Sens ready for Bruins after statement win in Washington

Rolling into Washington to play a Capitals team on the second night of a back-to-back seemed to be just what the doctor ordered for the offence of the Ottawa Senators.

Five Senators had multi-point efforts — including Drake Batherson and Dylan Cozens, who each had two goals and an assist — in the lopsided 7-1 win Saturday night, which broke a streak of four straight overtime or shootout results between the teams dating back to April 2024.

The Senators will begin their own back-to-back set on Monday when the Boston Bruins visit Canadian Tire Centre.

The matchup marks Ottawa’s first appearance this season on Prime Monday Night Hockey. The Sens went a perfect 3-0 in their Prime broadcasts last year, with wins over Calgary (4-3), Nashville (5-2), and Detroit (2-1).

Linus Ullmark, who won a Vezina Trophy with Boston in 2023 before being traded to Ottawa, will not be active on Monday night, earning a rest day after starting three games in five nights.

Ullmark backstopped the Sens to back-to-back wins on Thursday and Saturday, and the team will look to build on the two-game win streak when puck drops at 7:45 p.m. Game Three of the World Series will be shown on the Jumbotron during intermissions of the game, as the Toronto Blue Jays look to upset the defending champion Los Angeles Dodgers.

Power play potency

The Sens struck three times in four power play opportunities on Saturday, improving their man-advantage to a 28.1 per cent clip on the season. Their power play now ranks sixth in the NHL.

“It just connected,” said Travis Green after the game. “They moved the puck well, they were aggressive, it was a good night for our team.”

The first power play goal came after the Capitals unsuccessfully challenged for goalie interference on Shane Pinto’s 2-0 goal. Ridly Greig made a nifty bump up to the hashmarks, puling both Capital defencemen away from the goal and a streaking Cozens, leaving him all alone with Charlie Lindgren.

The second came off the stick of Drake Batherson for his first of the season, right after Cozens is robbed of a hat trick goal. This time, it’s Cozens who bumped up from in front of the net, and Batherson who snuck in behind a Capitals’ defender to easily tap in the rebound.

The third came from Thomas Chabot, his second in the last three games. With a double-screen from Shane Pinto and Lars Eller, Chabot ripped one under the bar. With the pass coming from #28 Claude Giroux, #72 Chabot breaks the pair’s tie at 72 goals to take the standalone 28th place in franchise scoring, a neat numerical coincidence for the pair.

Cousins climbs and converts

Moved up to the first line as Green shuffles forward lines in the absence of Brady Tkachuk, Nick Cousins went forehand-backhand and potted the game’s fourth goal.

Cousins found himself all alone with oodles of time thanks to Tim Stützle taking advantage of a Capitals turnover and quickly looking up ice for his new linemate.

Green did note that lines would be adjusted throughout the game, as he often does, and he was true to his word.

According to Natural Stat Trick, Cousins actually spent just as much time on the fourth line with Lars Eller and Fabian Zetterlund as he did with Stützle and Batherson on the first. In five-and-a-half minutes of ice time with that line, the trio was able to outshoot the Capitals 5-0.

“Cousy’s been playing well lately,” said Green after the game. “He’s a smart hockey player, he’s kind of found his game recently. You’re looking for combinations that you might hope work, and I thought he played another strong game tonight.”

Cousins spoke about the opportunity both after the game and after Monday morning’s practice, saying that Batherson and Stützle think the game at “a completely different level.”

While not a stranger to top lines — the 32-year-old played over 200 even strength minutes with Sam Bennett and Matthew Tkachuk in the Florida Panthers’ 2023–24 Stanley Cup winning season — it was the forward’s first sustained look with the first line in Ottawa.

“You almost think it’s easy to play with those two, but it’s not,” said Cousins on Monday morning.

“You’ve got to make sure you’re in the right spots, and trying not just to worry about getting them the puck, you’ve got to protect the puck as well and make plays when you have it. Make the right play at the right time, and obviously you get different matchups, on the road especially, so you’ve got to make sure you know who you’re out against out there. So just managing the game, managing the puck, what the score is, and stuff like that.”

Cousins added that it’s been a lot of fun playing with the two, but stressed that “it’s just one game,” and that building chemistry remains the goal.

Loose Pucks

In their 7-1 win over Washington, Ottawa became the first road team in the NHL to win a game by 6+ goals in the 2025-26 season. It was Ottawa’s first road win by 6+ goals since an 8-2 defeat of the Florida Panthers on December 14, 2021.

The Senators allowed only 13 shots against during their 7-1 victory over Washington. It marked just the seventh time in franchise history — and the first time on the road — the Senators won a game while surrendering 13 shots or fewer against an opponent.

The Senators enter Monday night with a 4-4-1 record after nine contests. A victory over the Bruins would push Ottawa’s record to 5-4-1 — and the Senators have not had a winning record after 10 games in a regular season since the 2017-18 season.

The Faceoff

The Bruins broke a six-game losing streak with a 3-2 win over the Colorado Avalanche at home on Saturday night. They are 4-6-0 on the season after winning just 33 games a season ago and missing the playoffs for the first time since 2015–16.

The Senators won three of four meetings last season against Boston, including both at home. Drake Batherson had two goals and three assists in those games. Leevi Meriläinen, Monday’s starter, won the second of those games, 6-5 on Jan. 18.

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