Appreciating the Ottawa Senators Defensive Play

Two weeks ago, the Ottawa Senators had lost four in a row, and the status of Linus Ullmark was very much unknown. I don’t think I was alone in my worries when I decided to write about the questionable goaltending situation for the Senators. Since then Anton Forsberg has gone 2-1 with a .935 SV% while Leevi Merilainen has gone 3-1-1 with a .917 SV%.  Needless to say I was happy to have them prove my worries wrong. The reality is both goalies have played well, but the support around them has also been pivotal. Let’s dive into the details on the much improved defensive play from the Ottawa Senators.

READ MORE: Missing in Action- Drake Batherson

Goals Against in the Tkachuk Era

Brady Tkachuk came to the Ottawa Senators right at the start of their rebuild. Here’s what he’s been a part of, from a goals against perspective:

• 2018-19: 3.67 (31st)
• 2019-20: 3.35 (30th)
• 2020-21: 3.38 (28th)
• 2021-22: 3.22 (22nd)
• 2022-23: 3.29 (20th)
• 2023-24: 3.43 (28th)

Altogether, the Senators had allowed 3.39 goals against per game during that time, fifth worst in the NHL. Flashforward to this season with Travis Green as head coach, and here are the Ottawa Senators goals against numbers:

• 49 games, 134 goals against, 2.73 goals against per game (7th best)

That puts the Senators about half a goal per game better at goal prevention than their best year in the DJ Smith era. That is a massive improvement. It also took a little while for the team to figure out the defensive system. If you look at their stats since October 29th (41 games), they’ve allowed just 2.54 goals per game.

Strong Defensive Play Without Key Players

The expectation was for this team to improve defensively. They brought in a new coach, a new goalie, and some better defensive players. What’s been so impressive about their defensive play, though, is how they’ve managed to be one of the better defensive teams without some of their key players for long stretches of time. The two guys I’m referencing specifically are Artem Zub and Linus Ullmark. That’s the Senators top defensive-defenseman, and their number one goalie. Zub has missed 25 of the teams 49 games while Ullmark has only started 22 games. In fact, the Ottawa Senators have only had both of these guys in their lineup together eight times the whole season.

Defensive Improvement From Star Players

In terms of needing a new coach,  the three guys that stuck out the most for me were Thomas Chabot, Brady Tkachuk, and Drake Batherson. None of these guys were held accountable for their poor defensive play. This had gone on for several years, with all three developing bad habits when it came to goal prevention. Whether it was puck watching in their own zone, turnovers, not back checking hard enough, or not putting in the effort in their own zone, all three players had their share of problem areas that needed to be improved.

Here were the on-ice numbers for these three players over the previous two seasons:

• Tkachuk: 144 even strength goals against in 163 games (0.9 per game)
• Batherson: 142 even strength goals against in 164 games (0.9 per game)
• Chabot: 141 even strength goals against in 119 games (1.2 per game)

These are their numbers so far this season:

• Tkachuk: 34 even strength goals against in 49 games (0.7 per game)
• Batherson: 30 even strength goals against in 49 games  (0.6 per game)
• Chabot: 43 even strength goals against in 48 games (0.9 per game)

All three guys have been asked to contribute more in their own zone this season. Chabot is a regular on the penalty kill. He’s played 99 shorthanded minutes this season after playing just 39 minutes in the previous two seasons combined. Tkachuk and Batherson were given offensive zone starts 57% and 58% of the time over the prior two seasons. This season, they’re at 52% and 50%.

Final Thoughts

It goes beyond just these three players of course. Shane Pinto and Josh Norris have both played solid two-way hockey. Nick Jensen has been a huge addition. Jake Sanderson takes on a lot of tough minutes. The list goes on. It wasn’t just that the team was playing poor defensive hockey for years. It was that they didn’t seem to even realize what they were doing wrong, or why their style of play wasn’t working. Now, interestingly enough, this team has the opposite problem- they can’t figure out why the puck isn’t going in for them.

It’s a great sign that these players have shown how coachable they are. They dove head first into a defensive approach, which has been great for goal prevention, but has hurt their goal scoring. Here’s the good news. The Ottawa Senators sit seventh best in goals against. Two seasons ago, all ten of the best goals against teams in the league made the playoffs. Last season, nine of the ten best goals against teams made the playoffs. The only team to miss was the Seattle Kraken, who finished fourth worst in goals scored. So long as the Senators score enough, their great goal prevention should help them make the playoffs for the first time since 2017. As for how they can improve their goal scoring, which ranks 26th in the NHL? That’s an article for another day.