2 quick takeaways from Senators' awful third period collapse against Golden Knights
The Ottawa Senators went from one tough environment in Salt Lake City to another tough environment in Sin City as they met the Vegas Golden Knights.
Heading into Vegas, the Senators had lost their past five games against the Golden Knights in Vegas, but the Senators headed into the game with momentum after their 4-0 shutout win against the Utah Hockey Club on Tuesday night. Unfortunately, the Senators had a horrific collapsed in the final minutes of the game.
The Golden Knights defeated the Senators 6-4 at T-Mobile Arena to drop the Senators to 4-3-0 on the season, and ended the Senators' two-game winning streak.
What once looked like a promising game to start, would turn into a back-and-forth game. Then in the third period, it got ugly in just a blink of an eye.
2. Offense stayed hot, but didn't score when needed
Over the past two games, the Senators' offense recorded nine goals. Tonight in Vegas, the offense showed out again, but didn't come through when needed.
The Senators exploded for three goals in the first period. The Senators have scored six first period goals over the past two games. Adaum Gaudette, Claude Giroux and Drake Batherson scored the three goals in the first period. Cole Reinhardt also recorded his first NHL point on Gaudette's goal in the first period. Defenseman Jacob Bernard-Docker also recorded his first point of the season.
Gaudette recorded another goal in the second period. Gaudette scored his first NHL goal since Feb. 13, 2022, and his first two-goal game since Nov. 27, 2019.
It's a two-goal game for Adam Gaudette! ✌️
— NHL (@NHL) October 25, 2024
The @Senators are back on top! pic.twitter.com/bAmZhk4zmd
Pressure was on Golden Knights goaltender Adin Hill all game. Through 40 minutes, the Senators recorded 28 shots on goal, but Hill turned it around in the third period and stopped all 11 Senators shots on goal to improve the Golden Knights to 5-3-1. Brady Tkachuk had his six-game point streak snapped in the loss as well.
1. Defense and goaltending were simply not there
Prior to the game, the Senators announced Linus Ullmark would get the start in goal after missing the past four games with a strain injury. Excitement was back with Ullmark in net, but the defense and Ullmark struggled deeply.
All signs were pointing in the right direction when the Senators got out to a 2-0 lead just 12:15 into the game. Then in a 21-second span, the Golden Knights tied the game at two with 2:16 remaining in the first period. Drake Batherson did score before the first period ended to give the Senators a 3-2 lead.
In the second period, each team scored once and the scene was set for Ullmark to stand tall with the defense in the third period to close out a tough road win. It all went ugly in awful ashion.
With 5:05 remaining in regulation, Nick Cousins was called for an interference penalty. With 3:11 remaining, Tomas Hertl tied the game on the powerplay at four. Just one minute later, Keegan Kolesar gave the Golden Knights a 5-4 lead, and Ivan Barbashev scored his second goal of the game on an empty-net to ice the game.
The @GoldenKnights get their first lead of the game with 2:11 to go in the third! 😳 pic.twitter.com/YEZivLWVye
— NHL (@NHL) October 26, 2024
In a 1:25 span, the Senators allowed three goals to lose the game. For a third period collapse, it's a real brutal one. Ullmark finished by allowing five goals on 27 shots on goal. Not a good first game back after dealing with a injury.
Jake Sanderson had his worst game of the season with being pointless and having a -4 rating. Travis Hamonic also recorded a -3 rating. Seven other Senators finished with a negative rating.
The Senators will close out their three-game West Coast road trip against the Colorado Avalanche on Sunday night in Denver at Ball Arena. Puck drop for the game is scheduled for 9 p.m. ET. The Senators have lost seven of their last eight games against the Senators, and the Avalanche are hot with winning four consecutive games after starting the season 0-4-0.