Mike Hoffman and Kyle Turris each had two goals and an assist night, as the once stone cold man advantage has suddenly heated up. Turris, Derick Brassard and Chris Wideman all counted with the man advantage as the Senators went 3-for-5.

One night after dominating the Flames 6-0, the Senators weren't quite as dominant but the result was pretty much the same thanks to the first start of the season for Mike Condon.

Ottawa allowed more than 30 shots, and were out-shot, both for the first time this season, but Condon held firm and after an easy first period turned away a barrage in the second while the game was still in doubt. Like they did in Calgary the night before, Ottawa refused to take their foot off the gas and turned a close game into a rout, chasing the opposing starter for the second consecutive night.

Adam Larsson scored a meaningless goal late, snapping Condon's shutout bid, the Senators' shutout streak that lasted more than 2 games worth of time, and snapped the Senators stretch of scoring 13 straight goals dating back to the second period of Tuesday's game in Vancouver.

With 5 PPG in the last two games, they have improved their percentage from a solid 0.0% to a respectable 17.8%, while maintaining their perfect record on the penalty kill.

The Senators and Condon did a good job shutting down Connor McDavid, holding him to an assist and 5 shots on goal.

So now the Senators come home, with the return of Erik Karlsson looming, and they can hand the keys back to the captain in great shape. Five games in, they are one of just 2 teams without a regulation loss (LA being the other), all done without their captain and best player. If you say you expected that on October 5th, you would be lying.

When the team gets back to town and Karlsson does return, the lineup should start taking a more permanent look. What does that mean for Thomas Chabot, Logan Brown and Alex Formenton? Brown and Formenton have been healthy scratches for the past 3 games as Guy Boucher went with 7 defensemen, but it remains to be seen if he continues that trend once Karlsson returns and plays his 27-30 minutes a night.

Brown, Formenton and Chabot need to play, and play big minutes, to get maximum development. That probably isn't going to happen at the NHL level and all are probably better served going back to junior or the AHL in Chabot's case. The Senators could call up someone like Max McCormick or Chris DiDomenico to fill that fourth line vacancy if they are going to go 6-12 in Karlsson's return.

The Senators play 5 straight and 8 of their next 9 at home, before heading to Sweden for the NHL Global series. They open up that stretch by hosting the Vancouver Canucks on Tuesday night, in the return matchup from last week.

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