Tkachuk-less Senators showcasing many promising signs

OTTAWA — October can be a scary month and not just because of the pending goblins.

In the NHL, where margins are about as slim as steel profits in a trade war, teams are desperate to get off to good starts, but victories and points are just part of the measure.

Long-term health questions and injuries are what keep general managers up at night. No one wants to be the Florida Panthers of last season — or is it again this season?

When new Ottawa winger William Eklund was writhing on the ice in pain during the first period of Thursday’s Senators home opener, it was viewed in the context of here-we-go-again.

Already missing their top defence pair, and having whispered a prayer to the hockey gods that goaltender Linus Ullmark was OK, after he didn’t finish his last start on the road, the Sens couldn’t be helped for thinking the worst.

The loss of Eklund for who knows how long — there was no update post-game but his grimaced face was a bad omen — is going to raise concerns about this team’s ability to score enough this season. Because that was an issue before the season even started.

Another new recruit expected to help with offence, Andre Burakovsky, has been out since getting shaken up in a pre-season game versus the Montreal Canadiens. Burakovsky did skate with the team Thursday and could be back this weekend.

While each week has seemed to bring a fresh ailment, Eklund aside, skies are brightening on the injury front.

Ullmark was declared good to go and was outstanding in a tight 2-1 win over the Flyers on Thursday. Honestly, if Ullmark can stay healthy and play like this, the Sens are going to be a playoff team.

Jake Sanderson may be close to returning to practice, as he's back skating on his own. The star blue-liner looked shocked to receive a huge ovation while being introduced pre-game in street clothes. No Dylan Larkin situation here. Fans can’t wait for their “Sandy” to return.

Sanderson, previously last seen slamming the boards with his fists in frustration after his season debut in Toronto didn’t exceed five minutes, remains sidelined by a lingering lower-body injury. While not considered serious, it is nagging him enough to keep him out.

The fact that Sanderson’s partner Artem Zub skated Thursday morning for the first time in a regular practice jersey was a sign he could be getting close.

After two defining road wins to open the season — when the Senators get a lead and shut down their opponent, around here that is called ‘Senators hockey’ — the team suffered a letdown in Detroit and lost with their backup, Sam Ersson, in goal.

That three-game trip finally pointed homeward where the Senators met winless Philadelphia. Despite the hype and fanfare of a home opener, that the Sens barely eked out a win vs Philly was more than OK against a desperate opponent.

At their best, the Sens have looked promising over their first couple of weeks and now sit at a tidy 3-1-0 to open the season.

They’re led by the strength of new captain Thomas Chabot — that ‘C’ ain’t heavy, it’s buoyant — and Tim Stützle, evidently wearing rocket skates that somehow pass NHL equipment codes. The Senators look like a team hell bent to prove they don’t need ex-captain Brady Tkachuk around here any more. Dare we say it, they’re playing with a Tkachip on their shoulders.

Fans feel that way, too, especially the guy who rigged the back of his Sens jersey with white tape, turning the 7 into a 72 and the name band Tkachuk into Chabot. Clever work that.

Chabot must have thought the roof was coming off when he was introduced as captain in the home-opener ceremonies. This is what happens when you’re the leader who always just wanted to be here and you replace a guy who dumped Ottawa for Florida. It doesn’t hurt that Chabot is playing some of his best hockey, skating freely and playing a strong two-way game, eating some of Sanderson’s missing minutes.

Still, Chabot was taken aback by the crowd reaction.

“It was awesome and a little overwhelming, I’m not going to lie,” Chabot said. “They show support to every single guy on the team and obviously a little bit extra special for me tonight.”

Stützle flying

Throughout their history, the Senators have usually had a player you couldn’t take your eyes off when you went to the rink. Players like Marian Hossa, Martin Havlat, Erik Karlsson.

Today, the player you watch the moment he leaps over the boards is No. 18, Stützle. Move your gaze at your peril. Has he gotten better because he’s out of Tkachuk’s shadow? Tkachuk was like a big brother to Stützle, roughing up anyone who looked at him the wrong way. The sense is that Stützle is capable of fending for himself now.

From the first shift of training camp, it was evident Stutzle was at a different level. And not just with his skating, but his finish around the net. As though that guy who used to miss open nets and look skyward was no relation.

We are just four games deep into an 84-game season, but Stützle has the look of a player at the cusp of a special season. He had three goals and three assists over his first three games but was held off the sheet in the Philly grind-fest.

“I just think you’re just seeing the evolution of a young player,” said head coach Travis Green.

In his heightened leadership role, Chabot loves what he has seen so far from Stützle.

“It’s his progress every year, it seems like he gets better and better and we’re seeing it again this year,” Chabot said.

“I mean, he’s our guy up front. He’s the guy taking charge and leading the forwards up there. So, to see him play like this right now, it’s huge for us.”

Against the Flyers, Stützle had his work cut out, losing his winger, Eklund, early in the game. There was little open ice for the centre’s finesse.

As groans began to greet the Senators’ flailing power play, rookie D-man Carter Yakemchuk made everyone forget the team’s 1-for-17 conversion rate when his power play blast gave Ottawa a third period lead to last. It was hilarious to see the usually laconic Yakemchuk drop to one knee for a glove-swiping celly.

“I was excited,” said the 21-year-old. “We battled hard all game and to finally get rewarded with one on the power play, it felt really good.”

Crazily, Yakemchuk wasn’t the only 21-year-old defenceman on Ottawa’s blueline, with Hoyt Stanley having been called up from AHL Belleville that afternoon because Cameron Crotty was sick.

On game day, Stanley drove to Ottawa from Belleville (about three hours) in a car he shares with his brother, fuelled by a prepared meal from a local Metro.

Stanley described his NHL debut as a “kind of like a dream,” and one that won’t sink in for a while. It was a night that any defenceman, young or old, could appreciate, Ottawa closing out the win with bodies flying in front of pucks as the Flyers did everything but tie the game and force overtime. Dylan Cozens provided one memorable game-saving block.

May we present the .750 Senators for the moment — a determined hockey team in the nation’s capital at a particular time in our history when we’re sensitive to hockey players and entire provinces talking about leaving our nest.

And yet here are a couple of gamers — one Canadian, one German, happy as can be to be here with us.

It’s a beautiful thing. If these Senators regain some health and win some big games, they have a chance to be one of the most popular Ottawa hockey clubs in years.

A bell for Razor

In a moving pre-game ceremony, the family of late Senators goaltender Ray Emery clanged the bell to launch Ottawa’s season. Emery, just 35, died of a drowning accident in Hamilton Harbour in 2018.

Emery's nephew, Michael Raymond, wore one of Ray’s goalie masks as he energetically worked the bell.

Emery was the Senators' goaltender during Ottawa’s only modern-day visit to a Stanley Cup Final, in 2007. As he was a boxing aficionado, a ringing bell seems the perfect note to sound for Razor.