Adam Gaudette and Brady Tkachuk scored Ottawa's goals in the first and second period, respectively, against Philipp Grubauer, while Tim Stutzle added an empty netter in the closing minutes with the goalie pulled for an extra attacker. And that was all Senators goalie Anton Forsberg needed to record his second shutout in as many starts against the Kraken – also blanking them here at the Canadian Tire Center some 11 months ago.
“I see one-on-one battles, stick battles, 50-50 pucks – those have to be won,” Eberle said. “I understand you’re not going to win all of them all game. But you have to win the majority of them to give yourself a chance to win.”
The Kraken started their initial shifts aggressively against a Senators team playing on back-to-back nights, having been beaten by the Rangers in New York on Friday. Grubauer, making his first start in 11 days, did his part to keep things close but also failed to corral a puck in his crease on the first Ottawa goal just under six minutes into the contest.
Gaudette eventually fired the loose puck into the net after it had been poked free. The referee initially waved the goal off – ruling Grubauer had been interfered with after freezing the puck – but the Senators challenged the call and wound up getting it overturned.
And the Kraken slowed down considerably after that.
“I didn’t like the response after the goal there,” Kraken coach Bylsma said. “Our play dipped for a considerable time after they got the call, after they got the goal. And really, we were never able to take the speed and pace of the game to Ottawa as a result.”
Bylsma felt the Kraken did pick up the pace at times, particularly in the third period when already down two goals. Indeed, the game’s direction may have turned for good after a bad break early in the second period on a power play generated by Montour with some strong play along the neutral zone wall ahead of taking a high stick.
The Kraken were pressuring on the ensuing man advantage when Ryker Evans hit Jared McCann with a solid cross-ice pass to the left faceoff circle. McCann leaned into a wrist shot from 30 feet out and had Forsberg cleanly beaten only to have the puck strike the inside of the far post and stay out of the net.
That would be as close as the Kraken got to tying this one. Just six minutes later, Tkachuk put Ottawa up 2-0 midway through the game by re-directing a point shot by Jacob Bernard-Docker.
The good news for the Kraken is they won’t have long to reflect on this outcome, with a Sunday afternoon game scheduled against Boston. Bylsma was asked whether there’d be a sense of urgency for his team – losers of five of the past six.
“There’d better be,” he said.
Having Montour back in the fold will certainly help, given he’s averaging more than 23 minutes of playing time per game to lead the team. He’d been a positive boost offensively and defensively for a squad already missing injured two-way defenseman Vince Dunn and was coming off a hat-trick on a four-point night against Montreal ahead of his cross-continental journey for the birth of his daughter, Maison.
“I got the call, and I was on the quickest (private) plane that I could get back home,” he said. “Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to make it for the birth. But a few hours later, I was there.”
He added: “There was a lot going on. I kept tabs (on the Toronto game), but obviously, it would have been nice to have been a part of that one.”
But he’s here now and knows the Kraken will need to come out better than they did in managing a lone shot on goal by the halfway mark of Saturday’s opening period.
Eberle knows it as well and, for the first time since being named captain 3 1/2 weeks ago, wasn’t shy about joining his coach in suggesting more urgency is needed.
“We have to find desperation, and we should,” Eberle said. “We’re 12 games in. We’re one game below .500. We have to find a way to find some desperation and more compete here. I mean, the season’s started. We’ve got to get going.”
