FIVE QUICK THOUGHTS
-A point well-earned against the defending President’s Trophy winners. Not a bad way to kick off the 2017/2018 season. While the Senators had a good chance to come away with two points and instead had Alex Ovechkin grab it from them in the third, they have to be pretty happy with the way they played in this one. Especially considering they were without their top player. These two teams played some tight-checking, low-scoring games last year but this game was anything but, with plenty of scoring chances at both ends of the rink and a quick pace most of the night.
-Lots to like about Ottawa’s game in the opener but the play of the Bobby Ryan, Derick Brassard, Mark Stone trio was certainly the story of the night. Those three combined for seven points and were Ottawa’s top three possession players on the night. They seemed to click right from puck drop despite not having any time together during the preseason. If that’s what Derick Brassard looks like after missing an entire training camp and preseason well then Erik Karlsson might get 10 points on Saturday. Brassard had a ton of energy and was making plays all over the ice. Despite having great underlying numbers, Brassard’s offensive production was a little bit disappointing last year. Nice to see him finding some chemistry with his wingers right out of the gate.
-With the constant microscope placed on some of Ottawa’s defenceman, Chris Wideman is often the forgotten guy back there. Nothing flashy about his game but unlike players like Cody Ceci and Mark Borowiecki (who was very good last night), he’s also mostly able to avoid the general ire of the fan base. Thought he was the team’s best defenceman last night. Wideman is entering the final year of his contract and with so many young defenceman pushing for spots, it’s only logical to assume that a player like Wideman could be on his way out at some point. But for now, and especially with Erik Karlsson out, Wideman brings some much needed mobility on the back end. He had a goal and an assist in 19:51 of ice time.
-A few players made their Ottawa debuts last night and for the most part, played pretty well. Nate Thompson got off to a great start in the first period but then found himself on the wrong side of the puck on a Ovechkin’s 3rd goal of the night. One thing I’ll say about Thompson is he looked a lot quicker than he did in the preseason and certainly gets around the ice better than Chris Kelly. Johnny Oduya looked solid, showing impressive skating ability in a couple situations to go along with some good 1 on 1 defending. Had a great chance to score too. Oduya didn’t finish the game due to a lower body injury and is questionable for Saturday. Logan Brown played just 10:18 in his NHL debut including 4:25 on the power play. He had a couple strong shifts in the first period but it was a fairly quiet night for him.
-Safe to assume that the situation with UFA to be Kyle Turris has the potential to become a bit of a distraction for the team this season. While Dorion has mentioned on a couple occasions that he has talked with Kyle’s camp about an extension, it doesn’t sound like they are close. Turris is looking for something long term (7 or 8 years) and the Senators rightly have reservations about that kind of contract with a 28 year old player. Tricky situation for both sides but if there really is no wiggle room here, the team will have to move quickly to make sure they get something in return.
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