So much for hoping the Senators had turned a bit of a corner.
The 5-0, almost 50 shot beatdown at the hands of the Winnipeg Jets was a humbling experience, even from 2,000 KM away. Its not like the Jets haven't been doing that to everyone on their home ice of late, but the Senators weren't in this one after Mark Stone hit the post early in the game.
The Jets came as advertised, showing why they are now tied for first place overall and have been steamrolling over their opposition. The top two lines are firing on all cylinders, and they come at you in waves.
If you don't have an answer for the likes of Blake Wheeler, Mark Scheifele and Patrick Laine, which the Senators certainly didn't on Sunday night, then it's over early.
For the second game in a row, the Ottawa starter allowed 5 goals, but you certainly can't point the finger solely at Mike Condon for this loss. Although it was an opportunity to usurp the #1 job from a struggling Craig Anderson, who had been pulled in Friday night's game after allowing 5 goals of his own.
The Senators are a mess right now, from the crease on out, and there appears to be no solution in sight. To a man, the Senators had no push back and you can't point to one player, besides Anderson who stopped all 27 shots he faced after the game was no longer in doubt, who played up to their potential in that one.
The problem is, that has been all too familiar a refrain in the past now 9 games.
I don't think it is lack of effort, I think it is lack of execution and perhaps trying too hard or to do too much. They all seem to be pressing and it is creating chaos, at both ends of the ice.
The system that had served them so well at the tail end of last season (once everyone had fully bought in) and early on this season has all but vanished and the team is no longer more than the sum of its parts like it had been.
They are a tough watch right now. If this was a one-off against an elite team on their home ice it would be one thing, but this has been going on for a month now.
And for the Matt Duchene apologists, he certainly hasn't come as advertised and although he should not be singled out in criticism, I will take a moment to say "I told you so", and he hasn't generated nearly as much as you would expect from a #1 centre and seems to have not found a niche yet. And then you look at Kyle Turris, who has put up points at pretty much the same pace with the Predators as he did with the Senators, and I said at the time that he was underrated while Duchene was overrated and the gap between the two wasn't as big as most suggested.
The Senators were 6-3-5 when the trade was made, and they were in solid playoff position. Then the trade and the trip to Sweden, and it has been all downhill since.
Turris might not have been everyone's ideal #1 centre, but he fit this team and the system while Duchene hasn't found that same comfort level. It may come, but pretty soon it is going to be too late.
It's not early in the season any more, and past history dictates that teams in a playoff spot at this point of the season generally are there at the end, while if you are on the outside looking in around American Thanksgiving, that is where you find yourself in April.
The Senators need to find an answer, and quick. With 4 games remaining on this trip, including the always tough California triple, they could conceivably return home ahead of only the dreadful Buffalo Sabres in the Eastern Conference.