The Ottawa Senators are in search of a new trend when they face the host Columbus Blue Jackets on Thursday night having lost five of their last six games.
The Senators are coming off a 4-3 home loss to the New Jersey Devils on Tuesday night, but count Ottawa right winger Drake Batherson as one player who thinks the recent record is not as bad as it may look on paper.
“I think we’ve played pretty solid (the past six games),” said Batherson, who scored twice on Tuesday. “Obviously, ran into a couple of hot goalies the two games before this, and then tonight we had a lot of shots and a lot of chances. I think it’d be more frustrating if we weren’t getting the looks, but we’ve just got to clean up a few areas, I think, and just keep playing the way we (are) and be confident.”
Ottawa, which had 38 shots on goal, led the Devils 2-1 in the first period but needed Batherson’s second goal to tie the game 3-3 midway through the second period.
“Frustrating that we didn’t get a point out of that game, or win the game, quite honestly,” Senators coach Travis Green said. “Every night’s a little bit different, but we’ve said it three nights in a row that we played a pretty good game and didn’t get anything out of it.”
Tim Stutzle had a goal and an assist while captain Brady Tkachuk and Dylan Cozens each had two assists and Linus Ullmark made 28 saves.
Ottawa was three-for three on the power play, but the Senators have not scored a 5-on-5 goal since Tkachuk’s tally in the third period in a 5-2 setback against the Montreal Canadiens on Dec. 2.
“Tough loss, obviously. I thought we shot ourselves in the foot again,” Stutzle said. “At least our power play was good enough tonight, but I don’t think we’re scoring enough 5-on-5 goals.”
The Blue Jackets have lost three in a row (0-2-1) after a 4-1 defeat at the hands of the Carolina Hurricanes in Raleigh on Tuesday night.
The last two losses have come in regulation. Columbus had gone more than a month since it had not managed at least one point over two consecutive games.
“For two periods, we were pretty good. We were doing all the right things,” Columbus coach Dean Evason said. “Then we make an error and it ends up in our net. It’s frustrating, for sure.”
The Blue Jackets led the Hurricanes 1-0 after the first period on Dmitri Voronkov’s power-play goal, which came on Columbus’ second shot of the game.
The Hurricanes tied it in the middle of the second period and went ahead for good almost eight minutes into the third period. The winning goal came from forward Eric Robinson, who played the first six-plus seasons of his career with the Blue Jackets.
Jet Greaves stopped 28 shots for Columbus.
“I thought we had some looks, but ultimately we fell short,” said forward Sean Monahan, who set up Voronkov’s goal. “This league is about production and winning, so we have to find ways to win here.”
Blue Jackets defenseman Zach Werenski was held off the scoresheet on Tuesday for the second straight contest, but he still has 14 points (three goals, 11 assists) in the team’s last 10 games. He has compiled nine goals and 21 assists for 30 points in 30 games on the season.
