Tkachuk: Sometimes, "you play well enough to win, but you don't. So you just gotta regroup and go at it again."
When Brady Tkachuk suffered a thumb injury in the third game of the season, Senators fans hoped their team would be able to stay above water in the Atlantic until their captain returned to the helm.
In all, Tkachuk missed 20 games, and the Senators more than held their own in his absence. On American Thanksgiving, the day of Tkachuk's return, the Senators hoped to begin separating themselves from at least some of the logjam in the division and conference.
They succeeded in that, but not in the way they had hoped.
Since Tkachuk got back, the Sens have gone 1-4-0, dropping to second last in the conference, ahead of only the Buffalo Sabres. This is the least successful five-game stretch of the young season, and the fact that it coincides with Tkachuk's return is another example of the weirdness in the East this season, where every Atlantic team (except Buffalo) is within four points of the Division lead.
"It's different," Tkachuk told the media on Sunday. "(The tight standings) are a whole new experience where every game means so much. Like you said, if you have three really good games in a row but lose the next three, you could be back near the bottom. So we're just sticking with it; it's a long season. You never know, we might just take off and not look back. And so that's the faith and confidence that we have."
After gathering just two of a possible ten points since Tkachuk's return, the Senators have basically dumped all of their room for error into the nearby Carp River. Tkachuk is one of the best players in the league, so it's ludicrous to describe his return as anything but a major positive to the group. It certainly hasn't helped that his dry spell has coincided with the loss of key players Shane Pinto and Thomas Chabot.
While no one ever wants to hit a rough patch, the nature of the sport, combined with a league so evenly matched, allows for fortune to play a meaningful role in outcomes.
"The last two games, arguably, we could have points in those games. So sometimes that's what happens. You play well enough to win, but you don't. So you just gotta regroup and go at it again."
But it's hardly just a game of chance, and the Senators are certainly capable of playing better. Tkachuk was asked what they need to do to get some consistency back and claw their way back into playoff position.
"Yeah, I think a lot of it just needs to be simplified a little bit. Pucks to the net, getting guys on the inside. And we haven't scored, I think, in the last two games, five on five. So we need to get on the inside and get to the dirty areas, myself included. I feel like I've been drifting to the outside a little bit too much.
"Especially the last two games, where their goalies have been playing really, really well. We just have to make life tough on them as much as possible. So it's a long season. There's a lot of growth that we know we can get to. And we've put ourselves in a solid spot. Everything's so tight in the East where two, three games changes where you're at.
"So, we're just sticking with it, staying positive and just kind of grinding it out."
The Senators will finish up their homestand on Tuesday night against the New Jersey Devils.
Steve Warne
The Hockey News - Ottawa
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