Ottawa Senators captain Brady Tkachuk has endured too many losing Novembers, and after a 4-2 defeat to the New York Islanders on Thursday, the trend continues. The loss dropped the Senators to a 1-3-0 record to start the month, and their overall November struggles remain evident as they’ve never posted a winning record in Tkachuk’s six seasons in Ottawa.
“This stretch of hockey is really big for us,” Tkachuk said, expressing frustration over the lack of consistent performance. “We need to start showing what we’re capable of, but it’s just frustrating that we’re not doing it consistently.”
With 10 more games left in November, including five on the road, the Senators (6-7-0) face an uphill battle. Their road record stands at a dismal 1-5-0 to begin the season, and without improvement, they risk falling into a precarious position.
Thursday’s loss highlighted Ottawa’s lack of urgency in the first period. They were fortunate not to fall behind against the Islanders, who outworked them early. After a better second period, Ottawa still found themselves trailing 2-0 on goals by Anders Lee and Jean-Gabriel Pageau.
The Islanders extended their lead early in the third when Oliver Wahlstrom scored, making it 3-0. Ottawa fought back, with Nick Jensen scoring his first goal of the season and Drake Batherson adding a power-play goal to bring the Senators within one with just over five minutes to play. However, a late empty-net goal from Bo Horvat sealed the win for New York.
“We’re stringing together some good games, but we’re not getting the results we want,” said Jensen. “It’s hard to keep coming in after every game where we play well but don’t win. We need to push harder to turn these close games into wins.”
The Islanders’ smart, solid road play, supported by goaltender Semyon Varlamov’s 28 saves, was enough to hold off Ottawa. Islanders coach Patrick Roy acknowledged the importance of goaltending with multiple injuries impacting his team.
Anton Forsberg also delivered a solid performance with 21 saves for the Senators, but Ottawa’s overall play let them down at critical moments.
“We didn’t start well enough to gain any traction,” said Senators head coach Travis Green. “Our execution and decision-making with the puck were off, but when we figured it out, our game improved.”
Despite the loss, Jensen remains optimistic: “We’ve got guys playing good hockey. We just need to take it shift-by-shift, play consistently, and avoid taking shifts off.”
The Senators will need to find that consistency quickly to avoid a repeat of their past November struggles.
