Sens Drop Season Opener

Welcome back to your Silver Seven recaps! If you’ve been around all offseason, thanks so much for sticking with us and reading our thoughts. It’s been an incredible offseason, overall, and it’s time to see what this product looks like on the ice.

Kicking things off, your captain Brady Tkachuk opened the scoring with an absolute laserbeam off the post and in. Tkachuk beat Sens Legend Craig Anderson on a slick feed from Drake Batherson. This whole play started with great puck movement from Erik Brännström - one of the benefits of having his skillset in the lineup.

Brady Tkachuk scores the opening goal for Ottawa! #GoSensGo

Drake Batherson and Erik Brännström assist. What a feed by Brännström. pic.twitter.com/jp0zu7ZYze

— Everyday Sens (@EverydaySens) October 13, 2022

Unfortunately, while Ottawa went into the intermission with the lead, the Buffalo Sabres got to work on two quick goals in the second period to take the lead. On the first, JJ Peterka buried his first of the year after Jake Sanderson and Travis Hamonic got beat on a two-on-two. Their second goal came from another blown defensive coverage which saw a feed from below the goal line find the stick of Rasmus Dahlin.

Although they had a few opportunities on the powerplay, the Sens weren’t able to get back into this one and ended the second period down by a goal.

The third period brought many of the same frustrations of the second. For the most part, the Sens played well and had some quality scoring chances but Craig Anderson did what he always does when you underestimate him.

Ultimately, the Sabres found the empty net twice to secure a 4-1 win over Ottawa in the season opener.

Game Notes

• The first period Senators were a different beast than the second and third. While they started strong and organized, they finished playing a very sporadic and disorganized game as a team.
• Anton Forsberg was one of Ottawa’s better players tonight, posting a 0.941 SV% in the loss.
• From a possession standpoint, the Sens played well. Interestingly, the line everyone was excited about in Shane Pinto, Mathieu Joseph and Tyler Motte got shelled pretty well tonight. They were the only line where all three members ended up in the negatives.
• Erik Brännström was fantastic tonight. He moved the puck and his feet very well and was a catalyst in a number of successful zone exits. He also tallied an assist on Ottawa’s lone goal.
• In his NHL debut, Jake Sanderson was behind only Thomas Chabot in both total and 5v5 ice time. While he got beat on the Sabres first goal, he played a steady game throughout./

Game Flow

Heat Map