The Jets dish out a 4-1 thumping
It's all Winnipeg all night in dominant win as Sens struggle with rebuilding the squad
There are different lessons learned at different points of the season.
If Tuesday's overtime loss to the Winnipeg Jets was all about the Ottawa Senators letting one get away, about not closing the door on what had been a sound 58-minute effort, Thursday's
4-1 romp was something else altogether.
It wasn't a pretty picture for the Senators. It was an example of how quickly things can turn for a rebuilding squad when a high-powered offence — even without the injured Patrik Laine, the Jets have offensive talent in spades — is allowed the freedom to flex its goal-scoring muscle.
After taking a 1-0 first period lead on Nikolaj Ehlers's goal, the Jets cranked it up another notch to put the game out of reach in the second.
Mark Scheifele, Adam Lowry and Blake Wheeler beat Senators starting goaltender Matt Murray in a 9:33 span to extend the lead to 4-0.
All told, the Jets outshot the Senators 16-8 in the middle frame. Chris Tierney broke the shutout bid of Jets goaltender Connor Hellebuyck, scoring with 2:57 remaining.
“They were a step quicker than us all night, right from the get-go,” said Senators coach D.J. Smith. “They came in, took us serious and came after us. They beat us on the majority of 50-50 pucks and the right result happened.”
The Senators' defencemen were caught up ice — or in the case of Scheifele's goal, both were behind the net — and the Senators' forwards didn't pick up the Jets' forwards in the scoring areas.
“Those are mistakes that happen,” defenceman Thomas Chabot said of getting caught out of position. “It happens. You've got to make sure you learn from it and not bring it next game.”
Smith did the logical thing to finish out the game, replacing Murray with Marcus Hogberg to start the third period. It was Hogberg 's first action of the season.
Hoping to spark something, there was also line-juggling galore, with Nick Paul moving up to play with Derek Stepan and Evgenii Dadonov. Cedric Paquette skated with Tierney and Connor Brown. Colin White, playing only his second game of the season, also saw time on a makeshift line with Alex Galchenyuk and Austin Watson.
It was a rough night all around, but there's no time to feel sorry for themselves. The Senators leave Friday for the start of a seven-game trip, not returning to Canadian Tire Centre until facing the Montreal Canadiens on Feb. 6.
The season is young, but so are the Senators. How they respond to the lopsided defeat and the challenge of the extended trek, where Smith no longer has the benefit of home-ice advantage and control of matchups, could dictate whether they stay in contention in the all-Canadian division or slip into the basement.
On Thursday, the Jets were a different-looking squad from the outfit that two days earlier let the Senators take the game to them early on, before rebounding to steal away the game thanks to a goal with 1:17 left in regulation and the overtime winner from Ehlers.
Hellebuyck, who sat out Tuesday's game in favour of backup Laurent Brossoit, was back in the Jets' net. Hellebuyck won the Vezina Trophy as the NHL's best goaltender in 2019-20, with a sparkling 2.57 goals against average and .922 save percentage.
However, Laine, who opened the season by scoring twice and adding an assist, missed his third-consecutive game.
The biggest pre-game story for the Senators, of course, was the return of White. He took the spot of Artem Anisimov, starting the game on a fourth line alongside Paquette and Watson.
Smith said he was hoping White could have some success in the faceoff circle (he went 0-for-5 in his only previous game, against Toronto on Saturday) and also wanted the 23-year-old to create energy, helping generate more pressure inside the Jets zone.
Clearly, it didn't go according to plan for White and the Senators. White saw only three shifts and played 1:53 in the first period, and the fourth line was on the ice when Ehlers broke the scoreless deadlock at the 11:50 mark. The Jets had an easy entry into the Senators zone, but Ehlers' shot between Murray's legs should have been stopped.
“Tonight was a tough night, especially that first (goal),” Murray said. “That one is on me. That's unacceptable and that can't happen.”
Before the period ended, the Senators came close on an abbreviated power play. Hellebucyk was sharp, but Brady Tkachuk was guilty of over-passing, giving up a chance in the slot in an attempt to feed Dadonov.
The Kid Line of Tkachuk, Josh Norris and Drake Batherson had some moments in the opening 20 minutes, but they weren't nearly as dazzling as they were in the first meeting against the Jets, when Norris opened the scoring with his first NHL goal.
Early in the second, Paquette had a chance to tie the game 1-1 off a pretty feed from White, but Hellebuyck made the save.
From there, the Jets flew into high gear, leaving the Senators chasing and chasing some more, unable to contain the Jets talent that came in waves.
Tempers rose in the final minutes, after Scheifele clipped Senators defenceman Erik Gudbranson with a high stick. There were empty spaces on both players' benches as the resulting penalties ended their nights early.