Norris: Senators need to start winning road games
Ottawa Senators forward Josh Norris lamented another poor road effort for his club following Tuesday's 5-1 loss to the Buffalo Sabres.
"We haven't been great on the road, and we've got to find a way to start winning some games on the road," Norris said, per the team website.
The loss dropped the Senators to 1-5 away from Ottawa this season, compared to a 5-1 mark at home. Last season, the Senators were 16-23-2 on the road - a key reason they missed the playoffs.
The Senators are commanding 54.75% of expected goals at home this season, but only 48.17% on the road, according to Natural Stat Trick. There's a stark contrast in power-play production, too: Ottawa's converting 43.5% of opportunities this season at the Canadian Tire Centre, but is sputtering at 12.5% elsewhere.
Tuesday's loss saw Buffalo take over the game with three goals in the third period, and Senators head coach Travis Green thought it was an appropriate result.
"They deserved to win," Green said. "They played better than us, special teams. We lost a special-team battle. I thought we weren't strong enough on the puck in certain moments of the game. Sometimes you get what you deserve, and we got it. We got what we deserved tonight."
The Senators are currently fifth in the Atlantic Division at 6-6-0. They play the New York Islanders at home Thursday before a two-game road trip with stops in Boston and Toronto.