Senators Win Over the Coyotes Is A Costly One

The Ottawa Senators won on home ice for the third straight time to open the season, thrashing the Arizona Coyotes 6-2.

However, the victory came at a price. Centre Josh Norris dropped to the ice while taking a faceoff to the left goalie Anton Forsberg. While there was no contact on the play, Norris left the ice, obviously frustrated – tossing a stick down the Senators’ hallway with his right arm.

The 23-year-old sustained a right shoulder injury in January which caused him to miss 15 games. The concern this time is for Norris’ left shoulder, the same shoulder that required season-ending surgery in 2019 when he was attending the University of Michigan.

Sportsnet insider Elliotte Freidman tweeted late Saturday, the Senators were waiting for the swelling to go down prior to determining the length of time Norris may miss or to what extent his left shoulder is injured.

There was a lot of good in the game Saturday afternoon, deserving recognition.

Brady Tkachuk notched two goals including the game-winner, giving him 200 points in his NHL career. Tkachuk is the second player in the 2018 Draft class to reach the 200-point plateau. Carolina Hurricanes forward Andrei Svechnikov is the other (217).

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Tkachuk is only six goals shy of 100 in his young career.

Drake Batherson registered a pair of assists, his seventh and eighth points in the club’s five games to date, tied with Tkachuk.

Norris got off the schneid, netting the first of the campaign – redirecting Jake Sanderson‘s point shot.

Speaking of Sanderson, fresh off 15 stitches to his upper lip after being hit into the boards Thursday, the rookie posted his first multi-point game, adding two assists.

Sanderson who wants to contribute any way he can is doing just that, “I’m doing my best to help the guys score, but at the end of the day, whether it’s getting points or defending hard, my game is kind of a tribute to both of those things. One night it may getting points, the other night it might be blocking shots. Whatever it is, I’m here for it.”

Shane Pinto who’s quickly becoming a fan favourite, stretched his goal streak to four games. In addition, Pinto registered his first NHL assist.

Pinto’s linemate, left wing Tyler Motte swatted home a loose puck with one hand on his stick in the third period. Motte also had a multi-point evening, giving him a surprising five points in five games.

Mark Kastelic scored his second goal of the season, equalling his mark set in 16 games last season. Kastelic also dropped the gloves with Coyotes Liam O’Brien – something his dad, Ed was extremely proficient in. Mark’s dad picked up 719 penalty minutes in only 220 games played in Washington and Hartford from 1985-92.

Like Pinto, Alex DeBrincat extended his point streak to four games (one goal, four assists).

It wasn’t a busy game for Anton Forsberg, the Senators netminder stopped 20 shots, but made the saves in the period when the game was still close. His stop on Coyotes rookie Dylan Guenther in all alone turned the tide as the team scored seconds later.

Thomas Chabot had his best game, firing five shots on goal, tying Batheron for the game. Chabot was also a plus-three.

With all the good, there was some bad. The Coyotes were able to hang around despite being outplayed for the majority of the game. Clayton Keller‘s goal off Senators d-man Travis Hamonic‘s skate made it 3-2 before the Senators ran away with it in the third period.

Head coach D.J. Smith thought his time played a little sloppy at times, but with the team firing 18 goals in three games all at home, the club knows when they have to tighten it up.

“I thought we played pretty sloppy in the second period. The first period, I think we came out and had some jam.  We took some bad penalties. We just got out of rhythm on the four-on-four. We turned some pucks over. We didn’t do what we had been doing. And in saying that, credit to leadership for whatever they said between the second and third period. They corrected that, and they came out and forechecked.” said Smith postgame.

The Senators seek to extend their win streak to four Monday when they host the Dallas Stars.

Expect Derick Brassard to suit up in place of Norris for this one. How the lines will appear is too early to tell, as they have a day off Sunday. Brassard can slip into Norris’ spot between DeBrincat and Claude Giroux or Pinto can be elevated as does line up on the power play