If beating the powerhouse Vancouver Canucks was on the Ottawa Senators’ 2023-24 season bucket list, they’re out of luck. Their 5-2 defeat back in November was followed up by a 6-3 loss on the road to start the calendar year. Although this late Tuesday night matchup wasn’t a thrilling game for Sens fans, there are some takeaways worth noting. But it was nothing unusual for the team this season, who find themselves last in the Eastern Conference with a 14-19-0 record.
The Pinball Machine
The Senators didn’t have an ideal start to this game and conceded five goals in the first period alone. Before going into this section though, I’ll spoil the punchline. The Canucks are a dominant team and showed it in this game against the Senators, who were underwhelming in the first period.
On the first shot of the game, Ian Cole directed the puck to the net from the point to beat Anton Forsberg through traffic. On the second goal, a Tyler Myers point shot found its way to the front of the net after hitting the glass in the back, resulting in an easy tap-in for Pius Suter. On the third goal, the puck hit Forsberg and then Thomas Chabot to find the back of the net.
The fourth goal was a point shot by Nikita Zadorov that hit a stick and then another player in front of the net. It was the catalyst to a Sens goalie change that saw Joonas Korpisalo enter the game. His save percentage took an early dip after an Elias Pettersson shot hit a stick in front of the net.
Overall, Ottawa didn’t play a very good first 20 minutes. This period felt like watching your friend get the highest score on the pinball machine at the arcade. The puck took some odd bounces for the duration of the game. It’s unfortunate, it’s hockey, it happens. But at the same time, you make your own luck. The Senators were simply outmatched against one of the best teams in the league, while on the road.
The Response
A big response was needed by the Senators after their disastrous first period. They needed to show signs of life. Although they lost the game, their effort in the final 40 minutes was noticeable.
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In the opening minutes of the second period, Claude Giroux toe-dragged the puck around a Canucks player in the slot and ripped it past early Vezina contending goalie Thatcher Demko to get his team on the board. They played an aggressive period and stopped the bleeding to bring the score to 5-1 at the end of the period.
At the beginning of the third period, Giroux made another nice play when he fed Vladimir Tarasenko on a 2-on-1. Unfortunately, their attempted comeback didn’t go as far as they had hoped as they still lost the game. Goaltending was an issue, and the sixth goal given up by the Sens really told the story of the game.
While this loss was a blow for the team, they still showed signs of life despite looking dead after the first period. In the last 40 minutes, there was a lot of effort on the forecheck, and the back-checking and shot blocking were noticeable. They even created scoring chances and outshot the Canucks 38-26. On the flip side, they still need to address the turnovers in their own zone and the questionable stretch passes Senators defencemen attempt during breakouts.
Looking Ahead
The Senators would surely like to forget this matchup and look ahead to their next game. The team will visit Climate Pledge Arena on Thursday night to face the Seattle Kraken.
Unless an Andrew Hammond-esque figure emerges, the playoffs are looking like a reach once again for the Sens (from ‘Garrioch: How Andrew ‘The Hamburglar’ Hammond went from hero to history in Ottawa’, Ottawa Citizen, 2/11/17). From now on, they’ll look to compete hard in the second game of the road trip and beyond to get some moral victories and spark a culture change.
