3 takeaways from Senators' first loss of 2024-25 season against Canadiens
The Ottawa Senators were looking build off their 3-1 opening night win from Thursday night as they traveled to Quebec to take on the Montreal Canadiens in their first road game of the 2024-25 season. The Senators were looking to carry momentum over into a new season as they defeated the Canadiens in all three meetings last season, but the game didn't go as planned.
The Canadiens defeated the Senators 4-1 at Bell Centre. With the loss, the Senators fell to 1-1-0 on the season, and the Canadiens improved to 2-1-0.
As disappointing as Sens fans are that the team lost to the Canadiens on the road, it's important for the fans to not overreact as it was the second game of the season.
The Senators didn't do much right in the game, and tonight's loss is a game that Senators need to flush immediately to get back on track.
3. Road struggles are hitting the Senators again
One area the Senators desperately need to improve on this season is being able to win games on the road. The Senators struggled with a 16-23-2 road record last season.
Having to play an arch rival in the first road game of a new season offered a good challenge to win in a tough environment for the Senators. A good amount of Senator fans made the trip to Montreal to show their support on the road, but the Senators struggled dealing with the Canadiens on their home ice.
With the Senators trailing early 2-0 in the game, they found themselves in a hole they couldn't get out of.
The Canadiens scored two goals in the third period, and Cole Caufield scored two goals for the Canadiens. The Senators also struggled by going 0-for-5 on the powerplay.
With a brutal road loss like tonight, the Senators need to forget about it quickly. The Senators' next road trip will be tough with a three-game West Coast road trip against the Utah Hockey Club, Vegas Golden Knights and Colorado Avalanche.
2. Linus Ullmark gets outperformed and the offensive cast doesn't produce
Canadiens goaltender Sam Montembeault was phenomenal for the Canadiens in their season opening win on Wednesday night by posting a 48-save shutout against the high powered Toronto Maple Leafs offense. The Senators had a great opportunity to end Montembeault being hot in between the pipes, but couldn't prevail.
Montembeault recorded 24 saves to earn the win and outperformed Linus Ullmark who allowed four goals on 26 shots on goal by the Canadiens. The Senators were hopeful that Ullmark would continue his dominance after making 30 saves in the season opener against the Florida Panthers on Thursday night, but Ullmark allowed two goals in the first period and third period.
The Senators got off to a rough start trailing 2-0 after the first period. In the first period, the Senators were only able to record four shots on goal against Montembeault. Tim Stutzle scored the only Senators goal, but it came to in the third period cut the Senators' deficit to 3-1. Stutzle's goal was too little too late for the Senators.
The Senators need the rest of their supporting cast to produce offense, but were unable to get it tonight. Both Claude Giroux and Josh Norris recorded no shots on goal. Brady Tkachuk, Drake Batherson and David Perron each recorded only one shot. Two games into the season, Stutzle has been producing the most offense for the Senators, but the Senators need to get more from other players.
1. One defense pair might not last long
The Senators' defense wasn't great against the Canadiens, especially in the third period when the Canadiens recorded 15 shots on goal. Having to play defense for majority of the third period doesn't give any team much of a chance to win.
Nic Jensen and Thomas Chabot each had a -2 rating, but one defense pair is becoming a huge concern for the Senators. That is the defense pair of Travis Hamonic and Tyler Kleven.
On the first goal the Senators allowed which cam on a powerplay, Hamonic and Kleven left Emil Heineman all alone in front of the net to put the Canadiens on the board first.
LE TOUT 1ER BUT D'HEINEMAN
— Canadiens Montréal (@CanadiensMTL) October 12, 2024
HEINEMAN'S FIRST NHL GOAL#GoHabsGo pic.twitter.com/SkG9flSIC1
Early in the second period, Hamonic had the puck in the Ottawa end and lost his balanced and turned over the puck. Luckily the Canadiens didn't score off the turnover, but Hamonic gave the Canadiens a golden opportunity to score.
Head coach Travis Green couldn't trust Hamonic and Kleven and limited their ice time. Hamonic played just over 12 minutes and Kleven played under 11 minutes. If one defense pair is going to get broken up, the pair of Hamonic and Kleven might be the option for Green.
The Senators will return home to Canadian Tire Centre for the next three games. The first of three home games is on Monday afternoon against the Los Angeles Kings with puck drop scheduled for 1 p.m. ET. The Kings are coming off of a 2-1 overtime loss today against the Boston Bruins, and are 1-0-1 on the season. The Kings won both games against the Senators last season.