@ Ottawa

Nothing says Toronto hockey like getting doubled up in shots by Ottawa and letting James Reimer look like a Vezina candidate in the year 2026. Dennis Hildeby played out of his mind with thirty five saves just to keep the score respectable while the rest of the roster treated the defensive zone like a vague suggestion. Drake Batherson opened the scoring on a power play just seconds after Luke Haymes went to the box for tripping and things only went downhill from there. The Senators controlled the shot clock in every single period while we struggled to even find the net twenty times.

Warren Foegele added another power play goal in the second period following an Easton Cowan penalty which really highlighted how much our special teams enjoy making life difficult for everyone involved. William Nylander finally decided to show up in the third period by tucking a backhand for his thirtieth goal of the season thanks to some help from Jacob Quillan and Cowan. It provided the exact amount of false hope required to make the eventual Dylan Cozens empty netter feel like a personal insult. Oliver Ekman-Larsson added a late cross-checking penalty just to make sure the comeback attempt stayed dead and buried.

Looking at the box score is an exercise in pain as Claude Giroux spent the game winning eighty seven percent of his faceoffs and treating our centers like trainees. Steven Lorentz tried to hit anything that moved with eight hits but you cannot check your way out of a game where you are constantly chasing the puck. Going zero for two on the power play while giving up two goals on three kills is the kind of mathematical disaster that defines this franchise. It was another classic performance where the goalie was the only one who realized there was a game happening.