FIVE QUICK THOUGHTS
-Tough not to be excited for a guy like Andrew Hammond. Finally gets a chance to make his NHL debut, or first start anyway, at the age of 27 and probably turns in the best performance of his season. You could see it in his post-game interviews that this really was a moment that meant a lot to Hammond. With timelines still a little foggy for both Anderson and Lehner, Hammond may get a couple more chances to show what he can do at this level. He’s certainly earned the start on Saturday night regardless of the health of the other two goalies.
-Jean Gabriel Pageau, the baby-faced Hab killer struck again last night. Pageau has now scored 6 of his 11 career goals against the Montreal Canadiens. If Pageau could find a way to capture that same magic against the other 28 teams in the league he would probably lead this team and maybe the league in scoring. That spontaneous Pageau chant in the playoffs a couple years ago was incredible and thanks to Pageau’s continued dominance against Montreal, it has sort of become a staple of these Habs/Sens games in Ottawa. It makes me so happy to think about how angry that must make Habs fans.
-Erik Karlsson > PK Subban
-I honestly have no idea how the Montreal Canadiens lead the Atlantic Division. I mean, I know a lot of it has to do with Carey Price but from what I’ve seen of them this season, they are not a good hockey team. They have first round upset written all over them. It’s just a damn shame it won’t be the Senators that get to do it.
-Mark Stone is really, really good and it feels like the last month or so he’s getting better with every game. He has developed an uncanny ability to steal pucks in the offensive zone and pick off passes he has no business even getting a stick on. Case and point the play he made on Subban before the empty-net goal by Turris. The points have been starting to pile up for him lately too as he’s up to 36 in 54 games. It may seem like a strange comparison and it’s obviously way too early but I see glimpses of Daniel Alfredsson in his game. Just such a smart two-way player. If I’m Bryan Murray, I seriously consider a long-term (4+ years) extension for Stone this summer.
