4 takeaways from the Senators 7-2 loss to the Blues

The Ottawa Senators were handed their first thrashing of the season last night against the St. Louis Blues. It wasn’t a good showing for many players, other than perhaps Tim Stützle. Here are some takeaways from the Senators’ 7-2 loss to the Blues.

The Senators’ schedule is doing them no favours

The Senators entered Tuesday’s game on their second back-to-back of the season, yet Ottawa had to wait five days to play its first game while some teams were already playing their second or third. Then, last night was the NHL’s Frozen Frenzy, when every team in the league had to play, and frankly, that made little sense. After last night’s game, the Senators had played seven games in 11 days. Objectively speaking, that makes no sense whatsoever considering the initial wait. Of course, their two losses this season have come in games played on the second night of a back-to-back.

Sam Ersson has another tough game

It’s hard to pin last night’s loss solely on Ersson; he even started the game looking very solid. However, when you allow seven goals in one game and five in another, you are going to be criticized regardless of whether you’re at fault. The team in front of him played pretty poorly, as it was very clear that they had played the night before, but Ersson’s game slipped away after the fourth goal. He was positioned in the RVH, with one knee down against the post to seal it, when a shot went through him. It seemed to be a microcosm of last night’s game. His leash with fans was short to begin with, and now it won’t be very long at all.

Three rookies on defence is not a good thing

The Senators had to deploy three rookies on defence last night because of the injury to Matinpalo: Carter Yakemchuk, Hoyt Stanley, and Jorian Donovan. In games like this, having Stanley play 11:50 and Donovan play 9:14 is simply not a recipe for success. Unfortunately, when they were on the ice, it was rough. Yakemchuk, on the other hand, was on the ice for five goals against. The Senators desperately need help on the back end, and the returns of Artem Zub and Jake Sanderson can’t happen soon enough. They’ve already faced too many injuries and need some reinforcements.

Despite the results, the team needs to be better

Ottawa’s scorching 5-1 start was the talk of the league, and fans loved it, but it’s hard not to see the cracks in the team’s play. The Senators look to be treading water while missing key contributors such as Sanderson, Zub, and William Eklund. The offence lacks punch throughout its lineup, with Eklund out and either Stützle or Dylan Cozens now having to play without Drake Batherson. Andre Burakovsky’s early returns haven’t been very good, and he becomes invisible for much of the game. Given Stephen Halliday’s play, he deserves a longer look in the top six. Playing with Stützle would be a good opportunity for him. If general manager Steve Staios has the chance, bringing in an impact forward would be extremely helpful.

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