You gotta hand it to the bubble guys.
For many of them, this was their last chance to impress. And as a team, they probably turned in Ottawa’s best performance of the preseason. The Senators had terrific energy from the moment the puck was dropped and if not for an ill-advised penalty in the third period, they could have come away with the win.
For the first time in the preseason, there was a noticeable difference in the team’s approach to the game, relative to the Dave Cameron era.
Now I’m not sure if that’s a matter of the attention to detail being dialed up for everyone later in Camp or if the fringe guys are just that much better at following instruction.
Boucher has been preaching things like “pace”, “speed” and “first on puck” throughout the preseason and last night you could see what he was talking about. The Senators were aggressive in all three zones and the result was some pretty entertaining hockey.
In his post-game comments, it was clear that the Head Coach was impressed.
With Boucher being billed a “detail-oriented’ Coach, I find myself watching systems a little closer this preseason. And for the first time, I thought I noticed a bit of the 1-3-1 Boucher made famous in Tampa Bay although perhaps a more aggressive version of it. The centre would force the puck carrier to one side, and the defenceman on that side would jump up aggressively and force a bad pass or dump in.
It seemed to be giving the Jets fits at times and really allowed Ottawa to slow down play in the neutral zone.
It’s going to be interesting to watch how this neutral zone style is implemented during the regular season.
Up front, both Phil Varone and Ryan Dzingel stood out as they have for most of the training camp and preseason. At this point, those two guys must have the inside track at a job. I don’t think there’s a single person (including management, coaches, fans) who had Varone in the mix for a spot coming into Camp but he’s been a standout from Day 1.
On defence, it was sort of difficult to isolate a great individual performance. I liked Matt Bartkowski at times but he had a rough third. I didn’t notice Mark Borowiecki which is an improvement over the rest of his preseason games. Thomas Chabot again showed flashes but then at times looked lost in his own end of the rink. Freddy Claesson looked okay and has been steady but underwhelming most of the preseason.
This decision is going to be a tough one for Guy Boucher and the rest of the Coaching staff.
The Senators are back in action again tonight against the Toronto Maple Leafs in Saskatoon. Here’s a look at the roster for that one. Puck drop isn’t till 9:30 PM tonight so line combinations won’t be available until later in the day.
