No panic among Sens after loss to Habs
Sens insist there’s no panic after latest lapse on defence
In a different era, with a different coach, the Ottawa Senators would have been back on the ice Tuesday.
The scheduled day off would have been eliminated in a flash, likely accompanied by an expletive-laden dressing room message from the coach to the players.
The old-school approach might also have meant something along the lines of a 90-minute skate without pucks. That was then, this is now. Instead, Senators coach Guy Boucher allowed his team time for some sober second thoughts about the mess of Monday’s 8-3 loss to the Montreal Canadiens, where the Senators handed out chances like, well, they were giving out candy.
“Our work ethic was not like usual,” Boucher said following the debacle. “Our structure was not like usual. Our paying the price was not like usual. Our sharpness with the puck was not usual. Our compete level wasn’t high enough to win the game against anybody. When that happens, you’re basically opening the door for the other team to take over and that’s what they did. They totally deserved the game.” There is no panic. Yet. There will always be the odd clunker in a long season — the Stanley Cup champion Pittsburgh Penguins have already lost 10-1, 7-1 and 7-1 this season — and the Senators have registered at least one point in 10 of their opening dozen games.
They’re also blessed to be playing in a division where only two of eight squads — the Tampa Lightning and the Toronto Maple Leafs — have won more games than they’ve lost.
Come Wednesday, though, the Senators should expect a loud, barking, not-so-subtle workout from the coach about fundamentals in preparation for Thursday’s game against the Detroit Red Wings.
The breakdowns begin at the top. Captain Erik Karlsson was on the ice for the first seven Montreal goals. He sported a plus/minus of minus-6, the worst of his career. (He has had four previous minus-4 nights during his career, the last coming on Feb. 25, 2016, in a 5-3 loss to Vancouver.)
“We can’t get too low when things are not going your way, same as we don’t get too high when things are going too well for us,” Karlsson said.
Still, Monday’s defensive breakdown wasn’t an isolated event.
The Senators went into the game having given up eight goals in their previous two games and 19 goals in their previous five games. That’s extremely unBoucher-like.
The coach acknowledges being confused about why his team has strayed so often from the textbook at home, a situation he describes as the “same recurring theme.”
With a record of 2-2-4 at Canadian Tire Centre, the Senators have registered only one point per game at home.
“What’s been killing us at home is we’re trying to make a show with these wide, long east-west passes and through guys instead of keeping it simple,” said Boucher. “We opened up the floodgates (against Montreal) and we know what happens when you do that against anybody.”
The schedule becomes far more taxing in mid-November and December.
After playing host to Detroit Thursday and Vegas on Saturday, the Senators head to Sweden for a pair of games against Colorado on Nov. 10 and 11.
They return for home games against Pittsburgh on Nov. 16 and against Arizona on Nov. 18,
We can’t get too low when things are not going your way, same as we don’t get too high when things are going too well for us.
but then comes a stretch where Senators play 10 of 11 contests on the road.
Craig Anderson, who was pulled in favour of Mike Condon Monday after allowing six goals on 15 shots in the first two periods, will likely get the start against Detroit.
“The good news is we can come back to work the next day and try to improve and we want to make sure we do everything in our power to change so we don’t let this happen again,” said Anderson, whose save percentage fell to .895 from his pre-game mark of .913.
“We’re very proud people in here and that was not a proud effort. There are lots of words you can use, but you’ve got to flush it.”