Sens don't show up until it's too late in 4-3 loss to Canucks

This was a statement game, in that the Ottawa Senators made a statement that they are mentally fragile, porous, unable to finish, and disappointing – though they do love to try to come back with 3 minutes left. The Sens were facing a Canucks team that was missing Brock Boeser, JT Miller, and Thatcher Demko, and then Quinn Hughes got himself kicked out early (more on that below). It should've been a cakewalk for the Sens. Instead, they extended their losing streak to five games and failed to score at 5-on-5. Brady Tkachuk finished with a goal and 21 PIMs, Tim Stützle had as many fights (1) as points (1), and the Sens were by and large totally listless, managing just 22 shots until the final 3 minutes, when they poured on 7 more shots and scored 2 goals (Giroux and and Stützle) to make the scoreline much more flattering than they deserved.

The photographer Edwin Way Teale once said, "How sad would be November if we had no knowledge of the spring"; unfortunately, the way the Sens keep playing in November, we never have knowledge of hockey in the spring.

From the start of tonigt's affair, the Canucks came to play and the Sens didn't, with Ottawa falling behind quickly in shots, chances, and pretty much everything that counts. Jake Sanderson exemplified the season in a single play midway through the first when his dump-in slapshot went directly in to David Perron's heel. After giving up the game's first powerplay, the Sens were gifted a golden opportunity when Quinn Hughes delivered a stupid, stupid hit, a cross-check into the back of Josh Norris who was bent over, a couple feet from the boards. Norris' face went into the dasher, he stayed down and left the ice, and a video review quickly upheld the 5-and-a-game for Hughes. It wasn't necessarily a malicious penalty, but it's the kind of hit you should never make, and Hughes knows better.

The good news for the Sens was that Norris came back to the bench a few minutes into the powerplay, but they got very little going on the 5-min major with Vancouver's best player out of the game, mustering four shots but little sustained pressure. Right after the Canucks killed the whole powerplay, Artem Zub took his second penalty of the period, and Vancouver scored the period's only goal, a perfect tip by Jake DeBrusk in front of the net. Somehow the Canucks managed more scoring chances in 20 seconds of powerplay than the Sens did in 5 minutes.

The Sens opened the second period with a very solid kill of an early penalty, and then used momentum to earn another powerplay, and this time turned it into a goal, off some great quick hands on Brady Tkachuk to work the rebound in around Kevin Lankinen.

They didn't get to build off that play though because they immediately followed it up with a too-many-men penalty, when they hilariously had 8 guys on the ice on a sloppy change. I say if you're going to take the penalty, at least make it count and see how many guys you can get on the ice. The Sens actually got the best chance on that PK, with Zub (!!) stopped at the edge of the crease on a tight tip from a Claude Giroux pass on the break. But a little breakdown right after gave the Canucks their second goal: Teddy Bluegerwas allowed to waltz in and fire from in tight. We all knew this one was coming though, because Max Sasson was making his NHL debut and he had to get a point (a primary assist) given his first game was against the Sens.

The Canucks also got the next goal, a 2-on-1 with Kiefer Sutherland, I mean, Sherwood selling shot then making a nice pass so DeBrusk could deke backhand in alone and tuck it into an empty net. On that play, Tyler Kleven got caught out 1:40 into a shift, and just didn't have the energy to catch up to DeBrusk after making a terrible pinch call at centre ice. I don't know what I want Kleven to do there, but probably make the change if you're that late into a shift, and if you can't because it's the long change, make the safe play and stay behind the puck in your own end. Gap control is less important if you're too gassed to play it effectively.

Ottawa had all the chances early in the third, including a goal that was called off by a quick whistle even though the puck was fully visible in the crease behind Lankinen for half a second before the whistle went. So of course it was Vancouver's third shot of the period that went in, Kiefer not Sutherland benefiting from not getting an early whistle and tucking the puck in over a sprawling Ullmark. Nick Cousins responded to that with some veteran leadership and took a needless slashing penalty.

On the delayed penalty, Vancouver played keepaway, and Tkachuk ran around until he took a cross-checking penalty, so the Canucks got a full 2 minutes of 5-on-3, where it seemed all they were trying to do was get DeBrusk the hat trick, so Ottawa was able to kill the whole thing. Tkachuk got out of the box and immediately fought Dakota Joshua, ending the former's night, and was probably lucky he didn't get an instigator or anything on the play. Really, I think Tkachuk knew he was too hot-headed to finish the game and so he got himself kicked out. Stützle then threw a dangerous hit on Nils Höglander, but Höglander was unhurt so he challenged Stü to a fight, and took the instigator. The Sens scored on that PP when Lankinen lost his stick and Giroux, the wily veteran, recognized this and buried a quick one.

Down by two with 3:30 left, the Sens could've used Tkachuk. Thankfully, Stützle and Höglander had only been given minor penalties for their fight, and so Stützle was able to join the comeback effort late in the period and after a half-dozen chances, he buried one off a faceoff, which was his 100th goal of his career.

The Sens were super lucky to have Stützle take only 2 minutes of penalties when it could've been 10 or more, but you can't fault a team for taking advantage of the breaks the refs give them. The Sens did make a final push, but couldn't score, and finished with a 4–3 scoreline despite not doing much of anything until there were 3 minutes left in the game. If a couple of bad games earn you a bag skate, I'm not sure what this disappointing effort after already having lost four in a row earns you.

My Thoughts:

• Other than one PK rush in the second period, Zub didn't have a great night. Two penalties, some missed coverage, he looks off. Which the Sens can't afford, they're already so thin on competent NHL D.
• I'm not gonna dump all over Kleven because others will probably do it more than me, but it is telling that there were goals against on consecutive shifts in the second period and then he didn't see the ice again that period. Thursday was the first time this season he was under 10 minutes in ice time (9:01), and tonight was only 8:26. He's been fine most of the season, but he's only 22 and there will be growing pains (and also just exhaustion from playing a full schedule of NHL-level hockey). He's even waivers exempt if they're worried about messing up the available cap space to call him up. The problem is, who do you call up on the left side to rest him? The leftie options are Tomas Hamara, Donovan Sebrango, Jorian Donovan, and Filip Roos (among those who are waivers exempt). Would any of those be an improvement?
• The Sens PK was pretty good tonight. They pressured effectively, were collected, managed the puck well. The PK will allow a goal every once in a while, what matters is that it didn't seem to rattle them and they were strong on the rest of the kills, including that maximum-length 5-on-3.
• Why can't Ottawa finish? Vancouver scored on basically every high-danger chance they had. Ottawa generated many odd-man opportunities and did nothing with them. This team has talent but looks snake-bitten.
• I love Brady Tkachuk's passion. He is a heart-and-soul player. When winnable games get frustrating though, he's gotta rein it in. Offsetting penalties aren't good enough for Ottawa's best goal scorer. Part of what made Chris Neil so great was he could goad another team's top player into an offsetting penalty. Tkachuk sometimes is the reverse of that, goading himself into a penalty that takes off another team's third-liner. Getting himself kicked out when the game was still winnable is not the effort you want to see from your captain.
• Cousins has been the opposite of a veteran leader, taking stupid penalties at bad times. Scratch him, bench him, waive him, I don't care. I'm on the record as saying I don't understand the veteran choices Staios made this summer (and the original version of that article was much harsher before NKB wisely suggested I tone it down), but of the guys brought in, Cousins is easily the worst value. He adds little positive and can be relied upon for a bad penalty. He also did not see the ice after taking that penalty. He's under 10 minutes played for 7 games in a row now, including just 5:01 on Thursday, so Travis Green is fed up too.
• Is Ullmark bad or just unlucky? The goals were all hard to save, but good goalies make tough saves a couple times a game. I think I will ask, "Is he OK?" after every game this season.
• AHHHHHHH

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