Ottawa Senators fall behind 5-0 in 6-3 loss to Vancouver Canucks

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It’s hard to argue with the evidence over a 33-game body of work: When the Ottawa Senators are bad, they can be really bad.

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And when they’re good; well, if it’s any consolation, at least they offer hope things will be better.

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What has been a disappointing 2023-24 season took another polar plunge Tuesday night in Vancouver, with the Senators losing 6-3 to the Canucks.

The Senators fell behind 5-0 in a stinky first period. How bad was it? Five freaking goals on 15 freaking shots.

“You’re not going to win any games in the NHL, giving up five goals in the first period,” said Senators defenceman Thomas Chabot. “It’s plain and simple, we can’t allow five in the first.”

Ottawa’s starting goalie Anton Forsberg was yanked with 4:04 left in the first period, with his team trailing 4-0. Forsberg’s replacement, Joonas Korpisalo, gave up a fifth goal less than a minute later. It’s not like there’s just one problem. But goaltending continues to be a concern, a huge concern.

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The toughest thing for Senators fans to digest: Ottawa was better than Vancouver for the final two periods.

But that first period? Plug-your-nose bad.

“They came out pretty strong, they got a big lead on us,” said Claude Giroux, who had a goal and an assist for the Senators. “We have to be ready when the puck drops. They got a few bounces, but that’s hockey.”

“It was a lesson learned about how hard you have to compete, how hard you have to play,” said Senators coach Jacques Martin. “We need to do things quicker, we need to be harder on pucks.”

It didn’t take long for the Canucks to start the party, with an Ian Cole shot from the point finding its way through traffic and past Ottawa goalie Anton Forsberg 2:14 into the game. It was Cole’s first goal in 90 games.

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Vancouver made it 2-0 when a shot ricocheted off the back boards to the front of the net and it was knocked in by Pius Suter 12:39 into the first.

The Canucks made it 3-0 when Elias Pettersson bounced a puck in off Forsberg’s pads from the side of the net. Then, 24 seconds later, J.T. Miller scored. A Petterson power-play goal made it 5-0.

The Senators came out stronger in the second period, allowing just six shots and scoring the only goal. They made it 5-1 when Giroux dragged the puck past a defender and fired a wrist shot past Canucks goalie Thatcher Demko. Korpisalo came up big with pad saves on a pair of Canucks breakaways, the first one with Ottawa on the power play.

The Senators made it 5-2 early in the third period as Giroux showed patience before sliding a pass to Vladimir Tarasenko, who slid it past Demko.

With Korpisalo pulled, Tarasenko scored his second goal of the game with 2:31 left. But 13 seconds later, Senators fans were probably tossing stuff at their TV sets when the Canucks got a goal from Suter on a shot that bounced past Korpisalo.

Ottawa continues its five-game road trip Thursday in Seattle.

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