Frustrated Senators insist they aren’t panicking over slump

tNew Jersey Devils goaltender Jacob Markstrom (25) upends Ottawa Senators left wing Brady Tkachuk (7) as teammates Luke Hughes (43) and Nico Hischier (13) look for the puck during third period NHL action, in Ottawa, Tuesday, Dec. 9, 2025. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Adrian Wyld

OTTAWA — The Ottawa Senators insist they aren’t in panic mode, but with only one win in their last six games they aren’t trending in the best direction.

Ottawa has now gone three games without a five-on-five goal, but the power play finally showed some life. After going 3-for-16 in the last five games, the Senators went a perfect 3-for-3 against the New Jersey Devils, but still came up short in a 4-3 loss on Tuesday night.

There’s no denying the losses are starting to have an impact.

“Yeah, I mean it’s frustrating,” said captain Brady Tkachuk. “It’s just been a theme. Play solid, can’t find a way to win. Still positive, still a long season.”

Tkachuk understands the losing streak is likely to get magnified but reiterated that this is something every team goes through and believes everything will turn around, but that doesn’t make it any easier.

“It feels like we just can’t buy a point, can’t buy a win right now,” he said. “But I know it’s just going to turn, and we’ll be better because of it.”

The struggle seems to be in getting a consistent effort throughout the entire lineup.

Against the Devils the defence pairing of Jordan Spence and Tyler Kleven had a rough night finishing a combined minus-5.

When asked about the duo’s performance head coach Travis Green seemed unimpressed and asked why the question was asked and then responded with “I don’t think they had a great night.”

The frustration for Green is that the team had a couple turnovers that quickly resulted in goals, and it feels like his team is finding ways to lose a game rather than win it.

“We’ve got to find a way to win still,” he said. “And individuals have to be, certain individuals, have to be better. From night to night, it’s a different guy. We’re not a team that goes out and has two or three guys just dominate the game and win it for us.

“When we play well everyone has a pretty solid game … but we’ve got to be better, we’ve got to find a way to win.”

The Senators may be looking forward to getting back on the road. With a home record of 6-6-2 they haven’t made the most of home ice, but a road record of 7-6-2 isn’t overly impressive either.

Ottawa heads out for a three-game road trip with stops taking them to Columbus, Minnesota and Winnipeg where they’ll be looking to get things back on track.

After going 1-for-7 on the power play against the St. Louis Blues, the Senators had a lengthy discussion before the game against the Devils and it paid off and will now look to address the five-on-five issues.

“It’s the game of hockey right there,” said Drake Batherson. “I mean, some nights I feel like your power play should score and you don’t and you still win the game. And, obviously, (tonight) we get a couple and still don’t win the game.

“It’s such a fine line in the league every night, but we’re going to stay positive, and we’ll turn it around. A big road trip for us.”

While there’s no denying there’s some frustration, the Senators are trying to focus on the positives and what has been going right.

‘I think it would be more frustrating if we weren’t getting the looks,” Batherson said. “But we’ve just got to clean up a few areas, I think, and just keep playing the way we’re doing and be confident.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 10, 2025.

Lisa Wallace, The Canadian Press