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Thumbs Up, Thumbs Down: Chabot-less Senators Decimated by Maple Leafs |
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Things didn’t exactly proceed according to plan for the Ottawa Senators on Thursday night against the Toronto Maple Leafs. The result was a disappointing 7-3 loss, pushing their record to an abysmal 4-14-1. Here are last night’s thumbs:
Thumbs Down: Losing Marcus Hogberg Early
I didn’t think the Senators started the game off all that badly yesterday, playing the Leafs relatively evening at least to start. Once Auston Matthews beat Marcus Hogberg with yet another weak – albeit, screened – goal, all bets were off. The Leafs turned up the heat and didn’t look back until score effects took over late in the game.
That proved to be a problem for the Senators, as they ended up having to unexpectedly rely on Matt Murray after Hogberg left the game with an injury. Murray, coming in cold, was no match for the Maple Leafs’ attack. Joe Thornton struck with a nice high-slot tip minutes later to make it 2-0, and from there the Leafs were cruising; Ottawa could do nothing but chase.
Thumbs Up: Tim Stützle’s Goal
Not wanting to see his team fall too far behind, Tim Stützle tried to play hero with a goal of his own before the first period ended. It was a tremendous individual effort that saw him chip the puck to himself along the boards, use his speed down the wing, and snap the puck with expert precision past Toronto’s netminder. Now with nine points through 16 games in his NHL career, Stützle sits just one point back of Josh Norris for the league lead in rookie scoring.
Thumbs Down: The Tim Stützle Conundrum
When Stützle is contributing on offence – as he did yesterday – it’s almost always spectacular to watch. The skill he brings to the table is evident on nearly every play that sees his name land on the scoresheet; there haven’t been too many gimmes.
And, that’s what makes the contrast between what we see with our eyes and what the numbers show so interesting. He does phenomenal, phenomenal things with the puck and has the potential to dazzle on any given shift, but at the end of the night most nights his numbers suggest that the Senators were vastly outplayed with him on the ice. It’s a strange early trend, and one that I’ll certainly be monitoring as the sample sizes get larger.
Thumbs Down: The Momentum Killer
Stützle’s goal may have had a chance to kickstart the Senators’ engines in this game, but any potential momentum was thwarted when Auston Matthews scored his second of the evening with only seconds remaining in the first period. That goal was a killer, and not a particularly pretty one at that. I’m not convinced that Matt Murray has any idea where that puck was, even now. He got caught looking around, and allowed Matthews to tuck the puck inside the post from beside the net with absurd ease.
Thumbs Down: The Next Momentum Killer
Cold or not, an NHL goaltender needs to give his team more than Matt Murray gave the Senators last night. Just in case you weren’t sold that the second Matthews goal was a momentum killer for Ottawa, Murray left no doubt by allowing Ilya Mikheyev to beat him from long-distance with a shot that most pee-wee goalies would have a decent shot at stopping. Then again, most pee-wee goalies wouldn’t have Erik Gudbranson floating in no-man’s land in front of them.
Thumbs Up: Connor Brown’s Reward
I’ve made clear in this space on multiple occasions that I think Connor Brown is an excellent middle-six forward for this hockey team. He does so many things right on such a consistent basis, and can reliably eat minutes in a productive way. I thought he did exactly that last night again, in what I’d describe as a classic Connor Brown performance. When he was on the ice, the puck was moving in the right direction.
So, with all that in mind, it was great to see him rewarded with his fourth goal of the season. The only question I was left with was: Where has that shot been all his life? He wired the puck like a 40-goal man.
Thumbs Up: Drake Batherson Hits the Scoresheet
Another player who has been really good this season is Drake Batherson, who has done so much right without much tangible success to show for it. Perhaps his fourth goal of the year, which beat Michael Hutchinson from a bad angle, starts a reversal in the luck department for him. He’s been more than deserving.
Thumbs Down: Missing Thomas Chabot
The Ottawa defence looks very different when Thomas Chabot isn’t in the lineup, doesn’t it? There’s so much more chasing that goes on when he’s not around to calmly get things moving up ice. The results prove his importance:
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The Senators are off until Sunday, when they’ll take on the Montreal Canadiens.
As always, thanks for reading.
Ottawa Senators Blogger • 
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