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Ottawa Senators were looking for answers Sunday, not excuses.
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The Senators returned to work at the Canadian Tire Center after a frustrating 6-0 loss to archrival Toronto Maple Leafs on Saturday in the Battle of Ontario and the club was trying not to lean on the second COVID-19 bout. the room as a theme.
The club has six players officially in protocol with two more about to be added, but they spent Sunday trying to get their game back to the level it was before the schedule was halted for two weeks and six consecutive games were postponed.
“We hadn’t played a game in a while and it still wasn’t enough, especially down the stretch,” said the veteran winger. Connor brown . “As we left (Matt Murray) out to dry. We had a good day of work in practice (Sunday) and we have to stand up.
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“We started playing good hockey in December, we had a good feeling in the room and we can’t let that put us off. We just have to find that feeling. “
The senators were outscored 40-23 by the Leafs. Ottawa gave up two personnel foul goals in a 27-second span in the first and allowed the Leafs to score three in the third when the game was out of reach.
“You try to stay balanced and control your emotions, but at the same time, you can only resist up to a point,” said the winger. Austin watson saying. “Most of the frustration comes from when you know you have something better, when you know what your team is about and you are not doing it.
“That can be frustrating, but sometimes you have to turn the page and get back to work. It’s difficult because sometimes you just want to throw the tape and say, ‘Let’s move on’, but as a group that is learning to win, to mature and improve, you can’t just throw them away.
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“You have to take it, look at it, and be really honest about it. No matter who was out, that there were no fans, no matter what it is, we’ve been taking one day at a time here for the last two seasons and there’s no excuse to stay like that. “
Trainer Dj smith felt the Senators looked like the team that lost a 4-0 decision to the Calgary Flames on Nov. 14 before being shut down for 10 days by COVID-19.
“I thought this could happen this morning,” Smith said when asked about the absence of the best defender. Thomas chabot , center Chris Tierney and assistant coach Bob jones from the skate. “That game (on Saturday) reminded me of that Calgary game where we lacked energy and our minds weren’t there.
“We just weren’t smart, and that’s not an excuse, it’s unfortunate more guys are dropping.”
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JOSH IN SPARE
With Chabot headed for protocol, the club added defense of Belleville Max guenette to his taxi squad on Sunday. I was on the ice to skate, but with Dillon Heatherington disappeared and Victor Mete “Beaten” the club had injured D Josh brown take part.
He has not played since a broken thumb on Nov. 21 against Colorado.
“We got Brownie to practice, he really wasn’t allowed to make contact,” Smith said. “It’s good that we called Guenette after the game. It’s not an ideal situation, but it is what it is. “
There is no timetable for Brown’s return, but Smith was impressed.
“I’m going to talk to the coach because he looked pretty good today,” Smith said. “We are certainly not going to overtake anyone before their start time because we are hit because we have to make sure we do things the right way.
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“Originally, it was mid-January when we thought it would come back, but I thought it looked pretty good so we’ll see where it is.”
MEET ME IN THE MIDDLE
Moved to play between the captain Brady tkachuk and extreme Drake Batherson with top center Josh norris in the protocol list, Tim stuetzle I had a rough night.
He was minus 4 against the Leafs with 17:56 ice time and was 1 of 8 in the heads-up point.
When third period began, Smith moved Stuetzle back to play with Alex Formenton and Connor Brown while Tierney was with the top duo.
“The unfortunate part is that you are on tour and they go against Auston matthews ”Smith said. “You want to keep the kid there, and you want him to play all night, but is it fair that he plays against one of the best players in the league every turn?
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“It is more conducive for them to play at home and I get the match and take it out against whoever I want. It was a tough matchup for Timmy, he’s only 19 years old and I tried to get him away from him. “
THE LAST WORDS
Murray was making his first start since being called from Belleville and stopped 34 of 40 shots. Without him, it could have been a lot worse than 6-0.
“I’m sorry for him. He’s a proven goalkeeper in this league, ”Connor Brown said. “It has been very good for a long time. He’s been through stressful situations and I’m sure he knows how to deal with it, but giving up the breaks in the last 10 minutes is quite unacceptable. “
“We have to take care of him a little better.”
Reference-ottawasun.com