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Thumbs Up, Thumbs Down: Stützle Scores, Senators Fall to Maple Leafs

January 16, 2021, 11:11 PM ET [32 Comments]
Michael Stuart
Ottawa Senators Blogger • RSSArchiveCONTACT
One night after earning a well-deserved opening night victory over the Toronto Maple Leafs, the Senators delivered a dud performance against the very same opponent and dropped a 3-2 decision tonight. The scoreboard flattered the home team, as Toronto was clearly the better squad from start to finish. While disappointing, it wasn’t entirely unexpected after such an emotional high one night ago. Here are tonight’s thumbs:

Thumbs Up: Tim Stützle’s First Career Goal
On a night when not many things went right, Jimmy Stützle scoring his first career National Hockey League goal somehow made it all feel okay. His confidence and creativity with the puck have been on display in both games played, and tonight he was rewarded for it. Unlike some players who score an ugly first career goal and later have to lie about its beauty to their grandkids, Stützle can tell his story with pride:

If you look up hand-eye coordination in the dictionary tomorrow, you might find a picture of Tim Stützle’s face. Even the Maple Leafs’ goaltender was impressed. When asked about his reaction to the goal post-game, Jack Campbell said that he just wanted to shake the young German’s hand.

Thumbs Down: Matt Murray’s Start
A concerning early trend in the goaltending department is that pucks just seem to find their way through Matt Murray. Neither the first nor second Toronto goal really “beat” Murray in the technical sense; instead, they just sort of… found their way through to the back of the net. The Joe Thornton goal, in particular, is one that you’d like your starting goalie to save ten out of ten times.

Thumbs Up: Matt Murray’s Finish
After having those first two Maple Leaf goals sneak through him, Murray was basically a wall for the Senators through the rest of the game. Toronto outshot the Senators by a margin of 40-19 on the evening, with Murray under siege for much of it. He made a number of key saves to keep the team in the game. With him, the Senators wouldn't have been able to mount that late-game push following the Stützle goal. They probably didn't deserve it, but Murray gave the teammates in front of him a chance. It should hopefully give him something to build on moving forward, because he was really, really good through the final two periods.

Thumbs Down: The Cedric Paquette Experiment
I’ve seen enough. Have you seen enough? For the second straight game to start the year, Paquette took a bad penalty at a really inconvenient time. Tonight, with his group already shorthanded, Paquette committed a delay of game infraction thanks to a faceoff violation. Even though Toronto was unable to convert on the five-on-three opportunity, Paquette shouldn’t be off the hook.

Putting up with the odd dumb penalty from a player who is otherwise contributing isn’t an unreasonable ask, but the Senators simply aren’t getting anything out of Paquette. Per Natural Stat Trick, he delivered an absurdly low 6.25% (!) five-on-five shot attempt share this evening; his expected goal share also sat well below where anyone would like it to sit. It’s probably time to get a look at Alex Galchenyuk.

Thumbs Down: Thomas Chabot’s Off Night
After really controlling the play on almost every shift in his last start, Thomas Chabot seemed to struggle tonight. It’s not that there was a particular play or shift that left a bad impression, but rather that he just looked… off. The puck wasn’t cooperating with him at all. There were a number of times when he was in the right position with a chance to do something, and the puck just skipped or bobbled over his stick. The nice thing for the Senators is that, even on a “bad” night, Chabot still managed to lead the team in five-on-five shot attempt share (Natural Stat Trick). He’s a good player.

Thumbs Up: Colin White’s Debut
I don’t think there’s an argument to be made that Colin White *isn’t* one of this group’s best twelve forwards. Hopefully his time sitting is over.

Thumbs Up: Drake Batherson’s Continued Power Play Prowess
There was a lot of talk during the offseason about the Senators bringing in Evgenii Dadonov as a power play specialist, but the biggest add to their man-advantage unit this year might be in the form of consistent minutes for Drake Batherson. Once again, he was a zone entry machine for the Senators. Where other players might look to dump and chase, Batherson seems to always be looking for creative ways to get into the zone. He uses his unique combination of size and skill to help the Senators get setup quicker than they otherwise might. That prowess didn’t result in tangible contributions on the scoresheet tonight, but it will over the course of a full season.

Thumbs Down: Josh Norris’ Numbers
Unlike last night, the eye test and underlying numbers lined up for me tonight in my assessment of Josh Norris. The Maple Leafs really seemed to put the pressure on him, and oftentimes he just seemed to be physically overmatched by whoever he was facing on a given shift. Natural Stat Trick tabulated his five-on-five shot attempt share at just north of 21%, while his five-on-five expected goal share sat right around 40%. It didn’t really surprise me to see DJ Smith play Derek Stepan in his place on the top line for a few shifts late in the game.

However, I still maintain that the important thing for the Senators right now is to give young players like Norris an extended look in prime positions. The hope, from my perspective at least, is that Norris is right back in that top-line pivot role next week. If he's not ready for the NHL, that conclusion will establish itself over the course of a larger set of games; making any decisions about his spot on this time based on two games is a bad idea.

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Now with a 1-1-0 record, the Senators are off until Tuesday, when they’ll take on the Winnipeg Jets. They will catch the Jets tired, as Winnipeg is scheduled to play against Toronto on Monday night. Hopefully Ottawa can take advantage.

As always, thanks for reading.
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