ goaltenders who took a beating on Tuesday. For those who maybe didn’t know Joel Hofer before this game, he had accounted for 3 of 5 STL wins on the year, and had a shutout and a 0.932 sv%. On Tuesday he had a 9.64 GAA, and 0.762 sv%. Jordan Binnington came in as relief halfway through the game, but didn’t fare much better. It’s also his second consecutive substandard performance, which may give Team Canada pause in terms of considering him for the 4-Nations roster.
The Ugly - Victories like this are comparatively rare, and for the Senators it represents the largest margin of victory they’ve had in over 18 years. However, when games are this lopsided they become almost more of an anomaly than any kind of useful benchmark or learning opportunity. One good game also does not make up for the two bad outcomes they ended their road trip with against VGK/COL, and it now becomes a question of whether or not they can regroup and prepare for what will undoubtedly be a harder game vs. NYR.
The Senators improved their record to 5-4-0 on the season, which moved them up into 4th place in the Atlantic Division with a game in hand on 3rd place Toronto. Reaching the 5-win milestone in under 10 games hasn’t happened since the 2016/17 season, when they made their improbable run to the Eastern Conference Finals. Nobody has those kinds of expectations for this group, but it was encouraging to see them actively respond to a very disappointing road trip where they left points on the table. Next up is one of their biggest tests of the year, as they head to NY to play the Rangers on Friday, followed by a Saturday home game vs. SEA. It will be very interesting to see how they respond to that challenge.
What did you think of the Senators’ big win against St. Louis? Please leave your comments below, and as always thanks for reading!
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