The Ottawa Senators wrapped up a two-game set against the Edmonton Oilers tonight, losing the first matchup 3-1 and the second 3-2. The pair of losses drops Ottawa’s record to a dismal 2-11-1, which puts them squarely in the “first overall pick… conversation for this year’s draft. Here are two nights of thumbs: MONDAY NIGHT Thumbs Up: The Goaltending Matt Murray was run out of the building in late January against these same Oilers, so it was really nice to see him settle in and deliver an excellent performance in the first game of this back-to-back set. He stopped 32 of 34 shots fired his way, continuing to look like a completely different goaltender than the one we saw through the first two or three weeks of the year.
Thumbs Up: Evgenii Dadonov’s Second of the Year… with Help from Adam Larsson He wasn’t great on Monday, but it’s fair to say that Evgenii Dadonov has looked better in recent games than he did out of the gate. He was rewarded for that with his second goal of the season, which came as Oilers defenceman Adam Larsson chipped the puck past his own goaltender as he was trying to defend against a Dadonov rush. It wasn’t overly pretty, but Dadonov and the Senators will take it.
Thumbs Down: What Happened at the Intermission? The Senators actually looked very good and competitive in the first period of Monday’s game. Unfortunately, whatever DJ Smith said to them in the intermission didn’t have the intended effect, as the team just completely fell apart thereafter. The Oilers really took things over from about the midway point of the second period, and didn’t relinquish that control until the final whistle sounded. This is part of a concerning early-season trend for the Senators, who just seem to completely lose the plot at times following opposing goals.
Thumbs Up: The Senators Found a Player I’m at the point now where I’m relatively convinced that the Senators have found themselves a player in Artem Zub. He was once again very solid, displaying a mobility skill that makes most of his blue line counterparts jealous. Nothing about him screams “spectacular… from an eye test perspective, but he continually moves the puck up ice and ends up with solid numbers at the end of the night. You win with that kind of player.
Thumbs Not Sure: The Fights It’s hard to remember a crazier start to an early February regular season game between two normally-out-of-conference opponents. Austin Watson dropped the gloves with Jujhar Khaira less than two minutes into the game, and Erik Gudbranson followed up that up by FIGHTING (in every possible sense of the word) Zack Kassian seconds later. The Gudbranson scrap, in particular, was a heavyweight battle full of unencumbered haymakers. For fans of old-time hockey, it was undoubtedly a highlight of the night. For fans who are concerned about player safety, it was kind of cringy.
Thumbs Down: Missing on the Mike Smith Opportunity Mike Smith looked very good for the Oilers on Monday, but it’s worth wondering how much the Senators’ lackluster second and third periods played into that appearance. Per Natural Stat Trick, the Oilers generated more five-on-five scoring chances in the second period alone than the Senators did in the final two frames combined. There was an opportunity to take advantage of a veteran goaltender with an underwhelming recent track record; Ottawa failed to take it.
Thumbs Down: The Erik Brannstrom Injury After being on the receiving end of a strong hit from Josh Archibald, Erik Brannstrom is expected to miss seven to ten days on injured reserve. It’s a shame, too, as he was looking every bit like the top-tier prospect he is.
TUESDAY NIGHT
Thumbs Up: The Fast Start There’s no better way to follow up a loss than with a goal 26 seconds into the next game. That’s exactly what Connor Brown did for the Senators, with a great tip in the high slot off a Nikita Zaitsev point shot.
Thumbs Down: The Starting Goaltending After the Senators built up a well-deserved 1-0 lead in the first period of the second game, Marcus Hogberg let in one of the worst goals I’ve seen in the modern National Hockey League:
Marcus Hogberg might want this one back pic.twitter.com/Bdm0Cmy1jk
— SB Nation NHL (@SBNationNHL) February 10, 2021
As if that wasn’t enough, the Senators started the second period with a lot of the same good habits they displayed early on in the first. Their reward for that? Another big miss from Hogberg. That made it a 3-1 hockey game, which forced DJ Smith to replace Hogberg with Murray. Much like everyone at home, the coach had seen enough.
Simply put, goaltending was the difference in this one. The Senators lost a 3-2 game, and watched their starting goalie give up two goals that shouldn’t beat an NHL goaltender. Do the math.
Thumbs Up: The Finishing Goaltender Matt Murray played really well to end the game, behind a Senators team that looked equally impressive in front of him.
Thumbs Down: The Thought of Scratching Batherson Per Bruce Garrioch at the intermission, the Senators considered scratching Drake Batherson for Tuesday’s game. The fact that it was even considered begs the question: Have they actually been watching the games? Batherson has been one of the true bright spots this year, on almost all of his shifts. The Senators haven’t been able to capitalize on the opportunities he’s helped to create with his zone entry prowess, but that doesn’t mean he’s not doing the right things. If the coaching staff’s takeaway from the first month of the year is that Batherson needs time in the press box, my faith in that coaching staff will immediately fly out the window. Putting him on the fourth line to start this game was bad enough.
Thumbs Up: Dadonov’s Third This time around, Evgenii Dadonov didn’t need any help from an Oilers defender on his breakaway chance. The real star of Dadonov’s third goal of the season, though, was Mike Reilly’s breakout pass from deep within the Senators’ zone. Incredible.
Thumbs Up: Artem Zub See above. He was excellent again.
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The Senators will be looking for the third win of the season when they take to the ice against the Winnipeg Jets on Thursday.
As always, thanks for reading.