Anthony Duclair completes his hat trick with a @SUBWAYCanada OT winner against the Senators. pic.twitter.com/eNv5oq8S3h
— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) November 18, 2017
FIVE QUICK THOUGHTS
-What a dreadful way to lose a hockey game. Probably what they deserved considering they sort of let the Arizona Coyotes hang around but the tying and game-winning goals just shouldn’t happen. First, Mike Condon completely whiffs on a poke check attempt made way more complicated than it had to be and then in overtime, the puck just finds a way through him. It was that kind of night for Condon, who was actually fine until those two miscues. The whole team can share that loss but their goaltending definitely let them down.
-The Ottawa Senators now play 10 of their next 11 games away from the Canadian Tire Centre. That’s probably a good thing because their performance on home ice early in this season has been pretty dreadful. Just 4 wins in 13 tries and some pretty stunning losses in there too. Meanwhile they have a 4-0-1 record away from the CTC. Considering the opposition and the way they lost, this is certainly a low point at home. These were two important points and the Senators just didn’t get the job done. Plenty of chances, probably the better team overall but in the end just not good enough. It was mostly aimed at a struggling power play but there were definitely some boos from a frustrated crowd.
-Guy Boucher’s has made it clear that his preference is to balance out the offensive talent over two power play units but it would be nice to see him occasionally load up the first group. They did it during the games in Sweden but for some reason, haven’t gone back to it in the last couple games. Duchene, Stone, Hoffman, Karlsson and Brassard were put out there for one power play against the Avalanche and it took them all of six seconds to score. Might be worth another try. It doesn’t leave much for the second group over the boards but that doesn’t really matter when the top unit scores. Ottawa went 0/5 on the power play on the afternoon.
-The progress in Mark Borowiecki’s game has been one of this season’s best stories. He took strides in his first season under Guy Boucher and seemed to be one of the players that really benefited from the emphasis on defensive structure. And now this year, he’s added another element to his game, playing surprisingly effective hockey in the offensive zone. His 2nd goal of the season was the result of an aggressive pursuit of Coyotes forward Clayton Keller to turn the puck over in the first place, moving up from his blueline spot when the open ice was available (something he hadn’t really done much of in the past) and then making no mistake when faced with an empty net. One of the primary reasons Borowiecki’s possession numbers are improved this year is that new found aggression in the offensive zone.
-Really have to feel awful for Chris Wideman. Boucher spoke with the media prior to the game and said Wideman’s injury will keep him out of the line up for “months” and surgery is a possibility. Wideman was off to a good start this year and despite his brief audition as a forward, had actually been one of Ottawa’s most effective defenceman. Not only is it a big loss for Wideman but the injury comes at a terrible time for Wideman who is in the final year of his contract and was set to become an unrestricted free agent this summer.
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