FIVE QUICK THOUGHTS
-All things considered, that really wasn’t a bad 60 minute effort from the Ottawa Senators yesterday in Boston. They missed on some glorious scoring chances and their goalie just wasn’t good enough. When those two things happen, it’s pretty tough to win a hockey game especially against a quality team like the Bruins. Through three games, it’s probably safe to assume that Guy Boucher is pretty happy with the effort of his team. In fact, you could make the argument that yesterday’s game was the best one they have played so far. That second period especially was as good as they have looked all year. The bounces just didn’t go their way.
-While there were plenty of options to choose from, subpar goaltending was the biggest issue for the Senators last year. Both Craig Anderson and Mike Condon took huge steps back and it cost the team on many nights. That’s why there is a sense of “here we go again” following yesterday’s loss. Of the five goals the Bruins scored on Mike Condon, three of them are goals he should have. Maybe a bit of a bad luck on the first one but you’d still like him to hold the post and/or cover the loose puck once it’s in the crease. Bad bounce on the Wagner deflection but it happened so far out that he should have been able to recover. Bad bounce again on the puck that went in off Ceci but Condon would likely want that one back. Condon will be expected to start at least 25 games this year. He’ll need to be a lot better than he was yesterday if this team is going to win with him in net.
-Speaking of needing to be better, both Mark Borowiecki and Cody Ceci are off to less than ideal starts. The departure of Erik Karlsson means that both of those players are going to take on tougher minutes this year and so far, it looks like those tougher minutes may be a bit much for them. Unfortunately, there’s no easy solution here. Obviously there is a temptation to just move those two to more of a bottom pairing role but that’s then asking a lot of new guys like Dylan DeMelo or a rookie like Max Lajoie. Whatever the solution is I hope they come up with it soon because I don’t think I can listen to people complain about these two all year.
-That Bruins top line has to be one of the best in hockey. The trio of Brad Marchand, Patrice Bergeron and David Pastrnak controlled this game from the drop of the puck. Anytime it seemed like the Senators might have some life, that line managed to stop the momentum. They may not be flashy but there is no other line that can quietly dominate a game the same way those three guys do. If they stay healthy, if their depth guys step up and if Tuuka Rask learns to be a goalie again, the Bruins might just be the team to beat in the Atlantic Division. As good as Bergeron was yesterday, his decision to steal that cowboy hat really weirded me out.
-Brady Tkachuk made his NHL debut yesterday and it was mostly an uneventful one. He started the game on a line with Matt Duchene and Ryan Dzingel and actually looked a little bit uncomfortable there. Just a weird fit for his style of game. Boucher moved him back to his usual line with Zack Smith and Mark Stone to start the second and you could see that helped Tkachuk settle in a little bit. Overall, not bad for his first game in the show. Every player is nervous for their NHL debut but you could really see it on Tkachuk’s face prior to puck drop. Actually looked like he was going to be sick on the bench. Expecting a much better game from him tomorrow night.
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