Jake Sanderson’s breakout season continues as his OT winner keeps Senators alive

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OTTAWA — There were mounting expectations that Jake Sanderson would take a step forward during the 2024-25 season, as was the case for just about all of his Ottawa Senators teammates. When Sanderson wasn’t meeting his expectations, he sought as much help as possible. It paid off through a career season for the 22-year-old defenceman.

It has led to the most important moment of his career so far. He celebrated with fans Saturday as the game’s first star as his dad, longtime NHLer Geoff Sanderson, looked on from the stands and beamed with pride.

“Probably No. 1,” Jake Sanderson said when asked where his overtime goal in a 4-3 win over the Toronto Maple Leafs in Game 4 ranked in his short career.

The younger Sanderson and his teammates are still alive in the Stanley Cup playoffs. After back-to-back overtime losses, the Sens finally got an extra-time win. (Third time’s the charm, right?)

Sanderson recorded a goal and an assist in the victory, getting the primary assist on Tim Stützle’s game-opening goal before his overtime heroics. Sanderson also logged 30:05, three shot blocks and three shots on net. His goal came after Tyler Kleven swung the puck along the boards, but he perhaps redirected the puck a touch too hard. It threatened to leave the offensive zone.

And then came Sanderson, sprinting from the bench to keep the puck in play for the Sens.

“I just hurried and (a) guy was on me. I just threw it to the net.” Sanderson said.

CATCH US WATCHING THIS ON REPEAT 🔁#GoSensGo pic.twitter.com/Ltf5N8NPlV

— X – Ottawa Senators (@Senators) April 27, 2025

When the puck entered the net, jubilation abounded as his teammates mobbed him along the boards. The goal sent the 19,094 in attendance at the Canadian Tire Centre into a frenzy, creating a core memory for those too young to appreciate the Senators’ high points from previous Battles of Ontario.

“It was awesome,” Sanderson said.

It also allowed an entire organization and fan base one precious moment to breathe.

“Just a relief,” Sens captain Brady Tkachuk said. “What a goal. What a timely goal it was. I honestly can’t even really describe the feeling. It happened so fast, and to do it in front of this unbelievable fan base that’s sticking with us in this hard road ahead of us, it’s a special moment.”

We rewind to the second period when the Senators still had a 2-1 lead, so we can observe an initial stress point and a mistake that Sanderson had to rebound from.

Ottawa built its lead after playing its best first period of the series, taking it to the Leafs in most statistical categories. But halfway through the game’s middle, Sanderson and partner Artem Zub failed to communicate. They left too much space between themselves, giving Leafs forward Matthew Knies all the room he needed to bully his way forward and beat Linus Ullmark on a breakaway. It tied the game and sapped much of the momentum the Senators had built.

“We’ve got to communicate better,” Sanderson said. “I think the puck just squirted out in between us. There wasn’t a lot of talking. We’ll clean that up.”

“Things happen in the game. There’s a lot of mistakes that are made in the game,” Sens coach Travis Green said. “Whenever someone gets a scoring chance in today’s game, someone usually has made a tiny mistake. (Toronto has) good players, they’re going to make plays.”

A near-drought in shots followed after that. Ottawa totaled four shots in the second and third periods, and only three came at five-on-five. The Senators got a third-period goal from David Perron off one of those shots. The Senators were nowhere near the same tempo they showed in the opening period.

Once the Sens met in the dressing room for overtime, they were given clear directives to ramp up their shot count.

“One of the things we talked about was don’t pass up a shot,” Green said. “A lot of times, overtimes are ended with a shot like tonight. Be around the net if you can get a puck to the paint. But don’t get a shot blocked so the other team goes and gets a breakaway. You’re not just throwing pucks to the paint.”

The Senators almost didn’t get to realize their vision. Minutes into overtime, they were to kill off a double-minor penalty for high-sticking taken by Drake Batherson against a Leafs power play that has had its way all series. But the Sens survived and eventually pressed back on the attack. The Sens fired seven shots on goal in overtime.

Sanderson had one shot on goal through regulation. He notched two in overtime, including his winner. Once Sanderson corralled the puck in the offensive zone after saving it, he fired it through traffic before it beat Maple Leafs goalie Anthony Stolarz to give Ottawa its first playoff win since May 23, 2017.

A moment of redemption for Sanderson after the Knies goal?

“No, I just wanted to win the game,” Sanderson said.

Sanderson’s first Stanley Cup playoff goal is the latest achievement in the defenceman’s breakout season. After a slow start to his year, he consulted with skills coach Jonathan Sigalet for some pointers. He met with assistant coach Nolan Baumgartner and worked meticulously on and off the ice to improve his game.

Younger teammates such as Tkachuk and Stützle still thought highly of him and might not have realized how hard he was on himself. But older teammates such as Perron did, and he did his best to “calm him down” and relieve some stress.

“All of the guys think he’s a perfect pro. He does everything the right way. How he recovers, how he prepares. For me, I try to get him to relax,” Perron said.

“I understand his role. He’s our No. 1 defenceman, gets the best matchups, first power-play unit. When there’s an important situation, he’s on the ice. It adds to the stress that he has to take on, and he’s doing an exceptional job.”

Sanderson was a last-second addition to Team USA’s 4 Nations Face-Off roster before helping his NHL club team make the playoffs for the first time in eight years.

“I believe he can be a top-two D-man in the league, and I really believe that otherwise I wouldn’t say it,” Stützle said. “He does it all offensively, defensively. It’s pretty impressive to watch.”

“When I took the (Sens head-coaching) job, I knew he was a good player,” Green said. “When I saw him in training camp, I knew he was a really good player. Now, if you ask me today, he’s an exceptional player. His game is still growing like a lot of our team.”

“For such a young guy, I take so much (from) him and look up to him,” Tkachuk said. “The way he prepares for a game, I don’t think I’ve ever seen somebody prepare as well as him. I’m lucky to call him one of my best buddies on the team and just be able to learn from him.”

The Sens get Sunday off before traveling to Toronto on Monday ahead of Tuesday’s Game 5 at Scotiabank Arena. That will be another opportunity for Sanderson to show how far he’s come from the beginning of the season and how crucial he is to his team having any chance at coming back from a 3-0 series deficit.

“I always knew how good of a player he was going to be,” Stützle said. “Obviously, it’s hard. He’s matched up against the top guys every night. You don’t feel great every night. But I think he’s done a really good job taking care of his body. He’s a really good pro. I look up to him in certain ways. He just gets better.”

“He’s showing now what he’s all about,” Tkachuk said.

(Photo: Chris Tanouye / Freestyle Photography / Getty Images)

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