The Ottawa Senators started 2025 with a 4-2 loss to the Dallas Stars and with an effort that didn’t please Brady Tkachuk and head coach Travis Green.
The Senators held a 2-1 lead after 20 minutes of play Thursday, but the Stars took the lead heading into the third period and dominated Ottawa from then on, leading 9-2 in shots in the final period and adding an insurance goal with just over six minutes remaining.
“The second half of the match was embarrassing. It’s just bad hockey on our part, it’s unacceptable, said the captain after the match. You have to give them credit, they played well.
“The only thing we can control is ourselves and our individual decisions. It’s just not the way we play. Thank God we play tomorrow. We can move on. There are a lot of lessons to be learned from this game and from each presence on the ice,” said Tkachuk.
The loss comes as the Senators continue to fight to hold on to the final playoff spot in the East. Ottawa will visit the Saint Louis Blues on Friday.
“We got what we deserved,” Green added. Our team didn’t play very well. We didn’t play 60 minutes, our power play wasn’t very good, we weren’t good with the puck, we took a lot of penalties and I just didn’t think we were effective.
“Tonight we weren’t good enough and our players know it. Some of our players were not up to par. It wasn’t one or two, I think 70% of our team played poorly. »
The Senators (19-16-2) are one point ahead of the Pittsburgh Penguins and hold the final spot among drafted teams with two games in hand.
