WASHINGTON -- If the Ottawa Senators needed a reminder that they remain a work in progress, they got one in their 6-3 loss to the Washington Capitals at Capital One Arena on Monday.
The defensive structure and composure that were keys to their success in their previous 16 games, when they went 10-3-3, were mostly missing in a mistake-filled loss that echoed some of their problems earlier in the season.
The Senators welcomed the opportunity to play again and learn from their mistakes when they visit the Nashville Predators at Bridgestone Arena on Tuesday (8 p.m. ET; BSSO, TSN5, RDS2).
“We’ve just got to continue to learn from this game,” Ottawa coach Jacques Martin said. “We’ll review it tomorrow. There’s things that we need to be better at and move on. We play tomorrow night, so we’ve got to get back on the horse and be ready to compete.”
The Senators (25-28-3) are unlikely to qualify for the Stanley Cup Playoffs this season, trailing the Tampa Bay Lightning by 16 points for the second wild card in the Eastern Conference with 26 games remaining.
But they believe they are making strides that will help them in the short term and long term.
“We've been playing some really good hockey lately,” defenseman Jake Sanderson said. “One loss tonight doesn't define that. Be a goldfish, forget about it quick and just learn from it.”
What made Ottawa’s performance Monday out of character from their recent play were the turnovers that led to odd-man rushes and scoring chances against, along with a lack of discipline and composure at key times. Goalies Anton Forsberg (four goals on 10 shots) and Joonas Korpisalo (two goals on 10 shots) were unable to cover up for their mistakes either.
The Capitals scored twice off 2-on-1 rushes, including Aliaksei Protas’ goal 6:30 into the game that gave them a 1-0 lead. John Carlson’s power-play goal at 8:30 of the first increased Washington’s lead to 2-0 before Ottawa responded with goals from Drake Batherson at 10:12 and Shane Pinto at 12:41 to tie it 2-2.
When it appeared the Senators might get through the period tied, Batherson took a boarding penalty for a hit on Michael Sgarbossa at 16:42. The Capitals then converted with a goal from Max Pacioretty at 18:33 to take a 3-2 lead.
Another Senators defensive-zone turnover led to Beck Malenstyn’s goal 14 seconds later that made it 4-2.
“We've just got to be more mature,” Pinto said. “I think we've got to be better with the ebbs and flows of the game. It's going to happen. Momentum shifts will happen, and we’ve just got to be better staying even-keeled and stick to our game, and kind of let the results take care of itself.”
That was one of the Senators’ strengths in sticking with their defensive structure in their previous 16 games, during which they allowed 2.88 goals per game after giving up 3.77 per game in their first 39 (15-24-0). That commitment to team defense has not come at the cost of offense, though.
Ottawa has scored 3.35 goals per game over its past 17 games, up slightly from 3.33 per game previously.
“That’s how you create offense is playing good D and limiting chances, having numbers behind us, and not letting them get odd-man rushes,” captain Brady Tkachuk said. “So, I think that’s helped and a lot of guys stepping up blocking shots and stuff like that.”
The Senators went into this season believing they were ready to take the next step and qualify for the playoffs for the first time since 2016-17. It turned out they had more growing pains to endure first, though.
Ottawa was 11-15-0 when coach D.J. Smith was fired on Dec. 18 and replaced by Martin, who was initially hired as a senior adviser to the coaching staff on Dec. 6. The 71-year-old brought experience and a pair of Stanley Cup championship rings from his time as an assistant under Mike Sullivan with the Pittsburgh Penguins in 2016 and 2017.
Martin was 341-225-20 with 96 ties when he coached the Senators from Jan. 24, 1996, to April 22, 2004. His 355 wins are the most in Senators history.
Martin was brought back to teach the importance of playing with defensive structure to a young core that includes forwards Tim Stutzle, 22, Josh Norris, 24, Ridly Greig, 21, Pinto, 23, and Tkachuk, 24, and defensemen Jacob Bernard-Docker, 23, Erik Brannstrom, 24, and Sanderson, 21.
“I felt that this team had good skill,” Martin said. “I think it’s a team that has some speed and has some quality people. I think they’re really good kids, really good players. I just think they needed to add a dimension to their play and, to me, it’s a dimension that’s crucial to have a successful career, a dimension, learn to play away from the puck, that’s required if you want to be successful.”
It took some time for Martin’s message to get through. The Senators went 4-9-0 in his first month as coach, but gradually they’ve grasped the way he wants them to play -- until Monday.
“I think a lot of it has been the same message with him and D.J. or come from the same place,” Tkachuk said. “It’s different approaches and different points of view to a little bit of that. It’s been good, it’s been different, but I think it’s shown in our game.”
Although general manager Steve Staios will determine if he should trade forwards Vladimir Tarasenko and Dominik Kubalik, who can become unrestricted free agents after this season, prior to the 2024 NHL Trade Deadline on March 8, Ottawa remains focused on winning as much as it can this season.
But what the Senators do now is also about establishing a foundation for the future.
“I think it’s just the standard that we want to have going forward and, hopefully, carry this into the last two months of the season,” Norris said. “Anything can still happen, too. We’re just taking it one day at a time and seeing where it takes us, but it’s, for sure, a good baseline for us to have going into the future.”
