Captain Brady Tkachuk gets 100% real about his own form as Senators lose two in a row 

Ottawa Senators captain Brady Tkachuk spoke about his performance following the team's back-to-back losses.

On Thursday, the Senators experienced a disappointing 5-1 defeat to the Colorado Avalanche. Tkachuk has not scored in the last two games, and it has been four games since his last goal.

When asked about his recent gameplay, Tkachuk said that every opportunity is a chance to improve.

"Every opportunity is a chance to get better. Saturday’s another opportunity for me to be at my best, and I’ll just find a way," Tkachuk said postgame.

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The Senators were outshot 14-8 in the first period, with the Avalanche taking advantage by scoring four unanswered goals.

When asked how the team handles being down to four goals in the first period, Tkachuk responded by saying that he felt they were going to make it a competitive game and stage a comeback, although it didn't turn out that way.

"To be honest, I had a really good feeling we were going to make it a game and come back — it just didn’t happen that way. You can't turn on each other or get quiet. You have to stay positive. There was still a lot of time left in the game, and if we capitalize on a couple of chances, it's a completely different game. I’ve got nothing but positivity, belief and trust in this group," he added.

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Brady Tkachuk has not played a single playoff game in his career since being drafted No. 4 overall by the Senators in 2018. However, this year he could make his postseason debut as the Senators (36-27-5) hold a three-point lead atop the Wild Card standings, despite consecutive defeats.

Brady Tkachuk will hope to end his four-game goalless streak when the Senators face off against the New Jersey Devils (37-27-6) next at Prudential Center on Saturday.

Brady Tkachuk goes goalless as Avs thrash Senators

On Thursday, the Colorado Avalanche (42-25-3) defeated the Ottawa Senators by a commanding 5-1 scoreline at Canadian Tire Center.

Nathan Mackinnon opened the scoring for the visitors, giving them a 1-0 lead at 10:29 into the first period. Just over a minute later, Brock Nelson increased the lead to 2-0. Cale Makar then made it 3-0 for the Avalanche after scoring on the power play before Joel Kiviranta capped off the period with a fourth goal.

Nelson netted his second goal of the night to make it 5-0 for Colorado on the power play at 1:54 into the second period. Meanwhile, Dylan Cozens was the lone scorer for the Senators, who scored on the power play at 15:59 of the final period.