Sens' Chabot: Blowout loss to Avs one of the worst games I've played
Thomas Chabot was frank when assessing his performance in a 7-0 loss to the Colorado Avalanche on Saturday night.
"Especially for myself, I think it was probably one of the worst games I've ever played, personally," the Ottawa Senators defenseman said. "It happened, it's a game, but it's unacceptable for me. You've got to move on, (and) it's going to be a long night thinking about it."
Senators captain Brady Tkachuk also wasn't proud of his or Ottawa's play in the blowout.
"It's embarrassing," he said. "(We) just can't keep doing this. It's frustrating. I'm at a loss for words right now.
"I wouldn't even say we were looking for answers," he added. "We were just awful all night from start to finish. I don't think we had momentum shift on our side. They were just coming at us all game, (and) it was just unacceptable. That can never happen."
The Senators trailed 2-0 after 20 minutes before giving up two more goals in the second period and three in the third. Mikko Rantanen, Artturi Lehkonen, and Alex Newhook each buried a pair of tallies in Colorado's victory, with the latter two players adding an assist apiece. Brad Hunt potted the other marker.
Colorado only outshot Ottawa by four (33-29). Still, the victors controlled puck possession and converted one of their two power-play opportunities, while the Sens went 0-for-3 on the man advantage. The Avalanche also accounted for 57.49% of the game's expected goals and a 51.85% share of the scoring chances, according to Natural Stat Trick.
Chabot's underlying numbers illustrate how poorly he played. The Senators controlled only 33.12% of the expected goals with him on the ice at five-on-five and a mere 23.53% share of the scoring chances. He had one giveaway and no takeaways in 23:13 of ice time.
To his credit, the 25-year-old ranks among the NHL's best in terms of his workload, averaging 25:59 of ice time to go along with 22 points in 37 games this season.
Colorado had lost seven of its previous eight games, including a humiliating 3-2 defeat to the league-worst Chicago Blackhawks on Thursday. The Avalanche have been without numerous impact players all season due to injuries.