Chabot doesn't run from tough questions
Thomas Chabot was ready Thursday, knowing he would be asked about a crucial turning point in Wednesday's 3-2 loss to the Winnipeg Jets.
With the Senators trailing 2-1 in the third period and on the power play, the puck somehow slipped through Chabot at the Jets' blue line, allowing Trevor Lewis to score a breakaway short-handed goal against Matt Murray.
A Josh Norris power-play goal in the final seconds brought the Senators close again, but the Lewis marker held up as the game winner.
“I knew that one was going to come up,” Chabot said in a Zoom call with reporters. “I tried to make the play up to Norris on the boards and (Nate) Thompson stopped it and tried to clear it, but it hit my wrist and I lost track of the puck.
“The next thing you know, I realized Lewis was past me and the puck was behind me.”
Chabot acknowledges some confusion while losing sight of the puck, which left him flat-footed, and he naturally wishes it would have played out differently.
Often this season, he has been in a similar spot, tasked with talking about what went wrong.
As a player who averages 26:42 per game, second in the NHL behind Drew Doughty of Los Angeles, it's not surprising that he's directly involved in the crucial moments of games. The Senators have allowed a league-high 164 goals against and Chabot is taking his fair share of heat for that total.
“I play a big role on this team and I want to play a big role for the years to come,” Chabot said.
Chabot lived through the tail end of Erik Karlsson's career in Ottawa, an offensive defenceman who was on the wrong side of the plus/minus ledger on many nights. Chabot, who has scored four goals and 24 assists in 41 games, sports a minus 22.
As was the case with Karlsson, there is a divide within the fan base. For all those who are critical, there are others who come to his defence, suggesting he will excel when surrounded by more talent on defence. Chabot, who turned 24 in January, has played only 246 NHL games. He said he believes there's plenty of growth and development ahead of him. “Every night, it's a learning process still. And the quicker we can get through that as a group, the better it's going to be in the future for us.”
Next up for the Senators is a fourgame road trip, beginning with a Saturday matinee against the Montreal Canadiens at the Bell Centre.
Two of the Senators' six road wins this season have come in Montreal and they're 4-3 overall against the Canadiens this season.
THE NORRIS WATCH
“We always seem to play those guys really well,” said Norris, who has four goals and six points in his past six games. “I know a lot of us don't like them too much and I'm sure they would say the same thing about us. They're always very competitive games. They play hard and play fast.”
Norris is being rewarded for his success, shooting the puck more and going head-to-head against the North Division's top centres. He went 8-4 against the Jets on Wednesday and has won 53.2 per cent of his draws overall.
BROWN LOOKS BACK
Connor Brown was hardly down on himself after his franchise-record eight-game goal-scoring streak ended Wednesday against the Jets. “I think it was a good run,” he said. “I didn't think I was going to score a goal every game for the rest of the way in. I just have to bottle up what was making me play well and roll with that.”
Brown says the Senators will try to use the final stretch of the season to build momentum toward a quick start in 2021-22.
“We want to establish our type of game and the confidence within our group,” he said. “Confidence individually, within the players and our team, and confidence with each other. That's something that we've really got to build down the stretch so we can hit the ground running next year.
“At times, our maturity is getting shown in third periods when we lose in close games, but we'll learn. We need to stick to the process that's leading us to play with these teams that are ready to compete for the Cup right now.” kwarren@postmedia.com Twitter.com/Citizenkwarren