As Senators’ off-ice woes cool, play on ice hits crisis levels

OTTAWA — As we pull away from the searing off-ice stories, is it too early to declare an on-ice crisis for the Ottawa Senators?

The Senators woke up Thursday morning to find themselves in last place in the Atlantic Division, then went out and did little about it — falling 3-2 in a flat, disjointed effort against the road Kings from Los Angeles, who upped their record to 5-0-0 away from home.  

Want excuses? The Sens have plenty. From missing three starting defencemen beforehand to losing two forwards, Ridly Greig and Mark Kastelic, to first-period injuries. 

That doesn’t explain what 16,216 fans witnessed, a listless game with few bright spots. Once again, the crowd was just as eerily flat as the team, and the phone lines on the local sports radio station were burning post-game. 

What a week it has been around here. 

The scandal-riddled Senators are still recovering from a 41-game suspension handed last Thursday to RFA Shane Pinto for gambling violations, and this week the loss of a first-round draft pick blamed on a trading faux pas by general manager Pierre Dorion, who was relieved of his duties on Wednesday. 

Head coach D.J. Smith tried to rationalize that these swirling stories should not deter his group from what they are paid to do: Win hockey games occasionally. 

“The distractions have nothing to do with the players,” Smith said. “No excuses.”

Sounds good. In theory. 

In the same game in which Smith was saluted on the scoreboard for coaching NHL game No. 300, mild chants of “Fire D.J.” could be heard in the upper sections of the Canadian Tire Centre as the game played out. 

The Sens have dropped four of their last five games, three of them on home ice. 

Remember, this was going to be the year the Senators wouldn’t fall out of the race in October and November. This schedule, so cushy at the start, with seven of their first 10 games on home ice, would allow the Sens early breathing room. 

A 4-5 record and 3-3 on home ice isn’t getting it done, and instead dredge up “Here we go again” thoughts from Senators fans who have seen this movie repeatedly over the past several years. 

On Wednesday, players had held a team meeting to talk about getting their act together on the ice, in the wake of the off-ice chaos. 

“The focus has to go all-in on hockey right now,” said Senators captain Brady Tkachuk before the Kings game. 

All-in looked more like tuned out when the Kings danced around the Senators zone with impunity. Wearing silver chrome helmets that may have blinded their opponents with their glare in the arena lights, the Kings played the kind of disciplined, organized hockey to which the Sens aspire. They looked like silver whirling dervishes. 

After running up a 3-0 lead, the Kings gave up a power-play goal in the dying seconds of the second period, then saw things get interesting when Anze Kopitar got cut with a puck, wandering off the ice for help as the Sens fired home a goal on a tip by Josh Norris to close within one. 

Fans were heartily booing a lifeless Ottawa power play and likely would have booed the team off the ice at the second intermission had Dominik Kubalik’s shot not found a home at 19:39 of the period. 

Don’t be fooled by the final score. 

If it weren’t for the Kings missing several open nets (especially you, Adrian Kempe) and the fine goaltending of Ottawa’s Joonas Korpisalo, this game could have gotten out of hand. 

Yes, with the score 1-0 for L.A., Drake Batherson missed an open net himself when Vladislav Gavrikov got a stick in the way, but later Batherson turned the puck over at the Kings blueline, leading to a Carl Grundstrom goal off a 3-on-2 rush. The Sens couldn’t recover from that. 

In the Kings net, Cam Talbot became the latest in a long string of ex-Senators goaltenders to return a conquering hero, stopping 24 of 26 shots. Korpisalo faced 38 and has been bombarded with 119 shots in his past three outings. He is going to get worn out or hurt if this keeps up. 

As always when things go bad, injuries tend to pile up. 

With defencemen Thomas Chabot, Artem Zub and Erik Brannstrom out with injuries, Jakob Chychrun played 29:39 versus L.A. and Jake Sanderson ate 26:27. Even Travis Hamonic, who should be a third-pairing guy, played 18:08 and was hobbled by a shot off his foot. 

Third-line centre Greig played just three shifts before leaving with a lower-body injury, as his leg buckled underneath him. And fourth-line right winger Kastelic was injured on his fourth shift of the game, falling awkwardly into the boards without being touched. Kastelic could not put much weight on his leg as he left the ice. 

Smith said afterward that both players will miss multiple games. 

Defensive callups Bernard-Docker, Tyler Kleven and Nikolas Matinpalo were game, but a little overmatched at times. Also, unlucky. In trying to clear a puck from the crease on a penalty kill, Kleven accidentally whacked the puck into his own net for L.A.’s first goal. 

“Structure protects the individual. If we just do what we do, we’re going to limit their chances and then we’ve got to be opportunistic,” Smith said. 

“There’s spurts of our game where we play the way we want to play. We want to play fast, we want to skate. Give them credit, they slowed us down in the neutral zone on a 1-3-1.”

Why can’t the Senators be more consistent in their play?

“I’m sure every coach in the history of coaching and all the players are looking for that full-60 game,” Hamonic said, smiling. “But I think for us, when we’re playing our best, we’re playing quick, we’re playing decisive, our reads are quick and it’s allowing our linemates or D partners to make the second read as a group. 

“We know that we’re skilled, we know we can score, we know we can defend. I guess you’re looking to do it for the entire 60 minutes.”

A full 30 or 40 minutes would be a start. 

Saturday’s game against division rival Tampa Bay now looms large. 

The Senators' young players, from captain Tkachuk to top-line centre Tim Stutzle look extremely frustrated and will have to find peace in their games. The Sens beat the Lightning 5-2 at the CTC on Oct. 15.

After Saturday, the Sens have three games left, two at home, before leaving for two games in Sweden in mid-November. There is time to make up ground, but time and storylines are spinning at the moment. 

After Dorion was let go, interim GM and team president Steve Staios met with the players and the coaches, expressing his belief in them. 

All fine and good, but watching new team owner Michael Andlauer agonize over every shift as he watched Thursday’s game alongside Staios and assistant general manager Ryan Bowness, you wonder how patient Andlauer will be. 

He has already relieved a GM of his duties and will not likely stand by to watch this season get away from the Senators over another poor start. 

That ominous month of November is upon us, and the spell it has cast in the past has to be broken.