OTTAWA — In the most important game of the season, the expectation was that nobody would be able to replace the injured Thomas Chabot. Well, Carter Yakemchuk had a say in the matter with a spectacular NHL debut performance. 

A goal and a beautiful assist were a perfect NHL premiere for the 20-year-old, thrusting the Ottawa Senators into a playoff spot. The team got exactly what it needed from the 2024 first-round, seventh-overall pick. 

“He’s a special player. You can see that we needed a play out of someone tonight, and he gave us that play,” said Senators head coach Travis Green on Yakemchuk’s impact.

“It was awesome,” said Yakemchuk, who seemed more comfortable on the ice than he did in the media scrum. 

His parents and his brother were in the stands. His mother was euphoric seeing her son score, and so were Sens fans, of course.  

It was a night when a loss would have been devastating, but a 3-2 win in a four-point game over the rival Detroit Red Wings was a jubilant victory. The win vaulted Ottawa up into a playoff spot for the first time since Dec. 3. Remember that on Jan. 24, Ottawa was nine points out and hope was virtually gone.

As in January, there was a sense of doom and gloom among Senators fans before Tuesday’s game, with their two best defencemen injured while facing a monumentally important tilt. Chabot will be “out for a while” with an arm injury; he was seen wearing a cast after sustaining an injury in New York on Monday. And the Senators have been without Jake Sanderson since March 9 with a reported separated shoulder.

Meanwhile, Nick Jensen is having knee surgery and two rookie defencemen called up to replace them — Dennis Gilbert and Lassi Thomson — also went down with injuries. 

The result was the Senators calling up their 10^th and 11^th defencemen on the depth chart. Yakemchuk and Jorian Donovan drove five hours from Belleville, Ont., to Detroit, arriving in the early hours of the day to get ready for the game without the benefit of a morning skate. 

The Senators needed an injection of hope and an element of elite skill with so many on the injury report. That’s exactly what Yakemchuk provided. If Yakemchuk can be half as good as he was in his debut, the Senators’ playoff odds won’t be shelved, despite having Chabot on the shelf.

Green gave a large vote of confidence to the youngster by letting him run the first power-play unit in place of Chabot and Sanderson. 

A ridiculously bold between-the-legs, no-look pass to Tim Stutzle in the first period set up a goal by Brady Tkachuk, showing off the youngster’s fearlessness while rewarding his coach. In the second period, he walked in toward the net and launched a rocket of a wrister past the Wings’ John Gibson. He may also have the best slapper on the team.

Yakemchuk was the infusion of skill the Senators needed.

Why hasn’t this rising star been called up until this moment of desperation? What kept Yakemchuk in the AHL was on the defensive end: to put it simply, a minus-30. But there were few signs of that in Detroit. He made a couple of bad turnovers and once got beat to the outside, but he looked the part of an NHL defenceman in 12:46 of ice time. 

A reason to think he’s not a one-game wonder is that his play has been improving in the AHL. Yakemchuk won player of the week with six points in two games just last week. He had 11 points in his last nine AHL games while sitting second in AHL rookie defencemen scoring.

Some within the Senators organization had felt that Yakemchuk’s game potentially would be better suited for the NHL than the AHL, as weird as that seems. The reasoning is that the game is more structured in the NHL and Yakemchuk’s offence would thrive with better players. It’s a small sample size but there is reason to believe they are right. The organization wanted Yakemchuk to marinate in Belleville and learn pro hockey, but with the slew of injuries, it had no choice but to call him up.

Green will likely be very specific with how he utilizes him, on the third pairing and quarterbacking the first power-play unit until Sanderson returns, potentially in the next week or so. 

“Obviously, we got a big game out of Yakemchuk,” said Green, adding he thought Nolan Baumgartner, who runs the defence on the bench, “did a real good job managing their minutes, getting them out at the right times.”

We remember the last time an offensive defenceman with defensive warts was given a chance by the Senators late in a season during a playoff push. 

Yakemchuk ain’t no Erik Karlsson (circa 2010), but when you squint, there is a resemblance in their game styles. 

“He sees the ice well and passes the puck well,” said Green. “He can zip it up to our forwards quickly, like the type of game that we want to play, but he’s dangerous at the point. He’s got a shot that he’s capable of getting it through. He can buy some time while he’s dragging it, much like his goal.”

Simultaneously, Donovan has a cool story too: he’s becoming part of the first father-son duo in Senators history. His father, Shean Donovan, played with the team from 2007 to 2010. Shean Donovan was part of the Senators organization when Jorian was drafted, in 2022.

“It’s not just like a regular first game, it’s almost like their first playoff game with the stakes that we’re at in the season, and I thought they handled it so well,” said Tkachuk of the rookies’ debuts. 

There was no expectation Donovan would play NHL minutes this season, but here we are. The 21-year-old played 4:42 and will likely play sparingly until Sanderson is back. As we saw with Jordan Spence earlier in the season, it takes time for players to earn Green’s trust. 

With Green, it’s all about structure, which insulated Yakemchuk and Donovan in their debuts and could moving forward. The Senators sit first in the league in fewest shots, scoring chances and high-danger chances allowed. That defensive prowess was exemplified when they limited the New York Rangers to 10 shots on Monday.

Green deserves some Jack Adams votes if Ottawa sneaks into the playoffs with all the injuries and adversity this team has gone through. 

The Senators’ headmaster will be relying on Yakemchuk to continue to realize some of his potential. If so, the Senators could be in for a fun spring run.  

Kleven-Spence thriving: The biggest burden without Ottawa’s star D-men was placed on Spence and Tyler Kleven. The pair have been outstanding. The duo has the second-best expected goals rate of any pairing in the league this season (minimum 500 minutes played). 

Spence is averaging 21 minutes a game since Sanderson was sidelined, impressive for a player who was healthy-scratched to start the season. 

“I feel way more engaged actually,” said Spence, on playing more minutes. “You kind of get into a rhythm, and you feel good as the game goes on, and especially when you touch the puck as much as possible. You start feeling more confident with the puck. And just get in the groove.”

 Spence has five points in his last six games, while Kleven has four points in his last six.

Fighting spirit: The Senators are on a Hamburglar-esque run, going 15-3-2 in the last 20 games. Who would have thought they’d be here? 

According to Moneypuck.com, the Senators now have a 76 per cent chance of making the playoffs. The Senators just completed their fifth game in seven nights. 

In the last week, the Senators’ two most consequential games of the season against the New York Islanders and Red Wings came while those teams were rested while Ottawa was not. The Senators were on the second night of a back-to-backs in both contests and won both.

“I think that’s one of the best back-to-back games that I’ve seen a team play,” said goaltender James Reimer after beating the Islanders last week. 

“Outstanding effort, character … impressive,” said Senators forward Lars Eller.

“Such strong character on this team,” said Eller. “We have a lot of things going against us. We’re losing guys (to injuries), important players in our lineup, and we just don’t make excuses. We find a way to dig a little bit deeper.”

No matter the outcome this season, Ottawa’s character cannot be questioned. 

Ullmark’s turnaround: In the biggest game of the season, Linus Ullmark stole a game with a spectacular 32-save performance. Since Ullmark’s return from personal leave due to mental health struggles, he’s posted a .902 save percentage, plus-4.3 goals saved above expected with a 9-2-2 record. If Ullmark can continue to steal games, the Senators could be a problem.