The Ottawa Senators had one of those nights that seemed to contain everything at once: control, collapse, survival, and a little bit of rescue work at the end.
They were up and rolling for roughly the first 15 minutes against the Los Angeles Kings before the whole thing went sideways. Then it turned ugly fast, with the Senators giving up five unanswered goals - four of them in a miserable second period. But after all that, Ottawa still managed to claw back enough to steal a point in a loss that had already looked buried.
Dylan Cozens, Tim Stützle and Drake Batherson each finished with three points for Ottawa, which fell to 8-5-1 and dropped a second straight game for the first time this season. Jonas Johansson made his third consecutive start and was pulled after surrendering four goals on 16 shots. Samuel Ersson came on in relief and stopped 20.
Ottawa opened the scoring when Stützle got the puck in the corner, used his skating to separate from Mikey Anderson, and slipped it to Zetterlund for a one-timer that produced Tyler Kleven’s rebound finish for the 1-0 lead. Later, with the Senators trying to find some kind of foothold in the third, Stützle delivered again - this time with a no-look backhand feed to Cozens for the 5-2 goal.
He also helped set up the 5-4 goal by moving skate-to-stick in the slot and creating the rebound that Cozens buried. It wasn’t a perfect night for Stützle, but Ottawa doesn’t come back into that game without his quick hands and vision.
Batherson was central to Ottawa’s best work, too. He tried to get Burakovsky his first goal in a Senators sweater by sending a pass toward the low slot for a tip chance in the first period, then set him up again moments later with a slick seam pass on a rush.
Burakovsky couldn’t corral the first feed, then missed the net high on the second. A little later, just before he exited with an injury, Burakovsky put up a weak backhand from the corner that Darcy Kuemper touched for a shot on goal - only his third shot in eight games with Ottawa.
It was not a clean fit.
Batherson also scored twice himself. His bar-down wrister from the top of the slot made it 5-3, and he followed that with a smart, sharp feed to Shane Pinto for the 5-5 goal after noticing Pinto had briefly slipped free in front.
Batherson dropped to one knee to get enough on the one-touch pass, taking advantage of the Kings’ lapse. He added a cross-check penalty and finished with three shots in 18:57 of ice time.
Cozens, meanwhile, had a rougher first half before finding his way into the game. Early on, he was knocked off the puck too easily and lost too many board battles, even reaching with one hand on his stick near the Kings’ bench at one point.
But like much of the remaining forward group, he came alive in the third. After Stützle’s centring pass caromed to him off Byfield’s skate, Cozens slipped past a stickcheck and snapped a shot to the far side on Kuemper.
He then scored again by pouncing on a loose puck while Joel Edmundson and Trevor Moore tried to keep him from getting to it.
In Other News...
Senators Rally Raises A Bigger Question Than The Overtime Loss
The Senators turned what looked like a runaway loss into a wild finish against the Kings, erasing a 5-1 deficit with four unanswered goals in the third period to force overtime. Dylan Cozens and Drake Batherson helped drive the surge, giving Ottawa a burst of life after it had spent much of the night chasing the game, while Corey Perry kept the Kings dangerous on the other side.
Even with the comeback, the 6-5 overtime loss only sharpened the bigger question around Ottawa: how a team can look so buried, then suddenly find that kind of push when the game seems out of reach. Quinton Byfield ended it for Los Angeles in overtime, but the Senators left with a reminder that the fight is there, even if the result still slipped away. [Read more 🡒]
Senators Forward Depth Is Being Tested In A Hurry
The Senators are leaning on their depth chart sooner than planned, with Philip Tomasino and Xavier Bourgault summoned from Belleville after injuries to Warren Foegele and Andre Burakovsky, along with Hayden Hodgsons suspension, thinned the forward group. Both Tomasino and Bourgault have been productive in the AHL this season, and Ottawa is hoping their recent form can carry over as the club tries to keep its lines intact through a sudden wave of absences.
Belleville had to make a move of its own in response, signing Kyle McDonald to a professional tryout contract to help fill the gap left behind. For Ottawa, the bigger question is how long this patchwork arrangement lasts, especially with one injured winger facing a longer absence and another still awaiting a clearer read on the severity of his setback. [Read more 🡒]
Senators Suddenly Face A Depth Test At The Worst Time
The Senators are reaching into Belleville for help at a time when their lineup is already getting stretched thin. Ottawa recalled forwards Xavier Bourgault and Phil Tomasino to reinforce the group as injuries and a looming suspension force the club to patch together its depth, with Andre Burakovsky likely unavailable because of a lower-body injury.
Hayden Hodgson is also headed for a suspension hearing after a dangerous hit, adding another layer of uncertainty to a forward corps that is suddenly short on answers. With the starting goaltender still sidelined by a lower-body strain and both Jonas Johansson and Samuel Ersson coming off shaky recent starts, Ottawa is juggling more than one problem at once, and the timing could hardly be worse. [Read more 🡒]