FIVE QUICK THOUGHTS
-We’ll start with the bad news. Pierre Dorion spoke to the media this morning and delivered an update we all worried was coming- Clarke MacArthur will not play again this year. In the last few days it was becoming obvious that maybe the tests hadn’t gone as well as the Senators were hoping. Today they confirmed as much. While it sucks to hear that the Senators won’t have MacArthur back in the line up this year, it’s mostly sad for Clarke. He has worked so hard to come back and to find out it’s not going to happen, the guy must be devastated. Dorion did add that he’s now working on a trade to replace MacArthur. Better news when it comes to Craig Anderson as Dorion mentioned that he will rejoin the team later this month or early in February and will be around for the rest of the year.
-Not going to lie- on paper, this three game road trip seemed downright terrifying. The Blues and Blue Jackets are two of the best teams in the league on home ice and after the loss to the Leafs, it seemed like a stretch where things had the potential to fall off the rails a little bit. But this team continues to prove that they really are different from years past. They trust the system they’re playing with and they really believe they can win on any given night. The improved structure allows them to right the ship within a game obviously but it also helps them bounce back after losses. Columbus has been pretty close to unbeatable on home ice this year so to shutout them out in their own building and with so many players were battling the flu, this really was one of Ottawa’s most impressive wins of the year.
-The win puts Ottawa back into second place in the division, tied with the Bruins but with five games in hand. And don’t look now but the Senators are just eight points back of the Canadiens and with three games in hand. Ottawa is two points clear of the Leafs who now sit in the second Wild Card position. There’s a bit of a cushion between Ottawa and the 9th spot but as we’ve seen a couple times already this year, things can change in a hurry. Four more games left before the break including a stop in Toronto on Saturday and then three straight at home against the Blue Jackets, Capitals and Flames.
-The Blue Jackets pushed in the third period but Mike Condon made some big stops and the defence did a good job of limiting second chances. 20th consecutive appearance for Condon in the Senators net and it may have been his best. There has been plenty of talk about fatigue when it comes to Condon but so far, it just hasn’t been an issue. The Senators have been fortunate to have so many days off the last little while including the holiday break and a five day bye week. There’s no doubt that in an ideal world, Condon would be playing a little less but that’s just not the reality the Senators are faced with right now. Full credit to Condon for making the most of this opportunity. He was sharp all night and especially in the third period.
-You would be hard-pressed to find a better pass than the one Erik Karlsson made to spring Kyle Turris on the game’s first goal. He had such a narrow window of time and space to force that pass in and he put it exactly where it had to be. Equally impressive is the play Turris made to corral the feed in full flight and make a heck of a move to beat Bobrovsky. As Gord Miller and Karlsson mentioned during their between periods interview, plays like that are increasingly rare in today’s game because teams are just so good in the neutral zone. Full credit to Karlsson and Turris for making it work.
-Power play went 0/4 last night but they had a couple decent looks. One of the interesting things Boucher has been doing with the Ottawa power play is using Dion Phaneuf as a sort of slot presence. It’s a set play. Once the puck gets to Karlsson, Phaneuf moves in from his spot on the point and sets up near the hash marks while the puck is worked to Stone in the corner. The idea is to create confusion in the penalty kill and ideally find Phaneuf open for a quick shot. If that play isn’t there, he sort hangs out in front and acts as a screen. It’s an interesting concept but can’t help but wonder if it might work better with a more natural shooter than Phaneuf. Dion can hammer a puck but usually needs a little more time to get it off.
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