Tim Stützle and the Ottawa Senators put on a convincing performance in Friday’s Ontario derby against the Toronto Maple Leafs to record their second straight win. After beating the New York Islanders 2-1 at home on Wednesday, they overcame local rivals 6-2 in a tough game at the Scotiabank Arena.
“We just played with a lot of confidence,” said Ottawa coach DJ Smith. “We did that against the Islanders and brought it into this game. We were more active, controlled the puck and did a lot of good work.”
The senators had previously struggled with their performance. In eight games (2-6-0) only four points were gained with a goal difference of 14:36. With 47 points (22-23-3), Ottawa sits second from bottom in the Atlantic Division, three points ahead of the Montreal Canadiens.
On Friday, however, there was no team to be seen that belongs in the bottom of the table. After all, with Toronto the Senators met the second best team in the division and the third best in the entire NHL. Stützle and his colleagues were not impressed by this and went into the game with a lot of confidence.
The German striker made it 1-0 after just 92 seconds Thomas Chabot Before. At the start of the second third, he led the captain’s 2-1 lead within 23 seconds Brady Tkachuk a. After the Maple Leafs equalized again, Ottawa took control and didn’t let anything burn out in the period that followed. Derick Brassard (30.) used a power play to make it 3:2, Drake Batherson (37.), Tkachuk (44.) and Claude Giroux added the other three hits.
Video: OTT@TOR: Giroux scores in the third third
“It’s a big win for us,” said Tkachuk, also emphasizing a factor that was a priority for his coach. “That confidence to play our game against one of the top teams in recent years and be consistent for 60 minutes is something we can build on.”
Tkachuk and Stützle in particular have good reason to be self-confident, despite all the defeats and disappointments. Tkachuk is Ottawa’s top scorer with 49 points (19 goals, 30 assists). Stützle is in second place with 45 points (20 goals, 25 assists) in 44 games. Against Toronto, however, the Senators captain saw the great strength in the fact that the whole team pulled together and played at a new level.
“Today everyone gave more,” said Tkachuk proudly. “These are games full of emotion and energy and our boys did an incredible job. We’re slowly becoming a confident group, we’ve faced a lot of challenges this season and I think we’re on the right track now. We have a look thrown in the mirror and talked about how badly we want to win. That’s why you see players finding a new level.”
This increase also seemed goalkeeper Anton Forsberg to succeed. In 25 games this season, he has a record of 9-10-2, an average of 3.24 goals conceded per game and a 90.3 percent save rate. He has been between the posts in the past two wins and saved 52 of 55 shots, a rate of 94.5 percent.
The Senators focus on their confidence and that’s exactly what such a clear win against a top team and local rivals can bring. The chances that Ottawa can turn the success of the past two meetings into a winning streak are not bad. Already on Saturday they will face division bottom Montreal in the first of two duels at home (7 pm ET; NHL.tv, Sun. 1 pm CET). After another game against the Canadiens on Tuesday, there is a ten-day break in play.