Jerome Miron-Imagn ImagesDanny McCloskeyMon, December 1, 2025 at 1:58 AM UTC·3 min readWell, I think the Senators are ready to come home. After a great start to their seven game road trip that saw the Sens go 3-1 against the California teams, plus Vegas, the Sens have now lost two straight. The first was a 4-3 loss to the St. Louis Blues, where they had defensive breakdown after defensive breakdown. Tonight, it was a 6-1 beatdown by the Dallas Stars, where the Senators played one of their worst games of the season. Let’s dive into the details.
READ MORE: Life Without Brady Tkachuk by the Numbers
Ugly Defensive Play
The first shot of the game for the Stars was a grade A opportunity on a nice feed by Tyler Seguin to Oskar Back that Linus Ullmark had to make a great save on. That was just a sign of things to come. Jason Robertson’s goal came on a bad turnover by Stützle, followed by Stützle allowing Robertson to take an easy lane to the slot. The next goal saw Wyatt Johnston left all alone in front. Johnston was left all alone for the next goal as well. Then it was Jamie Benn, who as you likely guessed, was left all alone in front.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementIt wasn’t just the goals that saw breakdowns by the Senators. They had trouble in their own zone the whole game. They couldn’t handle the Stars forecheck, and made the wrong play with the puck time after time. Jordan Spence led the way with five giveaways. Tyler Kleven had a rough game as well.
Poor Power Play
The Senators went scoreless on their three power plays tonight. They struggled to create anything worth talking about on those three attempts. This has become an ongoing issue. Here is the power play comparison in October versus November:
October (12 games): 13-45, 28.9%
November (13 games): 4-33, 12.1%
Why they went from 3.8 to 2.5 power plays per game is tough to figure out. Perhaps the difference is just all the missed calls on infractions against Stützle. Nonetheless, the 12.1% success rate is a big concern. With Tkachuk back in the mix, there aren’t any excuses. They have enough firepower to score on at least 20% of their power plays.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementAdditional Notes
I could’ve lumped in the poor penalty kill with the poor power play, but we’re used to that by now. The Sens gave up another two power play goals against and currently have the 31st ranked penalty kill in the league at just under 70%. This game didn’t start so bad, with the teams going scoreless through the first. Then, this was the second period: three goals for the Stars, four shots for the Senators. It only got worse in the third. That’s back to back bad games from Stützle, going minus three in both games. Linus Ullmark is not at the top of the list for guys to blame for this loss, but his already low save percentage is even lower now. It’s now under .880. Up next for the Sens, the end of their road trip! It’ll be against the Canadiens, on Tuesday.
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