Ottawa Senators Training Camp Check-in: October 5th

Preseason hasn’t been friendly to the Ottawa Senators when it comes to the Battle of Ontario, as the Sens fell 3-1 to the Toronto Maple Leafs last night.

• The game didn’t start well for the Sens, as they missed an opportunity on the powerplay and h the Leafs looked to be the more composed team for most of the first period. To make matters worse, Colin White got tangled up with David Kampf and fell extremely awkwardly. He looked to be in a lot of pain and so far, all the reports have not pointed to any good signs. /

🚨🚨🚨Injury Report: #GoSensGo Colin White got up slowly from a collision, right arm draping to the side and has headed to the locker room.

This does not look good!
pic.twitter.com/e0qLHSWIEq

— Hockey Hound (@HockeyHoundShow) October 4, 2021

• One area of focus for the pre-season is to get special teams up to snuff.The second powerplay still didn’t produce but it reminded us why Tim Stützle is going to be an absolutely fantastic player even if this effort didn’t result in a goal./

Jack Campbell makes his first stop of the night pic.twitter.com/Fnp1QncDYn

— Omar (@TicTacTOmar) October 4, 2021

• There was no scoring in the first period but considering the Sens and Leafs roster, this was not a good sign.
• Sometimes I forget that Josh Brown is still on the team but then he takes a penalty less than a minute into the second period and voila, I remember. Unfortunately for Brown, the Leafs were able to capitalize on the power play to make it 1-0 on a goal from Pierre Engvall. Not a great look for Nick Holden or anyone really who was on the ice for that goal and unable to stop the Leafs’ puck movement./

Pierre Engvall 🚨🦒

Solid puck movement from the power play pic.twitter.com/CPfqUjvQlG

— Omar (@TicTacTOmar) October 5, 2021

• On the bright side, that goal seemed to have sparked the Sens offense. They were not afraid to go for the offensive chances and even controlled all the penalty kills they had to. Drake Batherson continued to be physical and really stood out more as the game went on.
• With less than 3 minutes left in the second period, Connor Brown comes in with the perfect deflection to tie the game. Balance is restored./

The deflection game is strong with Connor Brown (@Breeze2Greeze). pic.twitter.com/expDjeydFL

— NHL (@NHL) October 5, 2021

• The Sens had a chance to take the lead with another power play opportunity, but perhaps to nobody’s surprise they let the chance slip away. The special teams still need work.
• The highlight of the third period would have to be how much Batherson got under both the Leafs’ players and fans’ skins, just a glorious game from our young star.
• The Senators held their ground and played well in the third but with 1:25 left in the third the Leafs took the cake. The Senators escape another penalty kill but the tables turned when Batherson missed a shot allowing Adam Brooks to just float through the Sens zone for a perfect pass to Michael Amadio who makes no mistake. Not sure I was happy with Chabot’s very casual defending on this one./

Great drive by Brooks who feeds the former Senator and newly aquired paisano Michael Amadio for the goal 🙌🏻🇮🇹 pic.twitter.com/2M9cOapfqA

— alberto (@twistedleafs) October 5, 2021

• Engvall added another goal to take this meaningless and pointless game 3-1. The Senators play the Habs on Thursday and then close up the preseason against the Leafs again on Saturday.
• Michael Del Zotto is already sending concerning signs, he seems to be lost, slow and is reminiscent of some past, failed, defensive acquisitions. It’s still early!
• Pierre Dorion wasn’t able to get that top-6 forward he had claimed he would this offseason, he hasn’t been able to sign his star player and now he’s going to need to find a replacement for Colin White. The Sens could use some more skill up front.
• While White’s injury may open a spot for one of the younger guys to make a statement, not sure this team can survive without some veteran presence at the centre  position. Unfortunately, that could just mean a contract for Tyler Ennis to allow DJ Smith to shuffle some guys off their position.
• Matt Murray continues to show some good signs in net but needs to clean up a bit of his rebound control./