Three Takeaways From Tuesday's Ottawa Senators-Colorado Avalanche Game

We aim the spotlight today at the club's incessant blown leads, Ridly Greig's emergence, and Mads Sogaard's season debut.

The Senators lost 7-4 to the Colorado Avalanche on Tuesday night in a game that might well sum up their season. The Sens looked good to start. Then, bit by bit, collapsed into smithereens.

Here are three takeaways from the Senators game against the Avalanche:

1. Mads Sogaard showed enough to keep the job as the Senators' number-one goalie for the time being.

Sogaard came into the game with a .920 save percentage on a pretty good Belleville Senators team. Against the Avalanche, he had very little chance on any of the goals, though he was beaten cleanly from far out on a goal that was then disallowed. Every one of the six goals Sogaard gave up was either on a shot from the slot, a complete screen, or Miles Wood walking past everyone to score. Sogaard made multiple ten-bell saves on Rantanen in the slot. Sogaard brings a calmness that Joonas Korpisalo and Anton Forsberg have not brought to the lineup this season.

2. Ridly Greig is solidifying his importance to the Senators

Greig scored two goals against the Avalanche and easily could have had a hat-trick when Claude Giroux slid the puck over to Greig, whose tap-in attempt barely missed the gaping net in the first period. With the injury to Norris, Grieg has centred the second line admirably. He has five points in the four games since Norris' injury. With the added responsibility, Greig has shown a heightened level to his game.

Meanwhile, he's been a great 5-on-5 producer, leading the team with a +14. He is ready to be part of the Senators forward group for years to come, showing he can hold his own as a top-six forward in the NHL.

3. Senators fragile with the lead

For the second time this season against the Colorado Avalanche, the Senators blew a 4-2 lead. This time, the Senators gave up five unanswered goals instead of four in their previous meeting. The team has now lost 14 games this season after taking a lead at one point in the game. All of those losses have been in regulation, meaning the Senators didn't even salvage a point.

Even some of the victories have included badly blown leads. They blew a four-goal lead against the Red Wings in Sweden, but found a way to win in overtime. Even Saturday's late-game heroics by Vladimir Tarasenko against San Jose were only necessary because the Senators squandered 2-0 and 4-3 leads.

This has been one of the Senators' most significant issues. Losing to the Avalanche again, blowing a 4-2 lead, and allowing five unanswered goals is a microcosm of this Senators' team's play this season: Fragile, sloppy, immature.