The Ottawa Senators continue to struggle defensively, in particular on the penalty kill. Fortunately, last night they were more disciplined against the New York Rangers, but some costly turnovers or poor decisions were to fault. The previous game against the Montreal Canadiens, the Habs were 2/3 on the man advantage. As of writing, the Sens possess the 31st ranked penalty kill, at 68.8% overall. Moreover, their team goaltending isn’t much better. They currently have the second worst save percentage on shots on goals at 77.67%, on 4-on-5 situations. So, just what can the Sens do about it?
Ottawa Senators Defensive Struggles Most Obvious on the Penalty Kill
We can start by saying, we hope that the Shane Pinto injury isn’t anything of significant time. He is basically the Sens premier two-way forward, and a centre, and munches penalty kill minutes to boot.
Between the goaltending, Pinto, and the revolving door that tends to be the Sens specialty teams in general, there is an answer there. If all things are consider equal, Jake Sanderson, Artem Zub, Ridly Greig, and Pinto will dissolve shorthanded situations. A note on another injury front, as Artem Zub and Lars Eller missed last night’s Ranger game. Zub is expected to play Saturday versus the St. Louis Blues, but Eller is less likely to go. Pinto has been ruled out as of print for tomorrow.
Shane Pinto won’t play tomorrow #Sens
— Bruce Garrioch (@SunGarrioch) December 5, 2025
For the penalty kill struggles, besides the key injuries, even earlier in the season, Utah Mammoth Clayton Keller would score a goal, that was for all intents and purposes, a power play goal as it occurred two seconds after Shane Pinto holding penalty ended. It’s just been too much variability and dichotomy in the Sens collective game this season.
Then, there was a game against Dallas, they went 2/3 on the penalty kill. However, the third period goal was a costly one, as it tied the game at two. A game the Sens would ultimately lose in overtime. So, besides the poor results, what else is going?
Some Thoughts on the Penalty Kill Structure
One problem for the Ottawa Senators that has been exposed, potentially from the lack of skill, has been on the penalty kill. They have ranked near the bottom of the league for most of the season. So, overall the penalty kill stats are skewed by the first four games of the season, the respective power plays against went Tampa 2/3, Florida 3/5, Nashville 0/6, Buffalo 3/3, that is a combined 8/17. However, a 73.3% penalty kill rate since those first four games, has not been good enough, either.
The main reason for their struggles on the PK seems to be systematic. The idea is their planned diamond formation relies on everyone executing. Once the attacking team rotates, it is imperative that the Sen defenders combat with also rotating, quickly, and in-synch. However, as a group, they have seemed disjointed. Yes, they have shifted from it somewhat, but that just further adds to summation of changing parts and variables in the penalty kill factorization.
In respect to Ottawa’s diamond kill, they seem like they give up too much space. It is designed to avoid those cross-seam passes from connecting. If Sen penalty killers aren’t lightning fast and hard on the puck, they are prone to getting seemingly caught out of position, but it is kind of by design. However, good teams can take advantage with fast, accurate passing. There is that notion that the Sens lack high-end skill against the top Stanley Cup contenders.
Maybe one thing to consider is to acquire an experienced penalty killer on the open trade market. But a top-six forward scorer would achieve that effect, indirectly. It would allow a current second power play guy to fully commit to the defensive of the puck, in terms of the specialty teams. You know, if needed. The trickle-down effect of a premier, scoring winger, is….vast. Okay, enough of that.
They Have Some of the League’s Best Penalty Killers
The top penalty kill guys, includes Shane Pinto, Ridly Greig, Jake Sanderson, and Artem Zub. All things being considered equal, with that quartet out there, there isn’t going to be a lot of holes.
If we filter on all players at 4-on-5, playing a minimum of 20 minutes, on-ice high danger shot attempts against per 60 minutes, check out these ranks, and percentiles.
- Sanderson – 13th – 93rd
- Zub – 16th – 92nd
- Pinto – 27th – 87th
- Greig – 32nd – 85th
Out of 215 total players. The Sens do have enough depth, for a next-man-up mentality for the second penalty kill. However, similar to the second power play unit, they need reps, they need consistency.
One important trait of strong penalty kill teams, is two very synched killing units. If they are getting good rotation on the blueline with Zub-Sanderson to Tyler Kleven and Nikolas Matinpalo, you’d think those kills would go hand-in-hand. Highly-correlated events, shall we say.
We will finish off with, that there really is a trait of strong teams within this group. Currently, they are in a bit of a slump, that conveniently coincides with the dreaded November timetable for the Ottawa Senators. However, they have been able to stem the tide as they’ve only lost three of four, instead of like something longer. Such as a six or seven-game losing streak. You just really have to think this group is different and they need to dig deep. Perhaps this is a common theme for Ottawa, that they need some time at the beginning of the season to get some rhythm, find their grove, as it were. In an my sense, if and when, general manager Steve Staios needs to make a move, it might not be the time to hesitate.
Main Photo Credit: Nick Turchiaro-Imagn Images
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