That is according to Sens head coach D.J. Smith.
"For a bunch of young guys, they're learning to play winning hockey and if we keep doing that, we're going to win games," Smith said Thursday after the Sens' loss to Vancouver.
Smith called Tim Stützle's effort that night his best game of the season where he played a career high 15:42 over the course of 17 shifts.
"He skated, he made plays," Smith said. "You could see tonight he had legs, he was jumping, he was excited. A lot of good things."
Stützle missed three games this season due to injury but in five games, has a goal, the first in his NHL career.
"The thing I'm most proud of for Tim and Drake Batherson, is how hard they worked away from the puck and what we're going to have to do to win hockey games in this league," Smith said. "Not only are they going to have to score goals but they're going to have to learn to check and I thought they both handled their shifts really well tonight."
Fellow rookie Josh Norris was also praised by Smith, particularly as over the last three games he's gone up against Vancouver's top centres in Bo Horvat and Elias Pettersson. He also bagged a power play goal Wednesday night and played a season-high 17:14 Thursday.
"Norris went head-to-head with these guys all series and I thought they stood their own," Smith said.
Smith made sure to also single out Colin White Thursday, saying he "played a good game tonight."
White has been in and out of the Sens line-up so far this season, playing in half of the team's eight games, but has played more than 16 minutes in his last two outings. He has an assist, which came on Stützle's first NHL goal.
Ottawa is set to open a two-game series with Edmonton Sunday night where they'll be looking to end the team's current seven-game losing streak.
"It is good to see that these young guys are getting better and they're going to find a way to close these games out," Smith said.
