OTTAWA 鈥� The Ottawa Senators are struggling to find answers after their third consecutive loss, a 5-2 defeat at the hands of Connor McDavid and his Edmonton Oilers.
The Senators got off to a slow start and never found a way to keep pace with their western opponents. When asked to assess his team鈥檚 performance Brady Tkachuk was direct.
鈥淜eep it short and sweet: not good enough.鈥�
The Senators captain was visibly frustrated, again, following a poor outing. An issue that has been recurring far too often this season.
鈥淥ne word you could say is immature,鈥� said Tkachuk. 鈥淲e talk about it in here all the time and there's just been too many moments, too many opportunities, that have been missed so far.
"I know and I believe that it's going to get corrected, but it needs to get corrected right now.鈥�
Head coach Travis Green was at a loss for his team鈥檚 performance, especially coming off a disappointing 4-0 loss to Carolina days earlier.
鈥淚t is frustrating, for sure,鈥� said Green. 鈥淚 thought we had a flat practice yesterday and thought it carried over.鈥�
The Oilers (10-8-2) jumped out to a 1-0 lead on a great, solo effort by Evan Bouchard where he toe-dragged Thomas Chabot in the slot and beat Linus Ullmark from in close.
鈥淚 had no gap and I tried to re-gap, got caught kind of reaching, and obviously, last second you're just trying to do something and nice goal by him but I mean, that just can't happen,鈥� said Chabot. 鈥淚f I'm gonna play those minutes and have that big a role on a team you just can't, can't let that happen.鈥�
Tim Stutzle tied the game, but 35 seconds later the Oilers regained the lead when Connor McDavid, who had two goals and an assist, was able to bury a rebound.
McDavid made it 3-1 scoring on a two-man advantage.
鈥淚 thought it was a resilient effort,鈥� McDavid said. 鈥淣ot easy, a lot of travel, a back-to-back and they were rested. I thought we were a little bit behind the eight ball, but just found a way to get it done tonight. That鈥檚 what it was all about.鈥�
That鈥檚 exactly what it isn鈥檛 in Ottawa these days.
While Green was hesitant to comment on Tkachuk鈥檚 assessment of the team鈥檚 maturity he did say they lack resilience.
鈥淲hen you make a mistake you've got to stick with your game,鈥� Green said. 鈥淪ometimes I find that with this group we鈥檙e a great team when we have the lead, and we play better when we have the lead. We haven't played very well chasing the game or when we鈥檙e behind.鈥�
The Oilers made it 4-1 when McDavid fed Leon Draisaitl early in the second. Draisaitl beat Ullmark, who made 27 saves, off his backhand.
Ullmark has now given up four or more goals in five of his 11 starts.
Ryan Nugent-Hopkins made it 5-1 midway through the third, tipping Derek Ryan鈥檚 shot. Josh Norris tipped a Nick Jensen shot to round out Ottawa鈥檚 scoring.
Stuart Skinner, who also made 27-saves, said the team was motivated to close out this three-game Canadian road swing on a positive.
鈥淚t was massive,鈥� said Skinner of the win. 鈥淥bviously, if we didn鈥檛 (win) it would鈥檝e been a pretty ugly road trip, especially playing all the Canadian teams, you always want to show up for those. I think being able to get off to a good start in the first period was a big help, especially going into a back-to-back.鈥�
The Oilers lost Zach Hyman late in the second after a collision with Ottawa defenceman Nick Jensen. The Oilers said they would need to evaluate Hyman and see how he鈥檚 doing.
The Senators will have their work cut out for them as they host the Vegas Golden Knights Thursday night.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 19, 2024.
Lisa Wallace, The Canadian Press
