3 Takeaways From Senators’ 5-1 Win Over Sharks

Injuries haven’t slowed down the Ottawa Senators. On Saturday afternoon, they took on the San Jose Sharks at the SAP Center and laid a beating on them, avenging their 6-2 loss less than two weeks ago.

There was plenty to take away from this dominant road win, so let’s not waste any time and get into the storylines from Saturday’s action.

Senators’ New-Look Top Line Dominates

From some online reactions, fans welcomed the big change of seeing Dylan Cozens move from center to the wing on Tim Stutzle’s line.

On paper, you’d think it’d be a match made in heaven: Stutzle’s puck-carrying and playmaking paired with Cozens’ elite release, and that’s exactly what it was.

Along with Fabian Zetterlund, the Senators’ top line carried the team through this game, generating 16 shot attempts, 10 shots on goal, 10 scoring chances and six high-danger chances at five-on-five. They did this while maintaining 72.73% of shot attempts, 76.92% of shots on goal, 78.93% of expected goals, 76.92% of scoring chances, and 85.71% of high-danger chances while on the ice at five-on-five (via Natural Stat Trick).

Following the game, Cozens said, “It was fun,” when asked about playing with the 24-year-old German. Head coach Travis Green chimed in on the new-look lineup, saying he liked how all of his lines played on Saturday night.

Cozens and Stutzle combined for two goals and four points.

After a performance like that, you’d think he wouldn’t try to fix what isn’t broken…we’ll see if he keeps this trio together for the second half of the Senators’ back-to-back on Sunday night in Anaheim.

A Complete Team Victory

Consistency has been a big topic of conversation with the Senators recently. They haven’t won back-to-back games since Oct. 12, but they also haven’t dropped two in a row in regulation since then.

Well, Saturday’s 5-1 win laid out the blueprint for how the Senators need to approach the game night in and night out. They didn’t win this one because of their talent or offensive prowess. They won this game because they suffocated the Sharks.

On the forecheck, they were all over the Sharks’ defensemen, forcing turnovers and giving the Sharks no time or space from the opening puck drop. In fact, the Sharks didn’t get a puck on net until eight minutes in, and that opening shot came from centre ice. It wasn’t until nine minutes of clock had run off before the Sharks recorded a shot that came inside the offensive zone.

Another key part of this chance suppression was the Senators’ defensemen aggressively pinching along the boards, supported by retreating forwards. This allowed the Senators to hold the Sharks to just 27 shot attempts at five-on-five, the fewest they’ve allowed in a game so far this season.

Following the game, coach Green said it was a “strong game. I thought from the drop of the puck to the end of the game, we were on top of our game. They have a real good offensive team, and I thought we did a great job of playing behind their D and making them play in their zone.” He also added that he talked to his group about being an “every shift team” and said, “I thought to a man, we were that tonight.”

Senators Powerplay Well Overdue For a Hot Streak

In such a commanding victory, it’s hard to pull out a negative. However, the Senators’ power play was dead silent again tonight. They had three opportunities on the man advantage, or maybe, technically, two, with the referees making the somewhat rare decision to call two penalties at once, giving the Senators a five-on-three advantage for a full two minutes.

Across all their man-advantage chances, the Senators generated only five shots on nine attempts, and going 0-for-3 on the power play has dragged their power-play percentage down to 12.99%, a bottom-five rate in the NHL.

That compares to 24.7% over the last two seasons, the seventh-best rate in the league over that time frame.

The underlying analytics show the Senators have been doing just fine in chance creation, above league average in shots, scoring chances, and high-danger chances per 60 on the power play. However, they have the fourth-worst shooting percentage and the second-worst PDO on the man advantage.

Something’s gotta give soon. This unit is due for a hot streak.

What’s Next for the Senators?

The Senators play one more game on the West Coast on Sunday night against the Anaheim Ducks; we’ll see if they can finally find some consistency and take two in a row, as the Ducks come into this game reeling after losing seven of their last eight games.

After that, the Senators will head back east and land in Buffalo to close out a five-game road trip on Wednesday night against the Buffalo Sabres.

After plenty of ups and downs, this win against the Sharks should help the Senators build confidence to close out this road trip on a high note before they return home and face some of the NHL’s best squads on their next home stand.