Senators showing signs of maturing under pressure

OTTAWA - The Ottawa Senators are learning to be comfortable with the uncomfortable.

Just a few months ago, the Senators struggled to bounce back when trailing or tied late in games. Now, this group is displaying a new-found resilience and maturity that many doubted would ever emerge.

And they’re reaping the results.

With a 3-1 win over the Utah Hockey Club ((21-21-7) on Sunday, the Senators (26-20-4) are third in the Atlantic Division, a sight unseen in the nation’s capital for a long time.

“I don’t think I’ve seen our team that high in the standings, so it’s nice, for sure, but a long ways to go,” said Ottawa’s Jake Sanderson.

Equally surprising has been Ottawa's ability to achieve this success despite the absence of goaltender Linus Ullmark and an extended scoring drought from some of its top players.

Claude Giroux and Brady Tkachuk provided much-needed relief by ending their 14- and 11-game scoring droughts, respectively.

“When you don’t score for a while, you don’t talk about it, you try not to think about it, but it’s in your head,” admitted Giroux. “Stay away from social media because fans try to remind you, but at the end of the day, you know how you’re doing.

"But with this team right now, it’s not about who’s scoring or anything like that — it’s about getting the win. And I think we proved that this month.”

Ottawa is 7-5-2 through January with one game remaining Thursday.

With 10 games in 16 days it’s been a gruelling stretch but the Senators have held their own and will enjoy the next few days to catch their breath.

“It’s tough, especially with travel, and back-to-backs don’t make it any easier,” said Sanderson. “But we’re being pretty resilient right now.”

The two teams exchanged second-period goals. Shane Pinto was able to take advantage of a giveaway and break in a on a two-on-one with Ridly Greig, who scored short-handed to give Ottawa a 1-0 lead.

Utah caught a break less than two minutes later when Clayton Keller sent a shot through the slot that ricocheted off Giroux’s stick and Greig’s leg before beating Leevi Merilainen, who made 33 saves, to tie the game.

Giroux broke a 1-1 tie in the third period with his 10th of the season at 7:33 of the beating Karel Vejmelka, who made 24 saves.

“We played good until we gave up the second goal,” said Utah coach Andre Tourigny. “I think we were stingy defensively. It’s a team that’s really good defensively, as well, but we created off of our forecheck, off of our intensity, and we had enough offence.

"Unfortunately, we made a mistake when they scored the second goal and that threw us off a little bit. I didn’t like the way we responded to that.”

Tkachuk provided some breathing room with his 19th goal of the season with just over six minutes remaining.

Senators coach Travis Green said the assessment shared after the second was simple.

“Quite honestly that we hadn't played very good and we're still in a good spot to win the hockey game, but if we keep playing the way we are it's probably not gonna go the way we want it to.

"We've got to play better and we’ve got to play a mature period and I thought they did.”

Maturity has been exactly what had been missing from this group for far too long.

“All those lessons kind of forced us into this position where just whatever it takes that’s all that matters,” said Tkachuk. “Each day and each game is an opportunity to showcase our maturity and I think that we’ve doing that of late.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 26, 2025.