The Ottawa Senators probably didn't deserve to win Thursday night's game against the New Jersey Devils. Ultimately they didn't, falling 5-4 in overtime.
But with a two-goal lead heading into the third period, they should have found a way to bring it home. The Senators in the Guy Boucher era have prided themselves on being able to shut down their opponents when it matters, but they simply didn't have any answers for the young Devils' speed and relentless forecheck. With little time to make decisions with the puck in their own zone, they made bad ones.
Now, after letting another point slip away at home (they're winless in four games at the Canadian Tire Centre so far this year) and with the offensively gifted Toronto Maple Leafs coming in on Saturday, they face the prospect of a three-game losing streak that would all but wipe out the good work they did on their western Canadian road trip.