OTTAWA — Brady Tkachuk stopped short of calling Tuesday’s game against the St. Louis Blues a must-win for the Ottawa Senators.
But he said the team put some pressure on itself to bounce back after returning home from a two-game skid. And Tkachuk himself helped lead an impressive offensive output.
“It’s all about our rebound and response,” said Tkachuk, who notched two power-play goals in the second period as Ottawa thumped St. Louis 8-1.
Tuesday marked Ottawa’s largest margin of victory in a game since an 8-1 win over the New Jersey Devils on Oct. 21, 2006.
The Senators returned to the Canadian Tire Centre after consecutive losses to the Vegas Golden Knights and the Colorado Avalanche. They had to wait a little bit longer than planned to get Tuesday’s matchup underway as there was a 30-minute delay due to a power outage in their arena.
“Usually we’re pretty good at responding after a loss but that wasn’t the case (against Colorado). We definitely wanted to have an extra emphasis for the team being back here and not using the excuse of coming back from a road trip and getting out of the gate slow,” Tkachuk said.
“With all the unfortunate circumstances before the game it gave us time to mentally dial in here and hold ourselves to a standard that there won’t be any excuses.”
Senators goalie Linus Ullmark, who made 26 saves for his second win of the season, said earlier Tuesday that a team never wants to let a losing streak get away from them. With Ottawa having lost two in a row before returning home, this was a key opportunity for a turnaround.
“In years past things have gotten away from us. But now there’s maturity that it doesn’t need to be said,” Tkachuk said.
“We put some pressure on ourselves to elevate our game and bounce back and rebound and I felt like we did a great job.”
Josh Norris opened the scoring just 1:04 into the first period and Ottawa’s offence took over from there, scoring three goals in the opening frame.
Tim Stützle — who broke a six-game goalless drought — had two goals himself en route to a four-point night. Adam Gaudette also had two goals for the Senators, who chased the Blues’ starting goalie Joel Hofer after he let in five goals on 21 shots.
“I liked it,” Ottawa coach Travis Green said with a smile of his team’s output. “Score a lot of goals, I’m not complaining about it. We just want to win.”
Green admitted the team wasn’t happy with its last game but felt like Tuesday was a “great response.”
This marks the first time that the Senators have had a winning record in October since 2016-17 — the last time the team made the playoffs.
“The team wants to win,” Green said. “Every team does. But what’s impressed me is that they’ve looked themselves in the mirror and said 'what can I do differently to be a better team' and that’s not always the case."
With the usual powerhouses in the Atlantic — such as Toronto and Boston — slower out of the gates in 2024, this kind of start could help push Ottawa toward meaningful hockey later in the season for the first time in almost a decade.
It’s the kind of attitude shared by plenty in the room.
“That’s a big part of the NHL — as your team gets better, the game gets more consistent and you understand how you play,” Green said. “We’re starting to grasp the identity we want to have and the style of hockey. It’s coming.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 29, 2024.
Adam Stanley, The Canadian Press
