The Ottawa Senators will look to end a three-game losing streak when they host the Seattle Kraken on Thursday night.
Ottawa will play the second of back-to-back games after dropping an 8-4 decision to the Buffalo Sabers on Wednesday. The Senators have allowed 18 goals in their last three games.
Seattle, meanwhile, has picked up points in its three games – two wins and an overtime loss – so far. The Kraken will play the second date of a six-game road trip after losing to the Montreal Canadiens 5-4 in overtime on Tuesday.
The Senators led 2-1 in the second period in Buffalo, but the Sabers scored four straight goals to make it 5-2 heading into the second intermission. Lars Eller pulled the Senators within 5-4 early in the third period, but Buffalo scored twice over the next 62 seconds.
“It’s all little mistakes on our part that end up in the back of our net,” said Ottawa defenseman Thomas Chabot. “The positive thing is we can fix it as a team and as a group. It’s frustrating right now, but as a group we have to stay together … and make sure (Thursday) night we’re ready to go.”
Jake Sanderson had a goal and an assist, Jordan Spence had three assists and Leevi Merilainen made 19 saves for the Senators, who open a four-game home stretch.
“Anytime you lose big like that, you better play the next day,” said Ottawa forward Drake Batherson, who played 17:27 in his season debut after missing the first three games with an upper-body injury. “You can forget about it quicker. We’re excited to go home.”
Tuesday in Montreal, Seattle recovered from three one-goal deficits and took a 4-3 lead into the third period. Montreal tied it up with 2:41 left in regulation, and Cole Caufield scored his second goal of the game 3:25 into overtime for the win.
“The effort was outstanding,” Kraken coach Lane Lambert said after the game. “I think we did a lot of good things. There were a lot of positives in this game. We made some mistakes, and those mistakes ended up in the back of our net tonight, whereas maybe that wasn’t the case in games one and two.”
Jared McCann had a goal and an assist, and he scored in each of Seattle’s three games. Joey Daccord made 17 saves for the Kraken, who allowed a combined two goals in their first two games.
Kraken defenseman Vince Dunn had an assist, giving him four points (one goal, three assists) in four games. Newcomers Ryan Lindgren and Frederick Gaudreau both earned their first points (an assist each) as members of the Kraken, and 11 different skaters had at least one point.
“We have to be confident,” McCann said. “We should take the positives, but learn from the bad. I know I say that a lot, but that’s the kind of thing we need to do moving forward.”
Last season, the Senators dominated the Kraken 3-0 on November 2 in Ottawa, then won by the same score on December 17 in Seattle.
–Field level media
