3 takeaways from the Senators loss to the Red Wings

The Ottawa Senators were hoping to start the season 3-0 but ultimately fell 5-3 to the Detroit Red Wings on Tuesday evening. It was a tough game overall for the Senators, as they were playing the second half of a back-to-back after beating the Boston Bruins the night before. Here are some of the major takeaways from the game.

Will it always be an adventure with Samuel Ersson?

Samuel Ersson is starting fresh with the Senators after four seasons with the Philadelphia Flyers and is hoping this clean slate will help him rejuvenate his career. So far, though, he hasn’t inspired a ton of confidence. He came into Monday night’s game for Linus Ullmark and had an egregious giveaway that led to the Bruins breaking the shutout. On the first goal of the game for the Red Wings last night, a bouncing puck was sent in on Ersson, and he kicked it directly into a dangerous area. Ersson saved the rebound, but it sat behind him as he and his defenceman weren’t able to wrangle the puck. It was then passed into the slot and easily tapped in.

Later, he made a routine save to the chest that ended up dribbling out behind him, with Cozens coming to the rescue. It would be egregious to put the loss solely on Ersson despite his struggles last night. He came up big when the Senators needed him, but the team in front of him played quite badly. Let’s hope Ersson is able to improve his rebound control and reduce the stress when the puck is shot at him.

The team didn’t show up

There’s no other way to sugarcoat it: the team was not good last night, and it cost them. The first period started hot, with Tim Stützle continuing his torrid start by sniping a shot over John Gibson on a two-on-one, but after that, you could tell the Senators had played the night before. The team surrendered two goals in the first frame, looking slow, disjointed, and messy defensively. Playing the night before will get you a pass for a poor start, but by the second period, you’re expected to pick it up as a team, and they didn’t do that.

The deficit grew to 4-1 after Thomas Chabot and Jordan Spence let Justin Faulk skate right through them. Luckily, the Sens were able to get two back, with William Eklund notably getting his first point on the second goal and scoring his first on the third. The Senators ultimately fell 5-3, but the damage was already done by the end of the first period. The Senators played three games in four days, which doesn’t make a ton of sense when they had gone five days without playing a game.

William Eklund scores his first

One of the bright spots from last night was William Eklund’s two-point effort, with the Swedish winger scoring his first as a Senator. Eklund has been noticeable in his first three games, and now that he’s gotten past the pressure of recording his first point and goal, expect to see him on the scoresheet a lot more often as the season goes on.

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