Stop me if you’ve heard this one before: The Ottawa Senators dropped a lopsided decision to the Edmonton Oilers tonight. This time around, it was by a 6-2 margin in a game that saw the Senators start off on the wrong foot and continue down that path. Here are Friday’s thumbs:

Thumbs Down: Joey Daccord’s Goals Against Number
Six goals against on 37 shots isn’t going to help Joey Daccord’s season stat line, unfortunately. It just wasn’t his night. After Connor McDavid beat him from a bad angle to open the scoring just 10 seconds into the hockey game, it was hard not to get a sinking feeling in the pit of your stomach. We’ve seen this movie against the Oilers one too many times.

Thumbs Up: Joey Daccord’s Future
Even if there were at least two goals that he would like back, Daccord can’t be faulted for this loss. The team in front of him didn’t stop the Oilers on too many occasions, allowing Edmonton’s speed to overwhelm their defences on what seemed like every shift. All things considered, DJ Smith was correct when he described Daccord’s performance as “OK” in his post-game comments. There were bigger issues to worry about in this one.

It may sound crazy to say this after a six-goals-against performance, but I still feel more comfortable watching Daccord in the crease than I do watching Matt Murray these days. Even on nights when things aren’t going the former’s way. The play for the coaching staff is to continue giving him runway so that the organization can make a real determination about what they have in him.

Thumbs Up: Clark Bishop’s Debut
I’m not sure that anyone had “Clark Bishop” on their Senators bingo card ahead of names like Logan Brown or Alex Formenton this season, but Bishop made his debut tonight and looked generally good in doing so. The immediate thing that stuck out was his amazing speed, which he used to break through the Edmonton defence and create chances a couple times. While he didn’t show up on the scoresheet, he gave the Senators exactly what you’d like to see out of minutes from an organizational depth piece. Depending on the injury situation, he likely earned himself another look.

Thumbs Down: Nikita Zaitsev’s Rough Night
Games against Edmonton provide for ample opportunity to be reminded of the weaknesses on Ottawa’s blue line. If it wasn’t Connor McDavid making fools of Ottawa defenders, it was Leon Draisaitl. And if it wasn’t Leon Draisaitl, it was… basically anyone and everyone else when Nikita Zaitsev was on the ice. This was a rough performance for him, both judged by the eye test and the underlying numbers.

The crazy thing about Zaitsev’s struggles is that food speed is supposedly the area of his game that makes him appear better than his results suggest. Edmonton made him look woefully slow, which in turn only amplified the other holes in his game. The Gaetan Haas goal will be featured in highlight packages for the rest of the year, I’m sure.

Thumbs Up: Continued Productive Minutes from Ryan Dzingel
First of all, it was great to see Ryan Dzingel healthy and ready to play after his injury scare earlier this week. Second of all, it was PHENOMENAL to see that he didn’t look any worse for wear. His stat line shows a lot of zeroes, but on a night like this that’s basically a net positive. I thought he once again did a good job of using his speed to move the puck in the right direction. The Senators are better off with him in the lineup, and better off with the bodies he replaced out of the lineup. This trade was an example of addition by subtraction and addition.

Thumbs Up: Tkachuk’s Power Play Goal
That was a thing of beauty. Credit Tim Stützle for seeing the needle in the haystack to make the pass happen. For all his defensive woes, the German forward can still deliver some electric offensive moments. Having him connect on a goal with Brady Tkachuk and Drake Batherson provided a lovely glimpse into the future for this franchise.

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The Senators finally escape the grasp of the Oilers, and now turn their attention to a game against the Toronto Maple Leafs on Sunday.

As always, thanks for reading.

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