It’s amazing how quickly you can go from desperately wanting preseason hockey to start to counting down the days until it’s over.
A 9:30 PM start in Saskatoon will do that I suppose.
The Ottawa Senators iced a much stronger line up on Tuesday night and the end result was a 3-2 overtime win over the Toronto Maple Leafs. Bobby Ryan scored the overtime winner on a perfectly executed 4 on 3 power play.
Bobby Ryan OT winner pic.twitter.com/YvXWFcoKKc
— Stephanie (@myregularface) October 5, 2016
And while the outcome was certainly better than Monday night in Winnipeg the execution was nowhere near as impressive.
And so the up and down preseason continues for the Senators.
Ottawa got off to a pretty good start in this one showing more of the pace and structure that we saw against the Jets. They just weren’t able to sustain that effort level over the full sixty-five minutes and they allowed the Leafs to dominate the game for long stretches.
Craig Anderson, who was making his first appearance of the preseason, looked sharp in the Ottawa goal and gave them the opportunity to steal this game in overtime.
Meanwhile the offence was carried by Derick Brassard, who has looked terrific throughout the preseason. He finished with a goal and two assists, playing a key role on all three of Ottawa’s goals. Regardless of where you stood on that off-season trade, you have to be impressed with what Brassard has brought to the Sens lineup in the preseason. Having a playmaking left shot centre is a game-changer for Ottawa.
This game was billed as Matt Puempel’s last chance and he made the most of it, converting a Brassard pass for his third of the preseason. We’ll see if it’s enough to keep him in the picture when the final cuts are announced.
And those cuts could come any day now. Boucher spoke with the media after the game and mentioned that he may end up carrying 12 forwards and 8 defenceman to start the season. We’ll find out in the next couple days who ends up on the final roster.
The Senators next preseason game is their last as they’ll host the Buffalo Sabres on Friday night in Ottawa.
Regular season starts a week from now against the Toronto Maple Leafs.
