3 Takeaways From the Senators’ 6-3 Loss to Ducks

On Sunday night, the Ottawa Senators suited up for the second half of a back-to-back against the Anaheim Ducks, who hadn’t played since Thursday.

The Ducks entered the game having lost seven of their last eight, while the Senators were trying to win back-to-back games for the first time since mid-October.

Early, the Senators showed signs of the consistency they have been searching for, but it fell apart in the back half of the game, going from three goals up to a 6-3 loss.

Here’s what we can take away from Sunday night’s collapse.

Senators Come Out Hot Again

On Saturday night, the Senators took control of the game against the Sharks from the first shift. Following the game, head coach Travis Green talked about wanting to see that type of readiness and willingness to play a full 60 minutes with more consistency.

Going into Sunday’s game, the Senators were 0-3-0 in the second half of back-to-backs, so it wouldn’t have been shocking to see some struggles. While they may not have been as clean or crisp as the night before at the SAP Center in San Jose, the Senators capitalized on a poor defensive Ducks team that came out napping.

Six minutes in, Drake Batherson forced a turnover low in the Ducks’ zone and found Thomas Chabot wide open in the high slot, giving the Senators a 1-0 lead. Just over a minute later, Jake Sanderson sprung Claude Giroux for a partial breakaway and a 2-0 lead. Then, to close out the frame, Michael Amadio broke free behind the defence off a setup from Giroux, tying Guy Lafleur on the all-time assist leaderboard at 38th with 793 when the Senators took a 3-0 lead.

They did this with the Ducks leading 16-7 in shot attempts and 7-4 in shots at five-on-five. The Ducks were well-rested, having not played since Thursday; they were going to have some jump, but the Senators stayed patient and capitalized on their early mistakes to put themselves in a great position to win a game after 20 minutes for the second straight night.

Senators’ Power Play Had Chance to Stop the Bleeding

After sleeping through the first, you had to guess someone would wake them up for the middle frame, and that’s what happened as they opened up the ice and started to control the game.

Off an unlucky turnover in front of the Senators’ net, a puck hopped right onto Cutter Gauthier’s stick, who got the Ducks on the board, which was shortly followed by Judd Caufield bringing the game within one, less than two minutes later.

Once the Ducks got within a goal, the Senators were gifted two back-to-back chances on the man advantage, with an overlapping 19 seconds of five-on-three time. For most of the first opportunity, the Ducks pinned the Senators’ power play in their own zone for most of the two minutes, and even with the two-person advantage, they still couldn’t generate anything too threatening.

This was a huge chance for the Senators to swing the momentum back in their favour after the Ducks caught them off guard before they got their legs back in the second period.

This was highlighted even more late in the second frame, when the Ducks evened the game at three with a power-play goal after Tim Stutzle was sent to the penalty box for cross-checking. Then they took the 5-3 lead when Cutter Gauthier scored two more power-play goals to complete his hat trick.

Dylan Cozens Could Face Supplemental Discipline

To continue on with the penalty troubles the Senators got themselves into, midway through the third period, Dylan Cozens levelled Ducks forward A.J. Greer after tracking back into the defensive zone.

Cozens simultaneously drove through Greer’s head and shoulder, probably a stride or two late for what’s acceptable after Greer dished the puck to a teammate on the rush. Greer lay on the ice for a while before getting up and losing his mind trying to get back at Cozens.

After a lengthy review, the referees landed on a five-minute major for interference. It’s always hard to know, with the NHL’s rulings on these things being fairly unpredictable, but more often than not they land on ‘fined maximum amount outlined by the collective bargaining agreement.’ I wouldn’t expect Cozens to miss any additional games, even though that hit could cost him some money.

At least, hopefully not; the Senators would really have to be finding some depth if another forward has to be out of the lineup.

What’s Next for the Senators?

The loss out in Anaheim wraps up the Senators’ trip out west. They’ll now head back east to play their final game of this five-game road trip against the Buffalo Sabres on Thursday night.

Travel on these West Coast trips is never easy, but now, coming back home, the Senators really need to find the consistency they keep talking about. They still haven’t won back-to-back games since Oct. 12, and they have a bunch of talented teams coming up on the schedule.

While they’re still in a good spot now, another up-and-down month could leave the Senators behind the eight ball in a loaded Atlantic Division.