The Kids Are Alright - [NHL 21]

[GoldenJet]

Senators prepare for ushering in of new era
New uniforms, leadership group hopes to buoy Senators out of the basement

By Erica Flannigan (Ottawa Citizen)


OTTAWA, ON - With the Ottawa Senators unveiling their new uniforms - a call-back to the same uniforms the team wore when the franchise rejoined the National Hockey League for the 1992-1993 season - the team is looking to leave their recent history of performance disappointment and heartbreak in the past as they usher in a new era with high hopes in their youth movement.


The team will be led by franchise defenseman Thomas Chabot and power forward Brady Tkachuk.


Chabot, the team's 18th overall pick in the 2015 NHL Draft, has paid dividends since taking the team's top defenseman role that was left behind following the seismic departure of former team captain Erik Karlsson. Chabot is hoping to return to his game after seemingly being forced to do too much when the Senators' offense dried up from lack of talent and effort from the forward corps. At times last season, it felt as though Chabot disengaged and was going through the motions; something that no one could really blame him for doing. Chabot, however, believes in what the Senators are building long-term and signed an eight-year, $64 million extension to keep him with the team long-term.


Tkachuk, the 4th overall pick that has turned into the face of their franchise, looks to be the next team captain of the year, though head coach D.J. Smith announced that the Senators will once again be running with multiple alternates this season and refused to name a captain for the 2020-21 season. Tkachuk has brought a sense of urgency and intensity to the roster that hasn't been seen since the Senators' run to the Eastern Conference Finals many years ago.


The team has been injected with youth that is finally ready to blossom into NHL mainstays, such as forwards Drake Batherson and Josh Norris and defenseman Erik Brannstrom. All three are expected to be on the Senators' opening night roster while another trio of youth prospects continues to grow.


Defenseman Jake Sanderson and Jacob Bernard-Docker and forward Shane Pinto will highlight the stacked Belleville Senators - the American Hockey League affiliate that has been stocked full of young talent the Senators hope to develop.


The team enters the 2020-21 season with a lot of questions about their current lineup and fairly low expectations. Does this team compete whatsoever? Should we expect any kind of progress out of the basement?


Most pundits do not expect much out of the Capital. The team needs to desperately find their identity, get pucks in the net, and find some sort of stability in net now that veteran Craig Anderson is no longer on the team.


In the competitive Canadian market, the team will compete for fans in seats with the juggernaut Toronto Maple Leafs and the mainstay Montreal Canadiens while trying to slowly improve and give some teams a run for their money.


The Senators don't expect to lay down and take the abuse.


They plan on making some noise from the gate.

[GoldenJet]

Save I - Team History

[GoldenJet]

Save II - Season Results

[GoldenJet]

ROSTER AND OPENING DEPTH CHART

2020-21 Ottawa Senators Opening Night Roster
#	CENTERS	AGE	HT	WT	SHOT	BIRTH PLACE
21	Derek Stepan	30	6'0"	196	Right	Hastings, MN, USA
19	Drake Batherson	22	6'3"	206	Right	Fort Wayne, IN, USA
18	Tim Stutzle	18	6'1"	187	Left	Viersen, GER
71	Chris Tierney	26	6'1"	195	Left	Keswick, ON, CAN
9	Josh Norris	21	6'2"	192	Left	Oxford, MI, USA
51	Artem Anisimov	32	6'4"	199	Left	Yaroslavl, RUS
13	Nick Paul	25	6'3"	219	Left	Mississauga, ON, CAN
#	LEFT WINGS	AGE	HT	WT	SHOT	BIRTH PLACE
7	Brady Tkachuk (A)	21	6'4"	212	Left	Scottdale, AZ, USA
10	Ryan Dzingel	28	6'0"	190	Left	Wheaton, IL, USA
59	Alex Formenton	21	6'3"	190	Left	King City, ON, CAN
#	RIGHT WINGS	AGE	HT	WT	SHOT	BIRTH PLACE
63	Evgenii Dadonov	31	5'11"	185	Left	Chelyabinsk, RUS
28	Connor Brown	26	6'0"	186	Right	Toronto, ON, CAN
36	Colin White (A)	23	6'1"	191	Right	Hanover, MA, USA
16	Austin Watson	28	6'4"	204	Right	Ann Arbor, MI, USA
#	DEFENSE	AGE	HT	WT	SHOT	BIRTH PLACE
72	Thomas Chabot (A)	23	6'2"	190	Left	Sainte-Marie, QUE, CAN
22	Nikita Zaitsev	28	6'2"	195	Right	Moscow, RUS
98	Victor Mete	22	5'9"	184	Left	Woodbridge, ON, CAN
26	Erik Brannstrom	21	5'10"	181	Left	Eksjo, SWE
2	Artem Zub	25	6'2"	198	Right	Khabarovsk, RUS
3	John Brown	26	6'5"	217	Right	London, ON, CAN
#	GOALIES	AGE	HT	WT	SHOT	BIRTH PLACE
30	Matt Murray	26	6'4"	178	Left	Thunder Bay, ON, CAN
31	Anton Forsberg	27	6'3"	192	Left	Harnosand, SWE

Ottawa Senators Depth Chart - 2020-21
	STARTER	2ND	3RD	4TH
LW	Brady Tkachuk (A)	Ryan Dzingel	Tim Stutzle	Josh Norris
C	Derek Stepan	Chris Tierney	Drake Batherson	Nick Paul
RW	Evgenii Dadonov	Colin White (A)	Connor Brown	Austin Watson
D #1	Thomas Chabot (A)	Victor Mete	Josh Brown
D #2	Nikita Zaitsev	Artem Zub	Erik Brannstrom
G	Matt Murray	Anton Forsberg

[GoldenJet]

BROWN DOUBLES DOWN IN SEASON DEBUT
Connor Brown's two-goal effort has the Senators slipping past Chicago in Game 1
October 4th, 2020 - Chicago Blackhawks @ Ottawa Senators (Canadian Tire Centre - Ottawa, ON)


ABOVE: Ottawa Senators forward Colin White takes a faceoff against Chicago Blackhawks captain Jonathan Toews.

GAME SUMMARY

The Ottawa Senators invited the All-Star Patrick Kane and his Chicago Blackhawks to the Canadian Tire Centre to kickoff the 2020-21 regular season and managed to escape in a low-shooting event with a statement 5-2 victory thanks to a two-goal effort from Connor Brown.

The Blackhawks got an early lead thanks to Dylan Strome off a bad bounce that snuck its way past Senators' goaltender Matt Murray. Less than four minutes later, Connor Brown would grab a tie off a beautiful assist from rookie forward Tim Stutzle; the 18-year old's first professional point.

Brown would grab two goals in the winning effort, leading the Senators to a victory while depth rookie forward Josh Norris would score his first NHL goal, calling the experience, "something that I will keep with me for the rest of my life."

Matt Murray got the starting nod and made 19 saves in a winning effort.

The Senators will travel to Toronto to face off against their rival Maple Leafs on Tuesday, October 6th. Murray is expected to get the starting nod once again.

SCORING SUMMARY

FIRST PERIOD
4:53: Dylan Strome (1) | Assisted By: Adam Boqvist & Dominik Kulabik | CHI 1 - 0 OTT |
8:36: Connor Brown (1) | Assisted By: Tim Stutzle & Drake Batherson | CHI 1 - 1 OTT |

SECOND PERIOD
0:47: Derek Stepan (1) | Assisted By: Brady Tkachuk | CHI 1 - 2 OTT |
5:04: Colin White (1) | Assisted By: Chris Tierney & Ryan Dzingel | CHI 1 - 3 OTT |

THIRD PERIOD
9:40: Dominik Kulabik (1) | Assisted By: Jonathan Toews & Dylan Strome | CHI 2 - 3 OTT |
12:35: Josh Norris (1) | Assisted By: Austin Watson & Nick Paul | CHI 2 - 4 OTT |
19:55: Connor Brown (2) | Assisted By: Thomas Chabot | CHI 2 - 5 OTT |

NEXT GAME

@ Toronto Maple Leafs

[GoldenJet]

SENS AVOID COLLAPSE WITH NARROW SHOOTOUT VICTORY
First rivalry game against Leafs have Senators scrambling to keep it together
October 6th, 2020 - Ottawa Senators @ Toronto Maple Leafs (Scotiabank Arena - Toronto, ON)


ABOVE: Ottawa Senators forward Chris Tierney is denied on the breakaway by Toronto Maple Leafs goaltender Frederik Andersen in overtime.

GAME SUMMARY

The loaded Toronto Maple Leafs hosted the Ottawa Senators in a gritty, well-rounded affair that saw Nikita Zaitsev and Nick Foligno drop the gloves in the second period. A typical rivalry game that has often seen the Maple Leafs dominate the Senators in recent years saw the Sens narrowly edge past the Leafs in a 4-3 victory in the shootout.

The Senators were originally up 2-0 thanks to two big goals from Colin White who is off to a wonderful start to the season before Joe Thornton and Wayne Simmonds tied the game up. With less than six minutes left in third, the Leafs’ young superstars teamed up, with Auston Matthews sliding the puck cross-crease to Mitch Marner to take the lead.

On the penalty kill and with the goalie pulled for the extra attacker, Evgenii Dadonov would tie the game in the final few seconds of the game with a mad scramble in front of Frederik Andersen.

After a tough overtime period, Dadonov would double up with the shootout winner in a gut-wrenching loss for the Maple Leafs.

SCORING SUMMARY

FIRST PERIOD
NO SCORING

SECOND PERIOD
3:22: Colin White (2) | Assisted By: Chris Tierney & Brady Tkachuk | TOR 0 - 1 OTT |
6:57: Colin White (3) | Assisted By: Chris Tierney & Thomas Chabot | TOR 0 - 2 OTT |
14:37: Joe Thornton (1) | Assisted By: Nick Foligno & Pierre Engvall | TOR 1 - 2 OTT |

THIRD PERIOD
7:30: Wayne Simmonds (1) | Assisted By: John Tavares | TOR 2 - 2 OTT |
14:05 : Mitch Marner (1) | Assisted By: Auston Matthews | TOR 3 - 2 OTT |
19:35: Evgenii Dadonov (1) | Assisted By: Connor Brown | TOR 3 - 3 OTT |

OVERTIME
NO SCORING

SHOOTOUT
Evgenii Dadonov - O | Auston Matthews - X
Thomas Chabot - X | Mitch Marner - X
Drake Batherson - X | John Tavares - X

NEXT GAME

@ Boston Bruins

[GoldenJet]

SENATORS RATTLE OFF THREE STRAIGHT WITH LATEST OVERTIME THRILLER
Derek Stepan’s second snipe of the game leads Ottawa past pesky Bruins
October 8th, 2020 - Ottawa Senators (3-0-0) @ Boston Bruins (1-1-1) (TD Garden - Boston, MA)


ABOVE: Ottawa Senators forward Derek Stepan snipes a shot above the shoulder of Boston Bruins goaltender Tuukka Rask for the overtime game-winning goal.

GAME SUMMARY

The Ottawa Senators, off to a hot start with two victories over Chicago and Toronto, limp their way into Boston for a date with the Bruins without star forward Brady Tkachuk and defenseman Erik Brannstrom. The team inserted Artem Anisimov and called up Cody Goloubef from the Belleville Senators to fill their spots.

Both of them played admirably in replacement duty, as the Senators managed to topple the Bruins by a score of 3-2 in overtime thanks to a pair of goals from Derek Stepan. Star defenseman Thomas Chabot took over the game with seamless passes, putting up two assists in a winning effort.

Goaltender Matt Murray, playing in his third straight contest, put up a steady effort for the Senators. He outdueled Tuukka Rask on the other end of the ice, putting up 21 saves and spearheading the Senators through a rough penalty-kill against the Bruins’ offensive threat.

The Senators head back to Canada to face off against Claude Giroux and his undefeated Philadelphia Flyers.

SCORING SUMMARY

FIRST PERIOD
13:28: Chris Wagner (1) | Assisted By: Jake DeBrusk | OTT 0 - 1 BOS |

SECOND PERIOD
1:03: Derek Stepan (2) | Assisted By: Thomas Chabot | OTT 1 - 1 BOS |

THIRD PERIOD
12:14: David Pastrnak (1) | Assisted By: Kevan Miller & Brad Marchand | OTT 1 - 2 BOS |
12:50: Nikita Zaitsev (1) | Assisted By: Drake Batherson | OTT 2 - 2 BOS |

OVERTIME
2:29: Derek Stepan (2) | Assisted By: Artem Anisimov & Thomas Chabot | OTT 3 - 2 BOS |

NEXT GAME

Vs Philadelphia Flyers

[Nickflyers]

new franchise, who dis?