The Ottawa Senators entered tonight's game against the Vegas Golden Knights riding a three-game losing streak for the first time this season. Tonight was the second game of a four-game home stand for the Senators.
The Senators entered tonight hoping to erase the memory of their awful third period collapse on Oct. 25 in their first meeting against the Golden Knights. In the second and final meeting this season, it was another frustrating game for the Senators.
The Golden Knights swept the two-game season series and defeated the Senators 3-2 at Canadian Tire Centre to drop the Senators to 8-10-1. The losing streak for the Senators is now at four in a row.
Confidence could be dropping with the Senators' losing streak hitting a season high of four games and with dropping both games in the start of their four-game home stand.
2. Ullmark was better against a top offense
In the Senators' last game against the Edmonton Oilers on Tuesday night, Linus Ullmark allowed in five goals for the fourth time in 10 starts, and for the second consecutive start. Ullmark's performance on Tuesday drew deeper concern about the start of his Senators tenure.
Vegas entered the game with eight players with 10 points or more, with Jack Eichel entering the game with 28 points. Vegas' offense will always offer as a tough challenge for any goaltender, but Ullmark was better and the Senators needed it.
Ullmark finished the game making 29 saves in the loss, but Ullmark was sharp for a majority of the game. Ullmark was able to keep the Senators in the game throughout the entire game with big saves against Vegas' offense. The Senators could've easily faced a bigger deficit if Ullmark didn't stand tall tonight.
Out of all the games the Senators lost with Ullmark starting in net, this was the best performance he's delivered in a loss. Even with the loss, a game with strong saves against a high powered offense could be a sign that bigger things are to come for Ullmark.
1. Offense got going late
When the Senators closed out October scoring 25 goals in their final five games of the month, it appeared that bigger things were to come in November. However, the last three games have seen a brutal stretch for the Senators offense.
After scoring 10 goals combined in three games against the Boston Bruins, Toronto Maple Leafs and Philadelphia Flyers, the Senators have now scored four goals over the past three games.
In the second period, the Senators had a stretch of over 11 minutes without recording a shot on goal. When Ottawa trailed 2-0 heading into the second intermission, hope on the offense appeared to be gone, but Adam Gaudette scored a powerplay goal to make the deficit 2-1. Gaudette's goal was his third of the season against Vegas.
After Vegas re-gained a two-goal lead just two minutes after Gaudette's goal, Drake Batherson scored with 7:22 remaining in the third period to make it a one-goal game again, but the Senators couldn't solve Ilya Samsonov for the remainder of the game. The Senators had a great chance to tie the game with a powerplay chance with 6:39 remaining in the third period, but couldn't score. Sixteen of Samsonov's 38 saves came in the third period.
The Senators will continue their four-game home stand on Saturday night when they host the Vancouver Canucks at 7 p.m. ET. The Canucks are cold with losing three of their last four games, but the Canucks swept the season series 2-0-0 against the Senators last season and outscored the Senators 11-5.