The Ottawa Senators didn’t just lose another game against the Carolina Hurricanes — they reinforced a season-long pattern that has now forced the organization’s hand.
For months, the Senators’ penalty kill (PK) has lingered as a sore spot. A “hot topic,” as head coach Travis Green once put it. That quote wasn’t from last week. It was from October. And yet, here the Senators were again, watching another multi-goal lead dissolve under the weight of missed assignments, failed clears, and defensive chaos while shorthanded.
Eventually, déjà vu stops being coincidence and starts becoming a crisis.
Ahead of a Hockey Night in Canada matchup against the Hurricanes, Ottawa removed penalty-killing responsibilities from assistant coach Nolan Baumgartner and handed them to fellow assistant Mike Yeo — a subtle move on paper, but one that speaks volumes about how dire the situation has become.
A Penalty Kill Dragging Down an Entire Season
The numbers are stark. The Senators currently sit with the second-worst penalty kill in the NHL, an almost guaranteed recipe for losing hockey games. Simply put, no team survives long when nearly every trip to the penalty box turns into a scoring chance against.
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That reality came crashing down in Nashville. Ottawa was cruising with a 3–0 lead late in the second period before a series of penalties exposed everything that has plagued their PK all season. Two aggressive, overextended clearing attempts by Ridly Greig and Shane Pinto set the stage. A goal followed. Then another.
By the third period, missed reads in transition began to undo the Senators — most notably when Tyler Kleven failed to properly sort coverage as Ottawa came out of a penalty kill. As the Senators shifted from their shorthanded structure back to even strength, Jonathan Marchessault slipped into open ice unchecked, exploiting the momentary confusion and cutting the lead to one. Moments later, Artem Zub allowed a cross-seam pass to Steven Stamkos in the diamond formation — the one player you simply cannot leave unchecked. Tie game. Inevitable outcome.
Over the last week alone, Ottawa has blown three multi-goal leads, allowing six goals while shorthanded, not including goals scored immediately after penalty kills. When momentum swings this violently and consistently, the penalty kill isn’t just a weakness — it’s a liability shaping the standings.
Analytics vs. Reality: Where the PK Falls Apart
To the coaching staff’s credit, the Senators’ underlying numbers have suggested the penalty kill shouldn’t be this bad. Ottawa ranks near the top of the league in expected goals share while shorthanded, and against Nashville, they allowed just 0.42 expected goals against on the PK.
But hockey isn’t played on spreadsheets.
Analytics can’t fully capture blown coverages in the slot, attackers left alone on the back door, or shooters walking into prime areas uncontested. Montreal’s Cole Caufield and Juraj Slafkovský roaming freely. Detroit’s James van Riemsdyk pulling off a between-the-legs move with time to spare. Stamkos tapping in back-door goals. These aren’t hard-earned power-play markers — they’re defensive breakdowns.
And when you use your eyes, the answer becomes obvious.
Goaltending Isn’t the Excuse Anymore
For much of the season, Ottawa’s historically poor goaltending masked other issues. That can no longer be the fallback.
The Senators own a .791 save percentage (SV%) on the penalty kill, the worst by any NHL team since tracking began in 1999-00. Yet recently, the goaltender hasn’t been the problem. James Reimer, for example, has posted a .911 SV% at even strength, the best among Senators goalies this season, while still sitting at .833 on the PK — also the best on the team.
When your goalie performs better at five-on-five than shorthanded by such a margin, the finger naturally points back to structure, reads, and execution.
Why the Coaching Change Matters
Ottawa hasn’t dramatically altered its penalty-killing structure despite the results. The Senators primarily operate out of a diamond formation, occasionally switching to a hybrid box depending on the opposition. Conceptually, there’s nothing unique about it — many NHL teams use the same setup with success.
The issue has been consistency.
Earlier in the season, Ottawa looked passive on the PK. Lately, they’ve swung too far in the opposite direction, becoming overly aggressive and struggling to clear the puck under pressure. Too often, penalty killers miss assignments or chase plays that don’t need to be chased.
That’s where Yeo’s influence becomes critical.
Yeo brings extensive experience implementing structured defensive systems, and his promotion signals a desire for clarity and accountability rather than wholesale reinvention. This isn’t about tearing everything down — it’s about correcting details that have snowballed into season-altering mistakes.
What This Means Going Forward
According to MoneyPuck, the Senators now face a 75 percent chance of missing the playoffs. That’s a sobering number for a team that entered the season expecting meaningful spring hockey.
The frustration deepens when you consider that Ottawa’s PK has been significantly better at home (79.5%) than on the road (65.1%). If the Senators merely killed penalties at their home rate away from Canadian Tire Centre, they’d sit around 15th in the NHL — league average, but survivable.
That’s the sliver of hope this coaching change represents.
Green summed it up best: the problem should be fixable, but it hasn’t been that simple. Now, time is running out. With the trade deadline looming and playoff odds slipping, the Senators can’t afford for this move to be symbolic.
The penalty kill didn’t just cost Ottawa another game. It may determine how this entire season — and potentially this coaching staff — is remembered.
And now, for the first time all season, something has finally changed.
