FIVE QUICK THOUGHTS
-The Senators have finally won back to back games in regulation, something they hadn’t done in well over a month, and suddenly have seven of a possible eight points in their last four games. With last night’s win, the team moved to 3-1-1 under Dave Cameron.
-Considering the opposition, that was probably one of Ottawa’s best games of the season. The Senators obviously caught the Ducks at an absolute perfect time, and Ilya Bryzgalov turned out to be an early Christmas gift, but Ottawa did their part too. The Senators knew a fast start would be important and to their credit, they jumped on the league leading Ducks right from the opening faceoff.
-The Coach talked about them at length after the game but that trio of Mike Hoffman, Mika Zibanejad and Bobby Ryan was probably the best line on the ice last night. The combination of skill, speed and playmaking ability makes them really tough to stop when they are all going. The really nice thing for Ottawa is if the Turris line is clicking, the top six suddenly looks pretty dangerous. Speaking of which…
-Kyle Turris seems to be hitting his stride a little bit now. His shorthanded effort was one of the nicest goals we’ve seen all year in Ottawa and his effort last night earned him first star of the game. With both lines going, the opposition has to make a tough decision about which line to focus on with the best defensive pairing and right now anyway, that’s a tough decision for an opposing coach. Both lines can kill ya.
-The nice thing about a convincing win like that one, and there haven’t been many this season, is it allows the Coach to manage ice time a little better. That’s especially important with another game in Montreal tonight. Erik Karlsson ended up playing just over 22 minutes last night (and just over 21 against the Devils) which should mean he’s got a little bit more in the tank tonight at the Bell Centre.
