Ottawa Senators Lose Again, 5-2 to Columbus Blue Jackets
And the losing streak is officially extended to five games
I’m sorry, okay?
I jinxed them. I know I did. I shouldn’t have signed up for so many recaps this week. The Sens are now 1-5-1 in games I’ve recapped, and have been outscored 47-17 in that time. I feel personally responsible for this trainwreck.
Actually, I’m just grasping at straws because I don’t want to believe that the same team that was one goal away from making the Stanley Cup Finals only a few months ago is capable of playing like an organization that’s set on tanking for a good draft pick.
Oh sorry, you wanted optimism and reassurances that everything will be okay? It’s the end of November and I’m a University student. Try me in two weeks.
Right off the opening faceoff, it was clear that we were in for another frustrating night. Columbus gained the zone right away, and Craig Anderson was forced to make a few good saves to prevent his team from falling behind.
Honestly, I hope Freddy Claesson walked right out of this game and went out with friends, because if he had to sit through this whole thing, that must have been the worst birthday ever.
Incredibly, Ottawa actually got the first lead of the game when Tom Pyatt tipped in a pass from Derick Brassard. Is it just me or does Pyatt have a strange habit of scoring big goals right as everyone is scratching their heads wondering why he’s been put on the first line, or the starting lineup, or the shootout? He very clearly doesn’t deserve to be in those situations, and yet always seems to score at exactly the right time and shut people up.
I should also mention that that goal came more than halfway through the period, on the Sens’ second shot of the night.
They deserved nothing.
Just as Ottawa was starting to pick up the pace a little bit and actually set up in the offensive zone, Burrows bobbled the puck at the blueline and Cam Atkinson took advantage, tying the game on a breakaway. After twenty minutes of play, it was very clear that the Sens were lucky not to be losing, and that they would need to step up their game if they wanted to pull off a win.
Spoiler alert: they didn’t.
The first few minutes of the second period were incredibly strange, as each team took turns thinking they’d scored a go, only to find out upon further review that the puck never crossed the line. First the Sens were awarded a goal by the referees, then had that goal taken away from them. Then a few minutes later, the Blue Jackets hit the crossbar, and their fans clearly thought the puck had gone in. It was strange.
A little while later, Columbus took the lead for real, off a nice shot from the point. Boucher challenged it for goalie interference, because why not, but it was deemed a good goal.
Surprisingly, that wasn’t the end for the Ottawa Senators, as only a few minutes later Mike Hoffman came out of nowhere to score a beauty of a goal on Sergei Bobrovsky. You know things are bad when your team ties an important game and your first reaction is to laugh, because they deserve nothing and at this point are just making life difficult for their opponents.
The Sens started to look slightly better, but still made too many bad turnovers and failed to convert on another powerplay. Karlsson made a particularly good defensive play on a 2-on-1, and Brassard had a few good looks at the net, but it was very clear going into the third that the team did not deserve to be in the position they were in.
The third frame looked much better from a Sens perspective. The players actually looked like they had some life in them, and created a few chances that made me hopeful that last year’s team hadn’t been completely lost. Bobby Ryan almost scored on a delayed penalty, and the ensuing powerplay didn’t actually look that bad.
Unfortunately, that’s also when their luck finally ran out. Atkinson scored again to put the Blue Jackets ahead, and former Senator Nick Foligno doubled the lead shortly afterward.
Despite a last minute push by the Sens, Columbus scored an empty netter to secure the blowout win. No miracle comeback would happen this time.
(Is anyone else convinced that if and when the Sens actually pull themselves together, it will happen mid game, the second everyone completely gives up hope? That’s the Senators way to do it.)
Notable Performances
- I was very worried about Craig Anderson before this game, but he looked pretty solid tonight. He still gave up 4 goals, and that save percentage looks awful. But it could have been a lot worse.
- Derick Brassard had a pretty good night.
- I don’t know why Tom Pyatt was on the first line, and I don’t like that he was on the first line, but I have to admit he looked good with those linemates.
- Stone looked a bit off tonight.
- Neither Oduya or Harpur impressed me very much, and I genuinely don’t understand why they’re both considered better options than Freddy Claesson./
