Senators Fail to Win Three in a Row Again, Lose 5-2 in Los Angeles

The California road trip is never easy for any team, especially the Ottawa Senators. Ottawa somehow survived against the San Jose Sharks on Wednesday, narrowly escaping with a 4-3 win despite getting outshot 39-11. They headed to Los Angeles on Saturday night looking to finally get their first three-game winning streak of the season.

Anton Forsberg started off the night with an excellent save on Quinton Byfield, which looked to be a hopeful sign of things to come. However, not long after, he let in an incredibly weak goal. Alex Laferriere whiffed on a shot by the faceoff dot, but it slightly deflected off Jacob Bernard-Docker, and despite it going very slow, Forsberg wasn't able to get to the puck in time. The puck essentially went over the line in slow motion and just 1:57 in, it was already frustrating.

The Kings were the better team for the most part in the first period and even had a breakaway chance and a late powerplay, but luckily Forsberg was able to make up for his first allowed goal. All it took was one great rush from Brady Tkachuk, Drake Batherson, and Tim Stützle to tie things up with 36 seconds left in the period. You could see the play building up and knew that Stützle was going to do something special:

Batherson actually missed 12 minutes due to a puck to the face but he came back just in time to help with the tying goal.

Over six minutes into the second period, the Senators were able to take the lead thanks to a wicked point shot from Thomas Chabot and a perfect tip from Adam Gaudette. It was Gaudette's team-leading 12th goal of the season as he continued his hot streak:

However, the Senators' lead didn't last long. Just 1:15 later, Kevin Fiala took advantage of a careless turnover from Tyler Kleven. Kleven had the puck in front of Forsberg but awkwardly gave it away, and Shane Pinto was unable to strip it away from Fiala before he turned around and ripped it past Forsberg. So much for that lead. The rest of the period saw not much action besides a too many men penalty for Ottawa, and they were right there with Los Angeles after two periods.

The third period started in unfortunate fashion, as there was only so much Forsberg could have done on the Kings' third goal. Ottawa didn't have a great change on the backcheck, and once again, Kleven probably regrets his shift because he left Anze Kopitar wide open in front of the net. Trevor Moore's shot rebounded off Forsberg up high, and Kopitar had enough time to wait for the puck to come down below the crossbar and bat it out of midair for a phenomenal finish. It was hilarious timing considering Sportsnet just aired a segment at the intermission about Stützle's batted goal in overtime against Detroit last season.

The rest of the period could have included a good comeback, but it wasn't meant to be and there were only a few good chances for Ottawa within their seven shots in the final period. The most frustrating part was with 4:44 left, Ridly Greig took one of the most unfathomable penalties I've seen. Five players were already on the ice, and Greig hopped on for some reason—maybe he was told by somebody to go? I have no idea. But on that powerplay, Adrian Kempe scored a one-timer to make it 4-2, essentially putting the game out of reach.

Ottawa pushed a little bit at the end with the net empty, but Trevor Moore was able to score and make it a 5-2 final score. The Senators failed to win a third straight game, something they've failed to do all season. It's safe to say the game tomorrow in Anaheim is a must-win, otherwise things will start to feel the exact same as last week.

Game Notes:

• What else can be said about Gaudette? The man has been making the most of his opportunity in Ottawa and I love seeing him in the top-6. For a team that is woefully lacking in depth scoring, Gaudette has been a godsend.
• Speaking of depth scoring, it's incredible how much they need it. Yet again it was their top players who actually created anything tonight, whereas the third and fourth lines couldn't muster anything. Something as to give there.
• Two too many men penalties in one game is incredibly embarrassing and unacceptable. Only one of them cost them, but it was at a crucial moment in the game with less than five minutes to play while down by one.
• Those too many men penalties speak to their lack of attention to detail overall. They could be playing well but unravel on a few plays, which end up costing them two points.
• Forsberg was a mixed bag tonight but the fact is he allowed four goals on 26 shots. Ottawa has now allowed 3+ goals in eight consecutive games. Incredible.
• I wonder if Kleven and/or Greig ever take some time out of the lineup because both of them have had some rough games of late.
• It's impressive how good Kopitar still is at age 37. He's the engine for the Kings.

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