TAKEAWAYS: Ottawa Senators do enough good things to beat Tampa Bay Lightning

Published Oct 19, 2024  •  4 minute read

Ottawa Senators right wing Drake Batherson (19) celebrates his goal against the Tampa Bay Lightning during second period NHL hockey action in Ottawa on Saturday. Photo by Justin Tang /The Canadian Press

If the Ottawa Senators are going to take a step ahead this season, they’re going to have to do more of what they did Saturday: Win while not playing their best.

It’s the do-whatever-it-takes mentality.

The Senators made plenty of mistakes in an afternoon home game against the Tampa Bay Lightning, but they weathered the storm, doing enough good things to hand the visitors their first loss of the season.

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The final: Ottawa 5, Tampa Bay 4, with Drake Batherson getting two goals and an assist.

“There was a lot of good, a bit of bad,” said Senators winger Claude Giroux, who had two assists. “Overall, we stuck with our game plan; we kept skating and playing fast. To get the win is huge.”

The Lightning took two minor penalties — one for tripping, the other for delay of game — 39 seconds apart early in the game. Batherson, with a one-timer scored 41 seconds into the two-man advantage.

Ottawa made it 2-0 with 6:39 left in the first period, with Josh Norris banging in a nice feed from Giroux.

Tampa cut the deficit to a goal 1:59 into the second period when Nikita Kucherov one-timed a slapper past goalie Anton Forsberg from the faceoff circle to the goalie’s left.

The Lightning tied the game with 9:21 left in the second on a goal by ex-Senator Nick Paul.
Batherson made it 3-2 with 6:40 left in the period, waiting for goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy to fall to the ice before putting the puck past him.

Tampa Bay tied it with 1:47 left in the period, with Jake Guentzel sliding a shot between the Ottawa goalie’s pads.

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The Senators replied with 1:04 left, 14 seconds into a power play; Brady Tkachuk backhanded a rebound into the net.

The Lightning had a 5-on-3 advantage for a bit less than a minute early in the third period. With the disadvantage down to one player, Ottawa got a terrific short-handed goal when Shane Pinto set up Noah Gregor in close.

Mitchell Chaffee made it 5-4 8:09 into the period.

Here are takeaways from Saturday’s game.

THE PUCK STOPS HERE

Starting goalie Linus Ullmark missed his third straight game. Senators head coach Travis Green said the team wanted to “err on the side of caution.” It seems likely Ullmark will be with the Senators on their upcoming three-game road trip. Forsberg made a couple of very good stops with seven minutes left in the second period; seconds later, the Senators scored to make it 3-2. Forsberg didn’t look good on Tampa Bay’s third goal, which snuck between his pads. With his team two men short in the third period, he made some good stops. With a bit less than a minute left, he moved quickly to his left to stop a one-timer. “Credit to Forzy,” said defenceman Jake Sanderson. “He knows he didn’t play great last game, but he came out today and shut the door for us.”

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LINE JUGGLING

The Senators removed Giroux from a line with Tkachuk and Tim Stutzle, replacing him with Michael Amadio. Giroux was moved to a line with Norris and Batherson. “It was the first time we’ve played together,” said Giroux. “They’re very fast players and both shoot it and make plays. It was a lot of fun.” Noah Gregor was moved to a line with Shane Pinto and David Perron. Adam Gaudette was between Zack MacEwen and Nick Cousins. Said Green: “We just felt we had to switch things up and try to create a bit more. A lot of times, I like to have pairs, move it around and see how it works.”

THE STARTING BLOCKS

The Senators had a very good first period, outshooting the Lightning 9-6. They had the only two goals of the period and had some other good opportunities to score on Vasilevskiy, a couple of them coming in the dying seconds. The second period was a different story; the Senators had some big lapses in their own end and the Lightning scored three times. “Even though you’re up 2-0 and it feels like you’re controlling the game, you’re really not,” said Green. I thought we had a really good first and maybe got a bit better. But they’re a good team, you know they’re going to push.”

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BECOMING MORE SPECIAL

Early in the season, the Senators are near the top of the league in power-play efficiency. Going into the game having converting on 6-of-16 power-play opportunities (35.5 per cent), the Senators had another strong game, going 2-for-5. Being better with the man advantage was identified as one of the ways the Senators needed to step ahead this season; a year ago, the Senators scored on just 18% of their chances, 23rd best in the NHL. The Senators also did a very good job killing penalties Saturday. Coming into the game, having killed 9-of-13 penalties, the Senators didn’t get scored on during three Tampa Bay chances, with Gregor scoring short-handed. Asked what the secret is to killing penalties, Gregor said: “It’s just the will to want to stop them. A lot of it comes down to dedication, putting your body on the line at times and working hard.”

RANDOM RAMBLING

Wonder if the Senators wish they could have a do-over on the trade that sent Nick Paul to the Lightning for Mathieu Joseph and a fourth-round draft pick? Come to think of it, the Senators got fleeced on a few trades in that time period … There were a lot of empty seats for a Saturday afternoon game … Next up for Ottawa is a Tuesday night game in Utah. Ottawa than plays Las Vegas and Colorado on the three-game road trip.

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