The Ottawa Senators refuse to throw in the towel down the stretch

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So what do the Ottawa Senators do for an encore?

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Coming off a 2-1 overtime victory over the Pittsburgh Penguins on Tuesday night, the Senators were back on the ice at the Canadian Tire Centre before they made their way to Columbus to open a two-game road trip against the Blue Jackets on Thursday night at Nationwide Arena.

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Nobody expected the Senators would be 16 points out of the final wild-card spot in the East with 19 games left on the schedule, and they’re as mystified as everybody else about why they can’t bring the same kind of effort every night that was on display against the Penguins.

The victory ended a seven-game winless skid for the Senators and was the club’s first since Feb. 24 against the Vegas Golden Knights.

“It was a rough stretch. It’s just bizarre, I mean, that’s the way that we should play every night,” defenceman Jakob Chychrun said Wednesday after the team’s skate in Ottawa. “We’re capable of doing it and it’s just a matter of doing it every night. It’s nice to get that one and, hopefully, build off it.

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“I know I feel like I say it all the time, but when we play well we really do need to try to build off it and not take two steps back.”

Chychrun couldn’t be more correct on that front.

There have been times the Senators played down to the level of their competition. No, they shouldn’t be throwing darts in anyone’s direction while sitting at No. 28 in the league, but they’ve dropped games against opposition that should be no match.

“There was a lot to like (about the Pittsburgh win),” Chychrun said. “I felt like we were connected all over the ice. It was just a really solid game. We always preach 60 minutes and there’s always games where there’s always five or 10 minutes here or there where we we have mental lapses.

“(Tuesday) night just felt like it was a complete game.”

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No, Sidney Crosby and the Penguins aren’t even close to the team that won back-to-back Stanley Cup championships in 2016 and 2017, but they still have a lot of talent, and the Senators had a textbook effort in that one.

Chychrun believes the Senators need to do a better job as a group trying to make a difference rather than relying on captain Brady Tkachuk and veteran alternate captain Claude Giroux to lead the charge every night.

“I think (Giroux) can only lead the bus so often,” said Chychrun. “He’s a guy that I’ve looked up to so much this year and learned so much from. He’s someone in this room that everybody really appreciates.

“He plays with so much emotion, and Brady does as well, but we need more guys to (step up). You can’t expect them to do it every single night. We just need everybody to continue to show that emotion, and play with that emotion, especially down the stretch.

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“We don’t want to pack it in. We want to continue to build and work towards something, especially for the start of next year.”

The Senators had strong performances in all aspects of their game and that’s why they were able to halt the skid against the Penguins.

“My kind of game, 2-1, should have been 1-0, but that’s OK, I’m flexible,” interim coach Jacques Martin said with a smile after Drake Batherson’s career-high 23rd goal of the season sealed the win.

Goaltender Joonas Korpisalo was at his best with 34 stops to record his first win since Feb. 10 against the Toronto Maple Leafs, and if Michael Bunting doesn’t score with 22.6 seconds left it would have been a shutout. The Senators did a good job in front of him defensively.

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Judging by the skate on Wednesday, it would appear Anton Forsberg, who hasn’t played since March 1 in 4-1 loss against Arizona, will start in Columbus.

Goaltending is an area the club is hoping to see an improvement down the stretch.

“When you look at teams that are playoff-bound, you look at their goals-against. It doesn’t take Einstein to know that you’ve got to be able to keep the puck out of your net,” Martin said. “You’ve got do a better job.

“That’s the whole team, it’s goalies, defence and forwards, and you’ve got to have everybody pitching in to get the job done. Sometimes, it’s blocking shots. You look at the teams that are successful, they block a lot of shots.”

The Senators need to pick up in Columbus where they left off against the Penguins. It’s as simple as that.

“We did a lot of good things,” Martin said. “We battled hard, we had good support on the puck. I thought we did a better job than usual breaking out of own zone. That’s one area of our game in the stretch that would help us, if we’re able to get the puck out quicker.

“If that happens, we can spend more time in the offensive zone.”

It’s better late than never for the Senators.

BGarrioch@postmedia.com

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