Ottawa Senators
Costly Penalty, Defensive Miscues Hurt the Senators

The Senators were a few minutes away from this being a friendly, positive article. That’s how quickly things can change, and how fine a line it is between winning and losing. Up 4-3 with just over three minutes to play, the Senators took a penalty that proved costly. They gave up the tying goal, then the winning goal, and then the insurance goal in less than a minute and a half to lose this game, 6-4. There were plenty of positives, which I’ll get into, but this one stings. Let’s dive into the details.
READ MORE: Revisiting the Mark Stone Trade
Cousins’ Costly Penalty
Cousins knows his role- he needs to be an agitator and shows relentless effort. He also needs to be careful not to cross the line. His interference penalty was by no means dirty, but it cost the Senators nonetheless. They had played a great third period, limiting Vegas’ chances while possessing the puck a fair amount themselves. The costly penalty gave the Golden Knights new life. They took full advantage with Mark Stone and Senators killer Jack Eichel assisting on the Tomas Hertl goal. Thus far, Cousins hasn’t quite been good enough. He has no production to speak of, and now played a big role in hurting his team late in this game.
Poor Defensive Play
Perhaps the biggest weakness I’m seeing from Ottawa early this season is their tendency to get lost in coverage in their own zone at times. That’s what got them on the first goal against when Chabot worked up high but no one covered down low. It’s a mix of puck watching and not communicating switches. What’s interesting is how this was even more painful in the seasons leading up to this one. Old habits die hard I suppose. Getting caught on an odd man rush just a minute after giving up the tying goal is unacceptable, too. I’d expect Travis Green to let his team hear it after blowing the game in the fashion that they did.
How about a few positives?
Adam Gaudette’s Big Game
It was only a few days ago that I was writing about the newest Ottawa Senators, stating that Gaudette will have a tough time staying in the lineup with how things have gone so far. Well, egg on my face. Gaudette has earned himself at least a few more games in the lineup with tonight’s performance. It started with a greasy goal, and then he sniped a beauty on the power play. The Senators have been getting some depth goals early in the season, with the likes of MacEwan, Gregor and now Gaudette all contributing. That hasn’t been the case for this team in a long time.
The Ageless Claude Giroux
The first couple games left something to be desired from Giroux. Well, those games are firmly in the rearview mirror now. Giroux scored a sweet goal off of a flubbed Nick Jensen shot, and then set up Gaudette for his second of the game. He’s now up to a point a game through the first seven games of the season. He’s also still being used in all situations, often asked to take faceoffs in penalty kill situations. He truly is one of the best free agent signings in team history. Now, with his contract set to expire, it’s time to extend him for a few more seasons.
Batherson’s Hot Start Continues
That is now nine points in the first seven games of the season for Batherson. He is playing with as much confidence as I’ve ever seen. It felt like it never clicked between him and Debrincat a couple of seasons ago, when the two were asked to lead the Senators second line but didn’t produce nearly enough at five on five. He was much better last season, and now he’s even a step above that. That’s already three multi-point games this season. With the 4-Nations Faceoff coming this February, I wouldn’t say Batherson has great odds to make Team Canada- they have a loaded group of forwards to pick from. But why not just keep producing like this to make it hard for those in charge to ignore.
Additional Notes
Shoutout to Cole Reinhardt for his first NHL point! He had such a solid preseason to get on Ottawa’s radar, and now he’s earned himself an early call-up, and now, an assist as well. Ullmark’s return did not go according to plan. There’s not necessarily a goal against that I would fault Ullmark for, but I’m sure he’d be the first to say that he can’t be giving up five goals on 27 shots. Seven games in, and it’s hard to figure out Ottawa’s true identity. The goal scoring is great, but the goals against are problematic. I don’t think Travis Green envisioned four of his first seven games to have seven, six, four and four goals against. It’s time to clean up the defensive play.