The Ottawa Senators are finding ways to win while captain Brady Tkachuk continues to work his way back from thumb surgery.
After a sluggish stretch following Tkachuk’s injury, Ottawa (8-5-3) takes a five-game point streak (3-0-2) into its home game against the Dallas Stars at Canadian Tire Centre on Tuesday (7 p.m. ET; RDS2, TSN5, Victory+). The Senators won 4-2 against the Utah Mammoth on Sunday.
“The first couple of games you could see our guys, they were even a little bit more exuberant to try and make sure we were not going to miss a step,” general manager Steve Staios said Monday. “But the strength is in the group and in the team, the way that we play, the way we’re coached, the commitment, the character of this group. That’s our identity.”
Tkachuk sustained his injury in the first period of a 4-1 loss to the Nashville Predators on Oct. 13. He had surgery three days later and was expected to be out 6-8 weeks, a timeline Staios said hasn’t changed. Tkachuk had three assists in three games.
The Senators lost three of the first four (1-2-1) after Tkachuk’s injury. They are 6-1-2 since Oct. 23.
“One thing about Brady, he’s been around,” coach Travis Green said after the win Sunday. “It’s not like he’s missing; he’s around a lot, he’s traveling with the team. But we don’t really talk about it.
“As much as we want him in the lineup, we have players who can play. It’s just the next-man-up mentality. We’re not looking to use excuses. You have to win with injuries in the League.”
The Senators ended a seven-season Stanley Cup Playoff drought last season, finishing as the first wild card in the Eastern Conference. They lost in the first round to the Toronto Maple Leafs in six games.
But they sputtered to start this season, going 2-4-1 in their first seven games. Staios said he was surprised but attributed it partly to two things — the higher expectations placed on them after the playoff appearance, and pressing to generate offense.
