After suffering defeat in their first game of the season in Carolina, the Ottawa Senators bounced back by winning their two weekend duels against teams from the Eastern Conference and their captain Brady Tkachuk gave the tone.
The American has scored a double in each of the last two games: he added an assist in the 5-2 victory against the Tampa Bay Lightning on Sunday, after helping his team defeat the Philadelphia Flyers by an identical brand the day before.
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These two victories in as many nights are steps in the right direction for the Ontario team. According to head coach DJ Smith, the team has learned a lot over the past few seasons.
“We have lost a lot in the past. Our players know how difficult it is to beat the good players in the league,” he declared, as reported by the daily “Ottawa Sun”.
Ottawa last made the playoffs during the 2016-2017 season. No players from the current roster were with the Senators when they lost in seven games in the Eastern final to the Pittsburgh Penguins.
“We remember this feeling [de perdre]“, added Tkachuk about the many unsuccessful years with the “Sens”.
Solid at the back
In addition to Tkachuk, other players had their say in these successes. The Senators limited the number of shots on net, receiving 21 shots against the Flyers and 24 against the Lightning. The Hurricanes, for their part, fired 42 shots towards the cage defended by Joonas Korpisalo on Wednesday.
“We did a really good job in front of our net to help our goalies,” Smith said. We still want to work on it, but I found that we worked very hard.”
Thanks to the efficient work of the group, Anton Forsberg and Korpisalo each played a match this weekend, each signing their first victory this season.
“There were some years when opposing teams consistently managed to shoot 40 or more times on our net,” Tkachuk recalled. It has always been our goal to limit the scoring chances we receive and I believe we are getting better. “We have the puck more often, which helps us spend less time in our zone.”
For their next duel, the Senators will host the Washington Capitals on Wednesday evening.