Ullmark’s injury, lack of discipline, and more: 3 reasons why Ottawa Senators lost 3-1 against Edmonton Oilers

By Nestor Quixtan

Modified Dec 23, 2024 04:40 GMT

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The Ottawa Senators dropped a tight-checking 3-1 decision to the Edmonton Oilers on Sunday night at Rogers Place. The loss prevented the Senators from moving up in the Atlantic Division standings, while the Tampa Bay Lightning also lost on Sunday.

Nick Cousins got the lone goal for the Ottawa Senators, while Viktor Arvidsson, Zach Hyman, and Adam Henrique got the tallies for the Oilers.

So, here’s a look at the three key reasons why the Ottawa Senators lost to the Edmonton Oilers on Sunday night.

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Three key reasons why Ottawa Senators lost against Edmonton Oilers

#3 The Senators' lack of discipline

The Ottawa Senators took five penalties, including three in the second period. Unfortunately for Ottawa, the time spent killing penalties took away from their ability to get their game going.

As such, they struggled to find momentum against the Oilers. While the Sens only gave up one power play goal in five chances, that lone tally proved to be the game-winner.

As for the Sens’ power play, they had just one opportunity. They failed to score, which could have put them ahead. Instead, Zach Hyman put the Oilers up for good.

#2 The Senators couldn’t get past the Oilers defense

The Oilers blocked 24 shot attempts on the night, plus the 21 that got through, resulting in 45 attempts on net. However, the fact that the Oilers blocked most of the shots meant that the Senators’ scoring chances were drastically reduced.

Moving forward, the Senators will need to find better ways of moving the puck. Merely getting shots on net isn't enough to generate high-danger chances.

Moreover, the Oilers did a good job of clearing the front of the net of rebounds. Except for a flurry of shots near the end of the first period, the Sens were unable to pepper Oilers’ netminder Stuart Skinner with rebounds and secondary scoring chances.

#3 Ullmark injury

Linus Ullmark was forced to leave the game after 20 minutes due to back tightness, the Ottawa Citizen reported.

The Citizen quoted Ottawa Senators Travis Green as saying:

“His back tightened up so we felt that it was best that he came out.”

Despite losing Ullmark, the Sens played relatively well in front of backup Leevi Merilainen. Merilainen made several strong saves to keep the Senators in the game, but he couldn’t steal the game for Ottawa.

Nick Cousins said:

“He’s super calm back there.”

The Senators will hit the Christmas break on a sour note. They next hit the ice on Dec. 28 against the Winnipeg Jets.