Anton Forsberg made 25 saves in the Senators (28-41-7) net while Brady Tkachuk and Nick Holden scored. The Kraken (25-44-6) got goals from Daniel Sprong, Matty Beniers, Victor Rask and Jared McCann while former Senator Chris Driedger stopped 12 shots.
"We weren't very good," D.J. Smith said. "All the things we had done of late to have success we didn't do.
"It just wasn't a very good game."
Sprong had the lone goal in the first period as he hammered in a one-timer at 4:36 on the power play off of Vince Dunn's cross-ice feed.
"Sometimes you take penalties but [these were] just bad ones," Smith said after his team took three minors, including one double-minor, in the first period. "It allowed us not to have any rhythm."
But it was the Senators who pounced twice quickly in the second to get the lead; Tkachuk tied the game at 1:11 as he drove the net and while Driedger made the initial save, the puck found its way over the goal line as the Sens captain scored his 28th of the season. Ottawa had a 2-1 lead 2:04 later as Holden scored his 50th career goal with a pinpoint shot from the top of the left circle.
"The kills set us back a little bit but once we got momentum going [we were] chipping pucks in, playing simple, north-south, getting pucks on net," Dylan Gambrell said.
However, the Kraken would score two straight themselves to take a 3-2 lead into the second intermission. Beniers' second career goal came at 9:54 on a tip in the high slot before Rask squeezed one between Forsberg's right arm and chest for his eighth at 16:15.
Seattle thought their lead was 4-2 with 6:03 to play on Karson Kuhlman's goal but it was overturned after a review from Smith for a high-stick on the Kraken's entry into the Ottawa zone. The hosts did get their fourth goal with 1:11 to play on a McCann empty-net goal as he scored his 26th.
Ottawa only managed 14 shots on goal, their lowest total of the season.
"Offensively, we had very little zone time and did not want to shoot," Smith said. "We didn't get to the net. They're a better defensive team than people give them credit for but we didn't create enough."
Ottawa's three-game road trip continues Tuesday in Vancouver. Puck drop is 10 p.m.
