FIVE QUICK THOUGHTS
-Frig, I love this hockey team.
-If you thought the pressure was dialed up on Montreal going into Game 5, it should be off the charts when the series shifts back to Ottawa on Sunday night. You could see it towards the end of last night’s game that the Canadiens were clearly a frustrated group, taking stupid penalties and then saying stupid things after the game. The Senators absolutely have them on the ropes right now and can’t let up.
-Another elimination game, another outstanding performance from Craig Anderson. Andy was at his absolute best last night and is certainly the biggest reason the Senators have been able to turn this series around. A lot of the goaltending talk heading into this series was about Vezina and Hart Trophy candidate Carey Price but the fact is he’s clearly being outplayed by Craig Anderson right now.
-That was probably the best four lines Ottawa has put together on paper all season and it showed on the ice. Having that fourth line combination of Michalek, Smith and Chiasson really allowed Cameron to play all four lines and take some of the pressure off of his top six forwards. The Hoffman-Zibanejad-Ryan lined looked excellent, with Bobby Ryan leading the way with a couple goals. It’s safe to assume Cameron will be sticking with this same line up for Game 6.
-Injuries were a bit of a concern in this one with both Clarke MacArthur and Jean Gabriel Pageau getting hurt during the game. The good news is this morning Dave Cameron spoke to the media and suggested that he’s expecting to have everyone available for the game tomorrow night. I think we all breathed a huge sigh of relief after hearing that news because losing either of those guys at this point in the series would be devastating.
