Five games into the season, the Ottawa Senators already look like a team with some bite. A 4-1-0 start, capped by back-to-back one-goal wins at home over the Philadelphia Flyers and Nashville Predators, has given Ottawa a gritty early-season profile that’s hard to miss.
The challenge now is turning that snapshot into something sturdier. To keep this going through mid-October, the Senators will need cleaner structure, sharper puck decisions, and more help from beyond the top scorers.
One of the biggest early themes has been the play of the top line. Tim Stützle and Drake Batherson have powered Ottawa’s transition game, cashing in on turnovers and turning them into dangerous looks. The addition of André Burakovsky to that group has brought a net-front element and a proven shot from the outside, even if the timing on cycle shifts is still being worked out.
Head coach Travis Green also showed a willingness to adjust on the fly in Thursday’s win over the Flyers. Ottawa stopped trying to force low-percentage cross-seam passes through crowded defensive layers and instead went simpler: hard rims, races to the end boards, and quick puck movement back to the blue line for shots from the point. That adjustment mattered, and it set the table for rookie defenceman Carter Yakemchuk to pinch late and finish the game-winner on the power play.
On the back end, Thomas Chabot and Jordan Spence have been carrying a heavy load against opposing top lines. Spence, in particular, has settled into his bigger role quickly, moving the puck cleanly under pressure and using his skating to work out of forecheck pressure near the hashmarks.
Still, there’s a clear area that needs tightening up. Against the Detroit Red Wings on Tuesday, Ottawa’s defensive-zone coverage got loose, with broken slot coverage and missed handoffs in transition creating high-end chances against. Linus Ullmark has covered for a lot of those mistakes so far, but that kind of rescue act won’t hold up over an 84-game schedule.
The Senators have also gotten a useful physical boost from Dylan Cozens, whose forechecking and neutral-zone battles have added some edge to the middle six. At the same time, the coaching staff is still managing the third blue-line pair carefully, giving Tyler Kleven and Hoyt Stanley structured minutes as they continue to build experience.
With four games packed into seven days, the body clock matters just as much as the Xs and Os. Ottawa’s bottom six has a real chance to ease the burden on the top unit, but only if it can spend more time in the offensive zone, swing momentum, and draw penalties.
The week ahead starts with a demanding road-home split. Ottawa visits the New Jersey Devils in Newark on Monday before coming right back home to face the St.
Louis Blues on Tuesday. Special teams could swing that stretch, with the penalty kill needing to stay disciplined and the power play avoiding too much perimeter puck-watching.
The Senators then host the New York Islanders on Thursday before heading back on the road to play the Flyers on Saturday. If Ottawa keeps its defensive support tight and gets steady tertiary scoring from the middle six, it has a real shot at keeping itself near the top of the Atlantic Division standings.
In Other News...
Senators Lineup Shuffle Puts Pressure On Ottawas Patchwork Defense
A day before facing the New Jersey Devils, the Senators are already tinkering with a lineup that has little room for error. Ottawa recalled defenceman Jorian Donovan from Belleville and put Cam Crotty on the injured list, another sign of how thin the blue line has become as the club tries to stay afloat through injuries and absences. Travis Green also shuffled his forwards, with William Eklund out and Linus Ullmark lined up to start after another strong stretch in net.
The changes leave Ottawa asking more of its depth than it probably planned this early in the season. Donovans arrival gives the staff another option on defence, but the bigger picture is still about patching together a roster that keeps shifting from night to night. Greens top-six adjustments are meant to keep the attack moving, yet the real pressure may be on how well the Senators can survive a game that already feels like a test of their lineup flexibility. [Read more 🡒]
Ottawa Prospect Watch Centers On One Encouraging Early Syracuse Trend
The Syracuse Crunch have stumbled to a 1-3-0 start, but Ottawas prospect picture in central New York is not without a few early signs to track. Their latest game, a 3-2 loss to the Belleville Senators, offered another reminder that the Crunch are still trying to find their footing, even as Jakob Pelletier has begun contributing assists after leading the AHL in scoring last season.
For the Senators, the bigger interest may be the steady return of Dominic James, who is working his way back after a broken hand and is expected to rejoin the lineup soon following a conditioning stint. In goal, Mads Sogaard has been the more encouraging of Syracuses two new netminders so far, giving Ottawa another development storyline worth watching as the AHL season settles in. [Read more 🡒]
Senators Injury Trouble Could Change The Trade Market Fast
A strong start to the season has suddenly given the Senators a tougher question to answer, after winger Tim Eklund was lost to injury and Ottawa began sorting through how to replace a top-six forward. The timing matters because this group has been building momentum, and now the pressure shifts to the rest of the lineup to keep the offense moving without one of its key pieces.
Management does not have an easy fix sitting there, and the internal options are already being tested by the demands of the schedule. Andre Burakovsky has only just made his Senators debut after missing four games with an undisclosed preseason injury, which only adds to the sense that Ottawa may have to get creative if it wants to avoid letting a good opening month drift off course. [Read more 🡒]