Senators' Drake Batherson opens up on crucial team meeting held following team's 5-0 drubbing

The Ottawa Senators were a dark horse to make the playoffs this season but have struggled out of the gates. Ottawa is 11-11 and dead last in the Eastern Conference, but they have played fewer games than the teams ahead of them.

Although Ottawa is just 3-2 in their last five, following a 5-0 loss at home to the Florida Panthers on Nov. 27, the Senators held a team meeting. Right winger Drake Batherson told The Athletic that this was productive.

“It wasn’t a meeting where you come in and the coach kind of gives it to you. It was more of a meeting saying, ‘Let’s change a few things up.'”

Since the meeting, Drake Batherson says the team has gotten better and started to adapt to the changes that D.J. Smith wanted.

“The way I look at it, it’s like teaching a new chapter in school, right? The best students adapt pretty quickly,” said Batherson. “It’s the NHL and we’re all the best at this game. So we better be able to adapt quickly.”

Batherson wasn't the only Ottawa Senators player to talk about the meeting as defenseman Jakob Chychrun also said it was much needed for the team.

“That meeting after the Florida game was really good,” said Chychrun. “It’s been great since. The changes we’ve made have been working for us.”

Senators know they have work to do

Ottawa is currently nine points out of a wild card spot but does have four games in over the New York Islanders, which could result in eight points for the Senators.

However, Ottawa has yet to go on a winning streak and prove they can make the playoffs, but Drake Batherson knows the team needs to go on a run soon.

“We laid an egg. And with the standings right now and where we’re at, we can’t afford to do that,” Batherson said. “That wasn’t good at all. It was a bit of an eye-opener for us. We really had to get dialed in after that.”

Ottawa is set to host the Carolina Hurricanes on Tuesday before going on the road to play the St. Louis Blues on Thursday.