The Ottawa Senators hosted the Las Vegas Golden Knights on Thursday night at the Canadian Tire Centre in a 7:00 pm contest. Both teams had gone streaking early in the season, with the Senators riding a 3-game-losing skid and the Golden Knights winning 5 in a row.
Ottawa had a tall task ahead to snap its losing streak, but were hoping that some home cooking could right the ship. Alas, it wasn’t meant to be as Vegas left town with a 5-4 win, and Ottawa began their 3 game homestand on the wrong note.
Home Ice Advantage
The Senators should’ve been happy to return to the Canadian Tire Centre, where they held a record of 4-1-0 to start the season. In their 5 home games, the Sens had scored 24 goals while conceding just 15. All 4 of their wins so far this season had come on home ice.
Vegas, however, was no slouch on the road posting a 4-1-0 record away from the desert this season as well. Jack Eichel led the team in scoring with 12 points in 11 games, including 5 points in 5 road games heading into Thursday.
Following a dreadful trip to the Sunshine state where the club was thoroughly outplayed by both the Lightning and Panthers respectively, Ottawa needed to start their 3 game set at the CTC off with a strong performance.
Shane Pinto’s Dominance
After missing all but 5 games last season, Shane Pinto has burst back onto the scene for the Senators. He had 6 goals in 8 games during October, enough to earn him rookie of the Month honours.
After being held off the scoresheet during Tuesday’s loss in Tampa Bay, Pinto has now gone scoreless in back-to-back games for the first time this season. It’s been a remarkable start to his rookie campaign but with Ottawa’s injuries beginning to pile up, Pinto could be moved up and down the lineup for the foreseeable future.
After Josh Norris’ diagnosis determined he would miss the next 3 months at a minimum, Pinto was promoted to centre wingers Alex DeBrincat and Claude Giroux. These 3 had shown great chemistry on the powerplay but are still looking to get in a groove at even strength.
D.J Smith: “I think Pinto is a big body that can play against the best in the league.”
Sounds like the rookie will be matched up against Jack Eichel. #GoSensGo
— Jack Richardson (@jackrichrdson) November 3, 2022
Ice-Time and Deployment
A big issue during all 4 of the Senators’ road games was the ice time deployment, particularly on the blue line. Sens fans have been clamouring for more defensive structure and a big reason why is the overuse of Thomas Chabot.
When he plays monstrous minutes, the Sens historically don’t have good results. In the past, he was their best option but this season, Jake Sanderson has arrived in style. Eventually, he’ll force the coaching staff to give him more of Chabot’s minutes.
Thursday night saw Sanderson crack the 20 minute plateau for only the 4th time this year as he recorded an assist and 3 shots on goal in the loss. That also included 3:42 worth of power play time which was a refreshing change of pace from his previous usage in the early going.
Until Chabot’s partner, Artem Zub, returns from injury, Head Coach D.J Smith will have to consider using Sanderson more effectively in the crucial minutes of a game.
Special Teams Comparison
While Vegas has had a hot start, the Senators entered the game ranking higher in both special teams categories:
Ottawa:
23.3% Powerplay (T-13th)
78.4% Penalty Kill (19th)
Vegas:
20.6% Powerplay (21st)
76% Penalty Kill (22nd)
Brady Tkachuk and Drake Batherson lead the way with 4 powerplay points each on the year. Though Tkachuk would register 3 assists on the evening, it would be the Golden Knights who would win the special teams battle on Thursday going 1 for 4 while Ottawa couldn’t find the back of the net with the extra man going 0 for 3.
Prior to Thursday the Sens had at least 1 powerplay goal in 4 straight home games. Face-offs were split evenly down the middle at 50/50 on the night, however Vegas outhit Ottawa (26 to 20), had fewer giveaways (6 to Ottawa’s 8), and were more willing to sacrifice the body blocking 21 shots on the night compared to the Senators 7.
There was also this…
There are no words. pic.twitter.com/hwrcYnhCaZ
— Everyday Sens (@EverydaySens) November 4, 2022
Captain vs Captain
Former Ottawa Senator and current Golden Knights captain Mark Stone suited up in Ottawa for just the 3rd time since being traded by the Senators at the 2019 trade deadline for Erik Brannstrom and a 2nd round pick.
Senators captain Brady Tkachuk spent his rookie season living with Stone and the 2 became very close friends. Ironically, Stone has never faced the Senators while Tkachuk has the ‘C’ on his jersey, as he was named captain after Vegas visited Ottawa. Stone then missed the next meeting in Las Vegas with a back injury.
So Thursday marked the first time the two friends face each other as captains. And the former Sen wasted little time opening the scoring against his former club, burying an unassisted goal just 1:22 into the contest.
Ultimately it was a sign of things to come as Vegas raced out to a 5-1 lead midway through the 2nd period. Ottawa would make a game out of it late getting 2 goals from Giroux and Stutzle respectively, however it was too little too late as the Sens have now dropped 4 games in a row and sit last in the Atlantic division.
-Jack Richardson
Twitter: @jackrichrdson
Photo: Sensfan8. This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license.