The one benefit of living in Edmonton and covering the Ottawa Senators is that I don’t have to stay up late to watch games like that. To all of you out East that did stay up a little bit later than normal, I’m so sorry. The Senators dropped a 7-1 decision to the Oilers, and lost a couple bodies along the way. It was an all-around bad night. Here are the thumbs: Thumbs Down: The Injuries As if losing 7-1 wasn’t bad or embarrassing enough, the Senators lost two key players to injury during the contest. Colin White was injured after taking an awkward tumble, and Ryan Dzingel later left the game with an apparent lower-body ailment. Two key players for this Senators team gone in an instant.
Each of these injuries hurts for a variety of reasons, especially if they turn out to be longer-term issues. Dzingel had provided such a spark since arriving from Carolina, and White had been performing at such a high level recently. To have them both leave this game like they did was deflating. The only thing for us to do is hope they are both okay.
Thumbs Up: Opportunity Knocking for Someone? If Colin White is out for any extended period of time, it might provide for a good opportunity to give Tim Stützle a long look at centre. Though DJ Smith mentioned in his post-game comments that he doesn’t really want to go down that road.
Maybe it’s time for Logan Brown to finally get his shot, if he's healthy.
Thumbs Down: Matt Murray’s Goaltending… Sort Of Any time a goaltender allows seven goals on 36 shots against, he’s going to get a “thumbs down… in this blog. But, on this specific occasion, Murray got as close to zero help as is possible in an NHL game. Whether it was Erik Brannstrom blowing the zone while forgetting that he’s a defenseman, or Mike Reilly getting walked, the players counted on to protect the space in front of Murray were asleep at the wheel in this game. You’d like to go home without a “7… on the scoreboard in the goals against column, but goaltending was far from the biggest problem in this game.
By the time Murray’s goaltending became a real issue (on some of Edmonton’s later goals), the Senators were already out of contention.
Thumbs Up: The Line Blender Give DJ Smith credit. He’s not afraid to try different things when stuff isn’t working. Everybody had a chance to play with everybody tonight.
Not much of it worked.
Thumbs Up: The Lone Goal At least the Senators’ lone goal was a thing of beauty.
Dadonov scores on a gorgeous passing play.
— Everyday Sens (@EverydaySens) March 11, 2021
The comeback begins. #GoSensGo pic.twitter.com/PiOjm8fF9S
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There’s really not much else to say after a game like this. It was really, really ugly. The team needs to be better, from top to bottom. They’ll get a chance to be better against these same Edmonton Oilers on Friday.
As always, thanks for reading.