FIVE QUICK THOUGHTS
-After a weak game on Saturday against Detroit, Craig Anderson bounced back with what was probably his best game of the season. He’s always had success in Montreal it seems and last night was no different. The Habs controlled this game for the first 40 minutes and if not for the outstanding play of Anderson, this could have been an entirely different outcome. Anderson finished with 36 saves and was named the game’s first star. Considering a lot of fans have already started clamoring for more ice time for Andrew Hammond, it was nice to see the team’s number one answer with a strong performance.
-It was sort of strange to finally see a call go Ottawa’s way in the Bell Centre. That first period no goal call was a bit of a no-brainer as the Brendan Gallagher interference was pretty blatant but I admit, when Michel Therrien challenged it, there was this sort of lingering doubt about whether or not Ottawa would actually get the call. They did. The refs made up for that one later in the game though when they wiped out an Alex Chiasson goal with a quick whistle. Oh and that Marc Methot interference penalty that set up Montreal’s only goal of the game was completely ridiculous. So maybe Ottawa still ended up on the wrong end of the Bell Centre calls afterall.
-The TSN Panel talked about it during their first intermission segment and it was unanimous- Kyle Turris is a legitimate first line centre. It almost happened so gradually over his time here in Ottawa that it was easy to miss it. But the fact is, Turris has gone from solid second line option to legitimate top line centre in his just over four years as a Senator. He’s also developing a knack for scoring big goals and he added another one to his resume last night. Turris now has 8 goals and 13 points through the first 12 games of the season. Yup, that’s top line material.
-Jared Cowen has become the whipping boy on the Senators blueline and with good reason. He’s certainly had his issues over the last few years now and while there have been signs of improvement through 12 games, he’s still having issues in his own end of the rink. But as much as Cowen has struggled, his partner Mark Borowiecki has been just as inconsistent. And last night in particular I thought Borowiecki was as much of a problem as Cowen was. Which is why again, it’s so ridiculous that these two are paired together all the time. C’mon Dave. Enough is enough.
-How nice was is to have Mike Hoffman back? His speed, hands and shot were all on full display as he kept Montreal defenders on their heels the whole night. I talked about it a little bit during the preseason but it actually seems like he’s faster than last season, which I didn’t think was possible after watching him last year. He also seems to have a little more confidence with the puck on his stick as we saw a few times last night. If he can stay healthy, he’s going to put up massive numbers this season.
-Bonus thought- Jean Gabriel Pageau. That is all.
