FIVE QUICK THOUGHTS
-Well that was far more stressful than it should have been. Actually, maybe that’s exactly the type of game I was expecting. With everything going so well for the Senators lately, you sort of knew they were due for a little bit of adversity. And they certainly faced that after a couple of early Buffalo goals put them in an early 2-0 hole. They may be the worst NHL team but the Sabres are still an NHL team. Credit to the Senators for sticking with it and battling back to get the two points.
-Games like this can be so dangerous. When everything seems to be going wrong and you just cant find a way to get a good bounce and get things rolling. It almost had the same feel as that Canada/Latvia game in the Olympics. The longer the bad bounces go, the more the “favourite” starts to grip the stick. That early second period goal really helped take the edge off for the home side. They dominated the game from that point on.
-It really was a classic trap game. Back home for the first time after a long road trip. A rookie goalie with everything going right. A bad team that you really should be able to beat. This had all the earmarks of a dangerous night for the Senators. But the fact is, after everything they accomplished on that five game road trip, losing to the Sabres would have been absolutely unacceptable. I’m sure Cameron and some of the leaders on this team reminder everyone of that after 20 minutes. Even though it ended up being a one goal win, I was really impressed with the way Ottawa played over the final two periods.
-Three points back. Three. Feels strange even typing that. A truly incredible run by Andrew Hammond and the rest of the Ottawa Senators and just like that, the Ottawa Senators are in the thick of a playoff race. The Bruins and Flyers play this afternoon. A regulation Flyers win there would be ideal. Then on Sunday, Ottawa hosts Calgary while the Bruins host Detroit. The preferred results in those games should be pretty obvious. Neither team can look ahead but that Tuesday night game between the Sens and Bruins looks like it could be a huge one.
-Another night where I found myself in awe of the play of Mark Stone. It’s happening more and more often lately. His ability to knock pucks down out of mid-air and to lift an opponents stick and steal the puck in the blink of an eye is bordering on elite. At the same time, he’s not afraid to go to the scoring areas and his playmaking ability is damn good too. The Senators have a pretty special player on their hands here, I think.
