Senators' Drake Batherson Scores Lone Goal in Deflating Loss to Wild
Drake Batherson scored his 31st goal of the season, Brady Tkachuk had a team-high seven shots, and Linus Ullmark allowed four goals on 23 shots in a 4-1 loss to the Minnesota Wild at Canadian Tire Centre on Saturday afternoon. The Ottawa Senators were shown what it takes to be a true contender in the National Hockey League, as the Wild proved to be the stronger, smarter, and more committed team throughout the game.
Forwards Performance Analysis
Tim Stutzle: B-
The effort is clearly still there from Stutzle, but something is missing from his game during this playoff push. The German forward has not scored in seven straight games, which may be partly due to line combinations. Drake Batherson continues to score on his right wing, but with Claude Giroux and Fabian Zetterlund on the left side in recent weeks, there is something to be desired. Stutzle seems to be trying to compensate, but it is not working effectively. He fired one wrister directly into an opposing shin pad on an odd-man rush late in the second period. Zetterlund seriously lagged behind on Saturday, prompting suggestions that Warren Foegele might deserve a full game on the top line instead of being injected only in the latter half when situations look precarious.
Drake Batherson: B-
Batherson had two rather unacceptable giveaways high in the offensive zone during the second period, with one leading to a partial break for the Wild. He scored the Senators' only goal in garbage time, deflecting Lassi Thomson's point shot before chipping the rebound over Wild netminder Jesper Wallstedt. It was a little too late to start getting hungry around the net, but as defenceman Jake Sanderson pointed out post-game, Batherson was one of the few players to get dirty in front of the net, and Ottawa needed much more of that aggressive play.
Fabian Zetterlund: C
Zetterlund has not meshed well with Stutzle and Batherson. He forced a cross-ice pass through the middle of the ice on an odd-man rush in the second period, which was easily deflected into the stands by a Wild defender. He finished with only 9:39 of ice time, as head coach Travis Green demoted him to the fourth line halfway through the game. Expect him to remain on the bottom trio for the beginning of Sunday's game against the Carolina Hurricanes.
Brady Tkachuk: B+
Tkachuk has considerably modified his style of play in the offensive zone this season. He remains a beast down low, protecting pucks and drawing penalties, such as the high-stick from Minnesota's Zach Bogosian in the first period. However, instead of making power moves to the goal, he is opting to pick his head up and find his linemates in the slot or defencemen sneaking in across the zone. He found Ridly Greig for a slot shot on the first shift of the game and hit Jordan Spence with a seam pass in the third. His playmaking is absolutely improved, but he does not have the same net-front presence that he used to. The second line had some hard-nosed offensive zone shifts against the Wild, grinding well below the goal line, but not enough was getting to the net. Of Tkachuk's team-high seven shots, far too many came from the perimeter. He was dangerous on the rush but was thwarted by Wallstedt's glove a couple of times.
Dylan Cozens: C+
After his best game of the season against the Buffalo Sabres on Thursday, Cozens' decision-making hurt the Senators against Minnesota. His curl-and-drag wrister on the power play early in the second period was easily blocked, and the Wild went the other way for a breakaway. Later in the period, Cozens dove to try and break up a centring pass but missed and could not recover, leaving Ryan Hartman alone in the slot to make it 3-0. The second line finished with the highest possession numbers on both sides, highlighting their effort but lack of finishing.
