The Ottawa Senators need to get their act together.
No ifs, ands or buts about it.
Six games into the National Hockey League season, you have to look down to the bottom of the Eastern Conference standings to find the Senators sitting in 15th place with only four points.
“It’s not time to hit the panic button or anything,” said veteran winger Claude Giroux on Monday after the club’s skate at the Canadian Tire Centre. “We’ve got to make sure we’re more consistent in how we want to play, our identity.
“When we’re more consistent in doing that, the results are going to follow.”
Preparing to face Connor McDavid, Leon Draisaitl and the two-time defending Western Conference champion Edmonton Oilers on Tuesday, Ottawa has one victory in its last five games after a 5-4 loss to the New York Islanders on Saturday at home.
Not only have the Senators surrendered 30 goals in the first six games of the year, but they also have the third-worst goal differential in the NHL at minus-10, with 20 goals for to start the year. They know they need to be better at both ends of the ice, especially defensively.
The Senators haven’t played anywhere close to the style that allowed them to make the playoffs for the first time in eight years last spring. That was quite evident against the Isles when seemingly every mistake they made ended up in their net.
“You have to rebuild your team identity every single year,” said top defenceman Jake Sanderson. “We finished the year off great. We really liked where our game was at, but it’s a fresh start for every single team.
“You have to come into camp and the season ready to rebuild that identity for the team.”
The club did make one roster move on Monday by sending winger Arthur Kaliyev back to their American Hockey League affiliate in Belleville.
What left a sour taste in the mouths of coach Travis Green, veteran winger David Perron and centre Tim Stutzle when they spoke post-game on Saturday was the style in which the Senators lost to the Islanders.
You can’t make the playoffs in October, but the points gained this month mean just as much as the ones you get late in the season when you’re trying to make a final push to be in the NHL’s big dance.
Last year, Green told me late in the season he felt the Senators were at their best when they played what he called a “connected” game. Green felt against the Isles that some of his players were cheating to try to get offence.
That’s not a recipe for success.
“There is a little bit of risk to our game right now that I haven’t liked,” Green said. “Sometimes it’s as simple as a detail (to the game). I could probably stand here for half an hour to talk about how you get connected.
“But we haven’t been. When we have been, we’ve played a lot of good hockey so far. Our five-on-five game has been really good in parts of the game and loose in other parts. That’s a hard way to win. I don’t think we’re a team that can outscore other teams.
“We don’t have 40- and 50-goal scorers on our team. If we’re going to get into a coin flip on who is going to score the most goals, then we’re probably going to be on the wrong end.”
Green doesn’t believe the Senators are in a unique situation.
“Around the NHL, there is some common conversation going on in the locker room, and the teams that straighten it out the quickest are the teams that will find they’re playing their game a lot better,” Green said.
On that front, he couldn’t be more correct.
The Oilers pack the best one-two punch in the league with McDavid and Draisaitl, yet they’re coming off their third straight loss after a 4-2 decision Sunday against the Detroit Red Wings.
The Senators know this will be a difficult challenge. McDavid hasn’t scored a goal in the Oilers’ first six games this season, but he’s got seven assists, which means he’s still a force to be reckoned with.
McDavid has scored five goals and 13 points in seven straight games against the Senators. In 26 career games against Ottawa, he has 13 goals and 33 assists for 45 points.
As for Draisaitl, he has two goals and five points in his last three games against the Senators. The bottom line is this will be a tough challenge, but a victory against the Oilers would be a confidence boost.
“You have to have an eye for them when they’re out there, but nobody has been able to stop those guys,” said winger Drake Batherson. “You’ve got to do your best to contain them, but they’re so good they’re going to get looks.”
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