Another discouraging performance for the Senators who lost their fourth game in a row tonight.
Some in-game thoughts as the Ottawa Senators, whose season is slipping away before Christmas once again, take on the Vegas Golden Knights
First period
The guy dressed up as a Knight in the pre-game was reminiscent of the shirtless Ottawa centurion with the broken microphone who took to the ice, screaming, "Sens Army! Rise Up!" in the 2008 NHL playoffs. It was a traumatizing start to the evening.
With Vegas getting beaten up by Buffalo last night, I can't imagine any scenario where the Sens get anything but the best from the champs tonight.
1:37 into the first, as I'm still trying to adjust to the glare of the Knights' horrendous shiny golden helmets, Jack Eichel roars down the left wing and beats Korpisalo short side.
Adin Hill leaves after Josh Norris beats him on a one-timer. That's three opposing goalies in six games who've left games against Ottawa without taking contact (Joseph Woll, Jake Oettinger).
With the play going on, the announcers are telling inside stories about the wacky fun they had the night before in Vegas. They almost missed Marchessault's long-distance goal on Korpisalo. Yet another soft one given up by a Sens goalie. There have been many goals lately that Ottawa's goalies can't blame on poor defensive structure.
2nd period
Some coverage of Angus Crookshank's highlights so far, then a view of his family in the stands eating pizza.
MacEwen takes a high sticking penalty, then Norris and Sanderson let Nicolas Roy blow past them at the blue line for a breakaway goal. Great pass by Prescott's Ben Hutton
Ugh. Sanderson and Norris with another calamity, this one on the power play. Bad pass, bad reception, 2 on 1 for Vegas. It's 4-2. It's hard to imagine the fragile Sens can recover from that tonight.
Vegas fan with mullet repeatedly banging on glass behind Brannstrom behind Ottawa's net. How original.
In hindsight, former Senator Michael Amadio might have been worth keeping around.
Vegas is pressuring hard at the end of the period, and Stutzle finally arrives with a chance to clear and loses it. Vegas cashes in. It's 5-2. Chychrun smashes his stick on the post. He is all of Ottawa right now.
The second-period nightmares continue for Ottawa.
Third Period
I feel like Ottawa hockey fans have gone to bed to prepare for their Monday workday, but I'll continue here.
Ridly Greig takes a slashing call after a fine back check. Is there a more automatic call in hockey than a stick blade to a shooter's hands? Anyway, Vegas makes it 6-2 on the power play.
The EBUG watch is on! Now Logan Thompson, the backup, is injured. He's staying in for now.
Tkachuk is lucky to avoid a tripping call. He wants to fight Carrier, the guy he tripped. Carrier is not interested. Tkachuk's end-of-loss scraps have lost their effect. They are not helping.
This is a group of kids screaming for someone to throw them a life preserver. They need a fresh voice, someone to believe in. They like DJ Smith as a guy, but they can't possibly believe anymore that he has any answers. They need someone to teach them to play the right way and make them accountable when they don't. They must rebalance the roster, sacrifice some skill, and acquire proven winners who play the right way.
Watching Stanley Cup champion Mark Stone chuckling on the bench with his buddies is salt in the wound to Sens fans right after watching Brannstrom have a bad shift.
This is hard to watch. Announcers talking about Ottawa's troubles. The Sens are getting nothing done; they want this to be over. So we have that in common.
Brady Tkachuk gets a beautiful goal on a three-way passing play with Norris and Batherson to cut the lead to 6-3 with under two minutes left.
Game over. Sens fall 6-3. Vegas showed the Sens you can actually win if you're on a back-to-back.
Hopefully, for Sens fans, after Sunday night's performance, what happened in Vegas stays in Vegas. But without changes, it's not likely. The Senators are in Arizona and Colorado this week.