FIVE QUICK THOUGHTS
-It’s so good to be back. Expectations are high for this year’s edition of the Ottawa Senators and if the season opener is any indication, this group is ready to live up to those expectations. The Sens tumbled into an early hole last night, falling behind 3-1 to one of the league’s best. And then they flicked the switch. The Senators completely dominated the Lightning over the last 40 minutes, turning in what really was a suffocating defensive performance against the high-flying Bolts. Brady Tkachuk has talked a lot about wanting to be a team that can handle advertisty and they certainly looked the part on Opening Night. Just an awesome road win to start the season.
-Shane Pinto is gonna get paaaaaaaaaaid. He’ll earn $5 million this season (with a $3.75 mil cap hit) but if he turns in performances like that regularly this year, he can expect to come close to doubling that cap hit on his next contract. Tying goal on a breakaway, go-ahead goal late in the third period and then an assist on an empty netter that would end up being the game winner. Ottawa’s record when Pinto gets a point is well-documented but last night, Ottawa went to 1-0-0 in games where Shane Pinto completely takes over. Just an incredible way to start the year for a guy hoping to make a push for Team USA’s Olympic roster.
-This is going to be a recurring theme around these parts this season but uh Jake Sanderson is kind of a freak. It took him about 30 seconds to make his first three good plays of the season and he kind of just kept it rolling the whole night. There are just a lot of things that he can do over the course of a hockey game that you maybe take for granted sometimes but that also, nobody else in the league can really do. Just a special hockey player. For example, take a close look at the guy’s skates on that go-ahead goal by Shane Pinto. And with a defender on his back. That’s just not supposed to be possible.
-The Ottawa Senators are already getting some praise for their blueline depth but if that’s the version of Artem Zub we’re gonna get this season, the Sens might actually be right up at the top of the league on the backend. In the second period especially, Zub found a level to his game that I am not sure I or even he knew he existed. It felt like he was everywhere. A seeing eye shot to cut the Tampa Bay lead to one and then a bullet stretch pass to spring Shane Pinto for what was the game-tying goal at the time. He finished the game with 3 points, 5 shots and a baffling 486 shot attempts. Or something like that. A quick reminder that Zuuuuuuub had uh 13 points all of last season. Zub is earning $4.8 mil this season, with a cap hit of $4.6 million, and has one year left on his deal before hitting unrestricted free agency after the 2026/2027 season.
-A lot of talk about the healthy scratch of Jordan Spence last night but it’s easy to see the logic in the move. As Steve Staios mentioned, Spence was definitely a Nick Jensen insurance policy and once he was ready to go, there was suddenly a bit of a log jam back there. It makes sense that Travis Green might want a little more known entity back there with a youngster in Donovan Sebrango, especially on the road. Spence is going to get his chance soon and it will be up to him to take that opportunity and run with it. And with the way injuries can pile up over the course of a long season, a little extra depth back there is a good problem to have.
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