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Defensive Issues Plague Senators in Loss to New York
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- Defensive Issues Plague Senators in Loss to New York
Marc DesRosiers-Imagn Images
Here are a few things that usually happen in hockey. When you score first, you usually win. When you are leading going into the third period, you usually win. When you score four goals, you usually win. The Senators did all three of those things today. They were also up 2-0, 3-2, and 4-3 at different points in today's game, but somehow found themselves on the wrong end of a 5-4 loss today at the hands of the New York Islanders . They couldn't even earn an overtime point, with Anders Lee scoring the game winner with just over a minute left to play. Let's dive into the details.
READ MORE: 10 Stats That Show Why the Senators Will Make the Playoffs
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Horrific Defensive Play
The biggest question the Senators faced heading into today's game was their penalty kill. They were at a woeful 55% success rate before today's game. Against the Islanders, they managed to kill off all three of their penalties. Problem solved, right? Not so fast. Now, it's clear that the Senators have an overall team defense issue. They gave up five goals today, including the game winner on a terrible defensive effort by Jordan Spence . It's not just Spence, though. The Senators are playing with such little urgency in their own zone. They lack in communication, effort level, positioning, the list goes on. They have now given up 30 goals in six games. Travis Green, whose approach to coaching is effort and attention to details, should be incensed.
Shaky Goaltending
One easy cure for shaky defensive play is strong goaltending. The Senators obviously don't have that going for them right now. Sure, Ullmark made some great saves today. He also gave up five goals on just 23 shots for a .783 SV%. That's his third game with a SV% of .840 or worse. In Merilainen's only game, he gave up seven goals on 26 shots. It's not just the amount of goals, but the timing as well. Take the game winner today. Yes, Spence needs to be better there, but that would've been a great time for Ullmark to bail his team out.
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Additional Notes
On the bright side, the Senators have scored plenty of goals this season. Shane Pinto is a man possessed right now. Have I mentioned that he's in need of a contract extension ? Pinto scored his league leading seventh goal of the season. He did have a chance to put the Sens up two goals on a penalty shot in the third period, but couldn't capitalize. As much as that may have seemed like a chance to put the game away, with the way the Senators have defended this season, I wouldn't be so sure. One more bright note- Tim Stutzle had his best game of the season. He scored a goal, and assisted on Cozens' goal, which started with a great takeaway by Stutzle in the neutral zone.
As frustrating as this 2-4 start has been for the Senators, this is nothing new. They've struggled with the start of their season in each of the last several years. That includes last season, where they started 10-12-2 before figuring things out in December. Let's hope we don't have to wait as long this year.
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