Senators Hoping Practice Makes Perfect

After stunning the Toronto Maple Leafs in their opening game, the Ottawa Senators are winless in five. During the swoon, the Senators held two third period leads versus the Winnipeg Jets; gave up a tying goal with just over a minute remaining, prior to succumbing in overtime in one. While Derek Stepan’s delay of game penalty led to a go-ahead power play goal in another.

Monday’s contest in Vancouver turned into a series of miscues that ended up behind Matt Murray, on route to a 7-1 thrashing courtesy of the Canucks. A soft rebound off the netminder, Thomas Chabot mishandling the puck, Christian Wolanin failure to corral the puck at the opposing blue line, then getting caught flat-footed. Tim Stützle getting his pocket picked by Brandon Sutter on his hat trick goal. All mistakes that led directly to goals.

No one said this season was going to be a cakewalk, especially playing against all Canadian teams. However, the team needs to mitigate what they can control.

“I didn’t hate the game last night in all parts either. The chances were fairly even, but it was just when we made mistakes, they ended up in the net.,” said Senators’ head coach D.J. Smith during a Monday early evening Zoom call.

“We have to work evenly or outwork the other team every night. It’s fair to say in 71 games last season, I felt twice we got outworked. I felt twice in six games, one was even and one we got outworked. For me, it’s not acceptable. We have a lot of new pieces here. We have to find a lineup that’s comfortable, that’s going to work every night. Guys that work the hardest get to play. And that’s to me, how you develop young players. Give them the opportunity, and as long as they’re working, live with their mistakes. They’re going to make mistakes along the way that are going to cost us goals, cost us games, but it’s going to make us a better team in the long run.”

With few choices, carrying a full 23-man roster complement and six-man taxi squad – unless a player is put on waivers or injured, movement between the taxi squad and main roster remains limited.

Smith will sub in all three scratches from the previous game when his team meets the Canucks in the second of a three-game set Wednesday.

Forwards Artem Anisimov, Alex Galchenyuk, defenseman Josh Brown will sit. Forwards Cedric Paquette who missed Monday’s game due to injury, Colin White and d-man Braydon Coburn all draw in.

A lefty, Coburn will line up on the right side of Wolanin. The 35-year old played his past few seasons on the left with the Tampa Bay Lightning. However, he partnered with Kimmo Timonen on and off for seven years, skating on the Finn’s right.

It’s been a disappointing start to the campaign for White. Both Smith and Senators General Manager Pierre Dorion were commenting on how hard the Boston native worked during the off-season. But one reason or another White hasn’t been able to find his game, and has only dressed for two of six to date.

“I I think he’s come in and been put in some tough spots. I think he’s playing with {Evgenni) Dadonov and (Nick) Paul to give him a legitimate opportunity to give him some confidence and get running, and see if he can get going here,” explained Smith. “I think he started really well. Then I think some of the older guys up the middle may have outplayed him a bit through the scrimmages. He wasn’t bad by any means in the games. It was that those guys weren’t bad enough to come out. He can give us some speed, make plays, and have a chance to play with guys that can make plays with him. And some of it too was putting in him in a spot to succeed, and part of that is playing with Nick Paul and Dadonov.”

“I’m going to put it on me. Some of the mistakes we’ve made, we hung him out. To be fair, that he would want to play better, for sure. In saying that, he’s one of those guys that are streaky as well. If he gets going, he can win you hockey games. He’s probably putting too much pressure on himself, just like a lot of guys are. We’re in a really tough division this year, in the Canadian Division.  All these teams were in the playoffs last year and we’re putting a lot of pressure on ourselves. What we have to do is just do our job and worry about the next game. Don’t put so much pressure on yourself and have a little bit more fun. And when you have a little but more fun sometimes good things happen.”

Acquired from the Penguins at the Draft, Murray was brought in to add stability in net. Signed to a four-year deal, the goalie certainly hasn’t found his groove. The 26-year old allowed seven goals on only 35 shots Monday and is currently listed as the league’s 47th-ranked goalie, possessing a gaudy 4.47 goals against average and .862 save percentage.

While Murray admitted he’s still in adjustment mode, he does see the light at the end of the tunnel.

“It’s definitely been an adjustment for sure. It’s difficult to switch teams. We play a bit of a different system than where I played in the past – and that’s an adjustment. There have been a lot of changes, obviously, for me personally, I’m kind of new to the team. it’s definitely a lot of adjusting. That’s going to come with time. As a team, there’s a lot of new guys in here, myself included,” added Murray.

“Hockey is a game of mistakes. It’s going to happen out there. Nobody’s perfect right now, myself included. I think the whole team is putting too much pressure on themselves. I think we can just let go and just play and have fun, things will start going our way. It’s just about sticking together, staying positive no matter what the circumstance. And that’s what we’re going to do. I loved our practice today. Our best guys led the way in terms of our mindset and our attitudes today. We had a ton of fun. That’s the first step. We have to keep moving forward.”

Nick Paul, arguably the Senators’ most consistent forward to date with two goals, two assists in their six games, with a plus-four rating, concurs with Murray.

Paul told fullpresshockey.com, “We’ve got to come together as a team. We’ve got to play for each other. We have to play a full 60 minutes. Just getting out there and washing last night, and getting back to what we were doing in the first periods against Winnipeg – how we were cycling. We were having fun. We were up on the bench, cheering for people. We want to get rid of that negative attitude. Last night (Monday), obviously, losing a game like that isn’t fun. Just put it behind us and lift each other up, and get better in time.”