Stützle and Batherson off to flying start

Every summer, when Drake Batherson returns to Ottawa from his native Nova Scotia, Tim Stützle notices improvement in the winger’s game.  

“He looks better every summer, looks faster, looks leaner, and I mean, he works on so many things throughout the summer, skills work and all that stuff,” said Stützle after morning skate on Thursday, ahead of the Senators’ home opener against Philadelphia.

“He works really hard, and obviously skating with those guys over there, Nate [MacKinnon] and Sid [Crosby], it’s pretty cool, I think it just makes him way better. And yeah, he loves the game, I think that’s the biggest thing. He studies the game, loves it so much, watches every game if he has a chance.”

It was the same story this September when Batherson returned — the only difference was that this time, Stützle was starting the season with Batherson on his right wing, something the centre couldn’t remember happening before. 

The pair were placed on a line together on the first day of training camp by Travis Green, and have remained there leading into Thursday’s home opener against the Philadelphia Flyers.

Though it’s not exactly like the pair are strangers — they’ve played almost 4,000 minutes together in the regular season, making them each other’s most common line mates since Stützle entered the league in 2020–21.

“Yeah, it’s awesome, I feel like me and Drake, every time we play with each other, we kind of create something,” said Stützle. “I think when we're both on top of our games, it's hard to defend, and yeah, he's a special player. We’re really tight off the ice as well, so it's awesome playing with him.”

Stützle has leapt out to a quick start, scoring three goals and three assists in his first three games. Batherson, meanwhile, has potted two goals and added an assist. Stützle says it’s about more than points for both of them, though, and his teammates agree.

“They really do take care of the defensive zone as well,” said Jordan Spence.

Stützle nearly scored twice on the same penalty kill on Monday in a 4-1 win over Boston, potting a shorthanded goal just 20 seconds into an Ottawa penalty early in the first period. Three seconds after the penalty expired, Stützle added another.

In the second period, Stützle sprang Batherson for a breakaway, and Batherson put the third goal of the game past Bruins netminder Jeremy Swayman.

“They're really a threat when they're on the ice, and they can make plays out of nothing,” said Spence.

“And you know obviously, you can see that in the past three games that we’ve played. Whenever we’re on the ice with them, you try to give them the puck, try to keep possession of the puck. They’re really good at finding who’s open, who’s not open, and creating a lot of chances and opportunities in the offensive zone.”

Batherson and Stützle spend a lot of time together during the season — Batherson even stayed at Stützle’s house for part of last season — making the chemistry easy on the ice. 

“When he was staying with me for a bit, we were watching [hockey] every night, it was awesome,” said Stützle.

“Obviously, watching Nate [MacKinnon] all the time because they’re buddies. But I think just watching the games, looking at plays, what they do, what they do on the power play, and kind of adjust. It’s always great watching hockey with him because he understands the game so well.”

In practice, Spence said he and defence partner Thomas Chabot enjoy seeing how they stack up against the pair — and letting them know if they get the upper hand.

“It’s always a great competition, especially for myself, I like going against them, kind of pushing myself, you know you have to defend hard against them. They’re great players, they’re fast, they have good hands, so you know, Chabby and I, we usually like to go against them and just kind of chirp them if they don’t do anything,” said Spence.

“Or you know, obviously if they do score, obviously they’re going to chirp back. But it’s always a great competition to have in practice, to up our game and our intensity level.”

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