Senators feeling better about their game, despite 3-2 overtime loss to Stars

OTTAWA — With points in 10 of their last 11 games, the Ottawa Senators feel like they’re trending in the right direction.

In an Eastern Conference where a single point can put you in contention or take you out of it, the Senators (8-5-4) know far too well the importance of picking up every point they can get.

“I think it’s just the persistency of this team,” said Nick Jensen, after his team dropped a 3-2 overtime decision to the visiting Dallas Stars on Tuesday night. “Sometimes games don’t go your way when they should, and, you know, you can get down or feel bad about it but I think this group just gets right back at it the next day.

“And takes that approach day-by-day and I think that process driven approach is something that’s going to keep us successful.”

While things didn’t start off as well as the Senators would have liked in October, they seem to be hitting their stride in November, a month that previously has proven extremely challenging for the NHL club.

With 13 games on the schedule this month and only four of them at home, Ottawa knows it can’t afford any off nights. The Senators have started the stretch with a 2-0-3 record and will wrap up their final two home games later this week before embarking on a six-game road trip that includes stops in California, St. Louis and Dallas.

Coach Travis Green felt his team started off extremely well for the first 37 minutes on Tuesday night and “it might have been our best hockey of the year.”

Green felt his team did a lot of good things and probably could have recorded the win, but gave up a few chances.

Through this stretch the Senators have benefited from secondary scoring, crucial as it awaits the return of captain Brady Tkachuk who remains sidelined.

Ottawa has seen contributions from Michael Amadio, with four goals in his last five games, Nick Cousins and most recently Jensen.

Jensen, who underwent invasive hip surgery this summer, is just happy to be able to contribute.

Jensen had struggled a bit of late and been moved from his usual pairing with Thomas Chabot to playing with Tyler Kleven on the third pairing.

“I don’t really want to dwell on what has gone on in the past, whether surgery or whatever, it’s a day-by-day, game-by-game, shift-by-shift mentality that I’ve always taken,” Jensen said. “Chips are going to fall where they fall, and I think if you take that approach a lot of times you’re going to get good results.”

Ottawa doesn’t want to get ahead of itself but knows expectations are high and accountability will be key through the long season. Finding consistency in its game early in the season will be critical in order to find themselves in a good spot come April.

Like their coach, players found a lot to like from their game against Dallas and want to build off it.

“We were on it,” said goaltender Linus Ullmark, who had one of his best performances of the season. “We were skating, doing a lot of good things, putting them on their heels, get two really good goals and keeping them on the outside in our own zone.

“So, there was a lot of good things. Might be one of the best periods that we played this season so far.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 11, 2025.