Sens 20-21 Season Off To A Shaky Start

Multiple injuries and lack of production despite winning record

OTTAWA - The Ottawa Senators debuted their 2020-21 season after a long hiatus against the opposing nation's capital at the Canadian Tire Centre with a wildly entertaining 3-2 victory in front of a sold out crowd. Offseason free agent signing Jonathan Quick stopped 28 shots to earn his first win with the new club while newly appointed captain John Tavares earned his first point in a Sens uniform. The Sens had contributions throughout the entire lineup. "A true team win", is what head coach Jared Bednar told media following the game. "The coaching staff and myself really wanted to come into camp with a new approach this year. We had a lot of new players come in this summer and a few of the younger guys are pushing for roster spots. We wanted to instill a team culture with this squad where it isn't just one line being relied upon each night. This is a team that will win with 20 dressed players and lose with 20 dressed players."

The next game was against the visiting Detroit Red Wings who look to repeat last year's results. The sold out crowd was set for another entertaining night as this game needed extra time to be settled. Alex Kerfoot was the hero but the bigger stoyline at this point was how the Senators defence was producing most of the offence through two games.

Next, the wheels all came off the f*cking bus.

The Senators embarked on a three-game road trip through Western Canada against the Canucks, Flames and Oilers. First were the Canucks where the Sens were handed a devastating and first loss of the season by a 3-2 margin that required a shootout. All Ottawa shooters were stopped. Next up was Calgary. Ottawa still hadn't lost in regulation by this poing and a Flames team with low expectations was just what the team needed to bounce back from a tough loss to the Canucks. Unfortunately the Sens managed very little offence on this night and were shutout by netminder Pekka Rinne but Sens goalie Jonathan Quick kept the team in the game throughout all of regulation time. Flames pivot Ryan Getzlaf finally managed to solve Quick as the Flames collected their second victory of their season. Ottawa rolled into Edmonton that very same night after a strong talking to about accountability from the leadership group and it showed in the opening frame with Ottawa controlling the pace for the first 20 minutes. Then it all started to go downhill. Veteran Val Filppula left the game after a freak injury to his eye in the first and midway though the second period, UFA signing Ryan McDonagh left the game with a lower body injury. Both have been out ever since up to the writing of this article. The Oilers would eventually cruise to a 4-0 win as the Sens would not recover from the injuries suffered in the game and goaltender Tristan Jarry would lose his first start of the 20-21 campaign. This would be the second consecutive night the team was shutout.

The shorthanded Sens would then return home for a 5-game homestand against the Canucks, Devils, Maple Leafs, Kings, and Flyers. McDonagh and Filppula would both be ready to return to the lineup following the homestand. Ottawa would get back into the win column with a top notch performance by sophomore Anthony Cirelli who notched a hat trick to lead the team to a 4-2 win. Next were Lucy's Devils in town. Despite all their efforts on offence, Ottawa was unable to solve Ben Bishop as Ottawa suffered its second regulation loss of the season falling 2-0 to New Jersey but more importantly, losing blueliner Justin Schultz to a broken finger suffered in the final frame. Ottawa was testing its depth very early in the season with two dmen and a forward out short term.

Derrick Pouliot was the first called up from Belleville to replace McDonagh following the Oilers game. Filppula's status was unknown following the game but eventually Alex Nylander was called up and made his professional debut. Caleb Jones has also played a handful of games taking Schultz's spot in the lineup. 

Ottawa would then have their first tilt against their division rival Toronto Maple Leafs. The CTC was yet again packed on this evening as extra time would be needed to settle this one. With the game tied at 1-1 after a pair of goals in the second, Tristan Jarry was eager to collect his first win of the season. Especially against the hated Leafs. Alas, this would never happen. I did say the wheels fell off earlier. Artturi Lehkonen buried a shot past Jarry to pick up the extra point for the Leafs. Meanwhile, after the game, HC Bednar would also announce that Trevor van Riemsdyk, off to a torrential start, who left in the middle period would be out for a "couple of weeks" with what we are speculating is a knee injury. GM Watters would be quick to get on the phone with his Belleville affiliate and call up Christian Wolanin to fill the void on the blue line.

The Los Angeles Kings were next to visit the Senators. The Kings were having some early success and the Sens found themselves with four regulars out of the lineup after only 8 games. John Tavares must have had a heck of a pregame speech because the boys came out flying with a pair of goals with the man advantage to come away with a 4-3 regulation win. Tavares finall scored his first goal as a Senator and it seemed to lift the team to another level as the Kings were unable to keep up with the high flying home team. Next up were the Flyers to wrap up the five-game homestand. The Sens didn't seem to lose a step from the previous game and apparently Tavares likes the Sens home goal horn because he put up a pair of beauties in this one. Chris Kreider and Tavares each had a four point night to lead the Sens 5-1 over the notoriously difficult Flyers. 

Following the game, the team was rejoined by Ryan McDonagh and Val Filppula at the team charter as they made their way to New Jersey for their next game. 

Through ten games, the team is 5-2-3 and ranks in the lower half of the league with both their powerplay and penalty kill. Their current saving grace has been solid goaltending, which many pundits had as the Sens weakness going into the season. The team will have to work on their special teams if they want to make the playoffs for the first time in three seasons.