The opening two games of a three-game homestand are games that will go down as regulation losses for the Sens. In an unusually crowded playoff race, the fine line between winning or losing means a run like that shoots a team right down the standings.
“It’s different, it’s a whole new experience where every game means so much,” said Brady Tkachuk. “If you have three really good games in a row, the next three could be back near the top. Just sticking with it, it’s a long season, you never know. Might just take off and never look back, that’s the faith and confidence that we have.”
Travis Green isn’t convinced the work ethic of the team isn’t there, but with just three goals scored in the two losses, the execution is lacking.
“I think lack of execution, maybe not getting inside enough,” Travis Green pointed to on Sunday as what he sees coming between the Senators and the win column right now.
“That’s a bit of an easy cop-out, as well. Sometimes you play well and you also lose, sometimes you don’t play well and win. That’s just the nature of the league right now, it’s a fine line between winning and losing.”
On Thursday, Igor Shesterkin stopped 25 of 27 shots and was named first star. Saturday, it was Joel Hofer in net for the Blues, who stopped 41 of 42 shots directed his way from the Sens and was named second star. “The last two games, we’ve liked a lot of our game,” said Green.
“When the other goalie’s the first star, you know that your game’s been pretty good. But in saying that, you’ve also got to find a way to win, and that’s our whole focus for next game.”
Jake Sanderson said after the game that “he’d never seen a goalie that sharp,” but the frustration lingered from players who thought they could have done more to solve him.
“I think we had a decent game, but we’ve got to make it harder for the goalie,” Fabian Zetterlund said after the game. “I mean, we shoot a lot of pucks, but sometimes we don’t have a net-front presence. We need that in this league.”
Tkachuk says the team needs to get to the dirty areas, part of the theme of getting to the inside of the rink that was also echoed by Green. “Get to the inside, get to their goalie, especially the last two games where their goalie has been playing really good, you just have to make life on them as tough as possible,” said Tkachuk.
Travis Green is also focused on the quality of shots, not just the quantity. “A little harder, it’s easy to say, you just don’t want to have three guys crashing the net,” said Green.
“It’s easier said than done to get pucks to the net. I thought our power play needed to be a little bit harder, a little bit more direct than it had been last night, our five-on-five game was pretty good.”
Visually, the Sens have controlled most games this season, making it even more frustrating when they end up with nothing to show for it in the standings.
The eye-test is backed up by their rank of fifth in the league in expected goals-for percentage at five-on-five. The teams around them have all had success in the regular season and playoffs this decade: Colorado, Carolina, Tampa Bay, Washington, Vegas, and Florida.
Of course, that only counts five-on-five chances, not the power play. A rare Sunday practice in the NHL saw the Sens engaging in intense small-area man-advantage situations after the team finished 1-for-7 on that power play.
“Their goalie played a hell of a game,” said Green. “You know, we probably win that game 80 to 90 per cent of the time. The disappointing part was probably not getting another power play goal. That would have been a big difference in the first period.”
With five straight matchups against teams the Sens haven’t had a crack at this year on deck — New Jersey, Columbus, Minnesota, Winnipeg, and Pittsburgh — the team will look to use a change of scenery and surroundings to reverse some of the outcomes that have come their way as of late.
