FIVE QUICK THOUGHTS
-Through about the first ten minutes of this game, it seemed like the Senators were actually playing a pretty good road game. And then the wheels fell off completely. Ottawa was doing a good job of controlling the neutral zone and slowing down the talented Detroit forwards but a rough ten minutes stretch (mostly for Andrew Hammond and Cody Ceci) meant that in the blink of an eye, the Sens found themselves in a three goal hole. Ottawa dominated the game in the second. And had their chances in the third. Pretty tough to come back from that kind of first period though.
-Clearly there was a little bit of rust on Andrew Hammond in his first start of the season. The Senators held the Red Wings to just 25 shots over sixty minutes and five of them found a way past Hammond. Two and possibly three of those are probably goals that Hammond would like another chance at. Craig Anderson will start the game on Tuesday against Arizona and after that, it may be a little while before Hammond gets into another game. Ottawa doesn’t have another back to back until November 8th and 9th. It’s going to be interesting to see how Boucher divides the goaltending duties in the next few weeks.
-The Coaching Staff has a decision to make on the blueline heading into tonight’s game against the Arizona Coyotes. Thomas Chabot is expected to dress for his first game in the NHL and unless they plan on dressing seven defenceman (a real possibility), someone has to come out. If it’s strictly based on performance in the game against Detroit, Cody Ceci would be the odd man out. Boucher was juggling his D-pairings most of the night and it resulted in quite a bit of Phaneuf-Wideman. I don’t think they’d actually sit Ceci this early in the season but there are early indications Wideman could be passing him on the depth chart.
-It’s pretty safe to say that at this point, Ryan Dzingel is here to stay. Boucher’s message of playing with pace suits Dzingel, who is clearly one of Ottawa’s quicker forwards. He’s been used in all different situations up front and scored his second of the season with the Senators on the penalty kill. Phil Varone was the odd man out last night and Matt Puempel was a healthy scratch to start this season. Clearly Dzingel has separated himself from the other bubble guys up front.
-Just prior to puck drop, there was a story in the Ottawa Citizen that explained why Lyndon Slewidge has been noticeably absent during the first two home games of the season. And the story is not a good one for the organization. Based on the comment provided by the team, it seems as though they’ve decided that the long-time anthem singer isn’t in their plans this season. Or at least not on a full-time basis. Seriously, this just isn’t right. For an organization so desperate for tradition, it’s ridiculous that they would make a conscious decision to get rid of one the best parts about their game day experience. I expect the organization to make this right because the backlash among fans has been strong.
–Boucher’s Post-game Comments
–Box Score
–Advanced Stats
–Upcoming Schedule
