After feeling pretty good about a 4-2-1 start to the season, the Senators have now lost three games in a row. However, they were at least somehow able to salvage a point after a 4-3 overtime loss in Las Vegas, which puts their record at 4-4-2.
Let me begin by saying that it is absolutely ludicrous that the Golden Knights didn’t win by at least three tonight. Vegas ended up outshooting Ottawa 53-22 and the shot attempts were 97-39 with the even-strength attempts being 76-32. No matter how you look at it, Vegas was absolutely dominant against a team that has been getting destroyed territorially. So although the Senators were one shot away from winning this game, they had no real business being in it.
In this game, there were a few horrendous individual performances that stood out. For starters, only Chris Wideman and Colin White were at or above 50% corsi, and eight players were below 20%. Tom Pyatt was on the ice for just one shot attempt for and nineteen against, while Mikkel Boedker was on for three for and twenty against. Just imagine about how difficult it is to be on the ice for just one shot attempt in an entire game (at even strength).
It was not pretty overall.
In the net though, Craig Anderson had a solid game despite giving up four goals. With 52 shots against, he still ended up with a .923 SV% on the night, and he was the only reason why the score wasn’t a lot worse. He hasn’t looked amazing in the last few games, but it’s hard to fault him at all for his effort tonight.
Another good thing that came from tonight was seeing Matt Duchene score another goal, which gave him eleven points in ten games to begin the year. That means in his last 54 games with the Senators, he has 54 points. After a slow start to his tenure in Ottawa, he’s been just as good (if not better) than advertised. Obviously a new contract for him is one of Dorion’s most pressing things on his to-do list, and the sooner they can get something done the better. I just hope Duchene will be willing to stay.
This game featured another questionable Mark Borowiecki hit, and there’s a chance that he will face supplementary discipline for the second time in two games. He received a charging penalty and a game misconduct, and I’m not liking his chances of playing in the Senators next game:
Replay # 2 on the Eakin hit. Borowiecki won't be playing Ottawa's next game (and probably two or three after that too.) pic.twitter.com/LtAanhMznl
— SinBin.vegas (@SinBinVegas) October 29, 2018
Considering he just came back from a suspension, I doubt the league will be lenient with him. Cody Eakin left the game, although there hasn’t been an update on his status just yet. If he’s hurt, then the suspension could be even more for him.
One thing about this game that really stood out to me was Alex Tuch’s first goal of the night. His speed on the play looked other-worldly, and it reminded me of Alex Formenton if he could actually finish on his chances:
Anytime it's coast to coast, you just know it's going to be a beauty. #OTTvsVGK pic.twitter.com/qkBeLk7bSt
— NHL (@NHL) October 29, 2018
And speaking of Formenton, he hasn’t been getting much ice-time at all this year. He played just 9:46 tonight, and in his first six games he was averaging just 11:37 of TOI per game. He might have just two more games in a Senators jersey this season before being sent back to the OHL because it’s almost pointless keeping him here if they aren’t even going to use him very much.
The best part about this game was that Mark Stone convinced people that he made this “pass… to Bobby Ryan on purpose because Stone is just that good:
Hey Bobby Ryan, that's a power-play goal!pic.twitter.com/SUaLLNrWPU (@Senators)
— Sporting News Canada (@sportingnewsca) October 29, 2018
Obviously it was just an errant shot, but it would be incredible if that was actually planned.
These last two performances have been pretty underwhelming, although it’s more of what I expected from this team coming into the season. They will be giving up lots of goals and are going to lose the possession battle almost every game. If the Senators do go on a run at some point, it will almost certainly not be because of legitimately good underlying success, but in a season with literally no expectations, that’s fine.
If they get on a roll, obviously it’s fine to get wrapped up in the hype and have fun, but I wouldn’t expect it to last forever (at least for this season). All we can ask for is entertaining games and a few bright spots per game anyway.