Ottawa finding ways to win

Lots of hype in local fanbase as team is finding its way

OTTAWA - After a shaky opening 10 games filled with injuries on the blueline, the Ottawa Senators are healthy again (knock on wood) and there is real hype around this team for the first time in two seasons. For starters, every single home game thus far has been a total sellout crowd and the Sens seem to have been noticed by other hockey markets because so far every road game has also been a soldout crowd. With the return of Ryan McDonagh, Trevor van Riemsdyk and Justin Schultz to the blueline, the team is finally able to get some good reps in both practices and games, and it's turned into on ice results. The team has gone 7-2-1 since their opening stretch and have began to generate some early season playoff buzz. "Give a lot of credit to the players because pucks just weren't going in the net for them to start the season. I think we had one of the lowest shooting percentages and it was at about half of where it should be. Now ten games later, it's at a respectable number," said head coach Jared Bednar before boarding a plane to Columbus for a Wednesday tilt. "We had a lot of offseason changes to the roster and it just took a little longer than we would have liked but things sure seem to be clicking now."

The coach is definitely right in saying that as the powerplay has improved tremendously and so has the team's record. This wasn't an easy stretch of games either as Ottawa faced Colorado twice, Arizona, Pittsburgh and Washington - all teams who would be in the playoffs if they started tomorrow. 

The club continues to struggle against New Jersey as they were once again shutout by the Devils in a 4-0 after the last installment of this series of articles. The team bounced back in their following game against the Canadiens while notching two goals with the man advantage and getting contributions for all four lines.

Trying to build off the momentum from their win over Montreal, the Senators hosted the Red Wings in a heated battle. The teams exchanged goals in the first period before Ottawa would gain a two goal lead in the third period. Detroit sent the game to overtime with a goal in the final seconds and scrored moments after the faceoff in the extra frame to steal the second point from a young Senators group and Tristan Jarry's first win of the season.

Next in town were the Golden Knights who were riding a three-game winning streak. Two offseason acquisitions, Jordan Staal and Riley Nash, found the twine for the first time since signing in Ottawa helping the team seal a 3-1 victory on the back of Jonathan Quick's best performance to date against a very disciplined opponent. 

The Senators then had a home-and-home series against the dominant Colorado Avalanche. The first of two games was held in Denver and it was a duel between two goalies. Tristan Jarry kept the Sens in the game going perfect in regulation. Only problem was so was the opposing goalie, Connor Hellebuyck. With no goals after 60 minutes of play, the two teams headed to overtime where John Tavares was the hero, allowing for Jarry to pick up his first win of the 2020-21 season in style. The teams both headed to Ottawa for a rematch. Despite jumping on the Avalanche in the first, it seems the team ran out of gas and the Avalance were able to cruise to a 3-1 victory, scoring all their goals with the man advantage.

The team sure seemed to learn a lot from that loss as they went on a 4-game winning streak picking up a pair of points against Pittsburgh, Arizona, New York Rangers and Washington while Patrik Laine, Anthony Cirelly and Brett Pesce have gone on point streaks through that strecth of games. 

The Senators are in the thick of the Atlantic division which is surprising some critics. Few teams expected to competitive this year and have since turned heads. Ottawa looks to stay in the early playoff mix as they embark on their longest road trip of the season in the next 10 game stretch, including their annual trip to California.