FIVE QUICK THOUGHTS
-I’m sure there will be plenty of nights this season when we can complain about the way the Senators played. This was not one of those nights. Other than the second half of the third period when the wheels came off a little bit, I thought the Senators were clearly the better team for the majority of this game. Unfortunately the combination of some solid saves by Brian Elliott and some not-so-great goaltending in the Ottawa end of the rink was the difference. There will be a lot of positives for the Coaches to take away from this one structurally but the reality is you’re not going to win many games with your goalies stopping like 70% of the shots.
-After allowing just 22 shots in Vancouver on Tuesday night, the Senators once again did a pretty good job of limiting chances for the opposition, holding Calgary to 19 shots on the night. They got caught a couple times in the third period trying to push for a goal but for the most part, Ottawa didn’t give up a whole lot in this game. During the preseason, Guy Boucher mentioned that 25 shots was their benchmark in terms of a successful defensive night and they’ve done that a couple times on this West Coast road trip. The result obviously wasn’t there but there are definitely things to build on in terms of an improved defensive structure.
-Win the faceoff. Quick passing and player movement. Traffic in front. Shots on goal. All important elements of a successful power play and in that first period, the Ottawa Senators made it looks easy. Guy Boucher has been billed as a power play specialist and I think we’re finally starting to see why. There’s a noticeable difference in how they approach the power play the last few games. Everything is done with a purpose. Ottawa was ranked last in the league on the man advantage coming into the game against Calgary and now sit 22nd overall.
-Ottawa’s goaltending situation went from precarious to disastrous in an awful hurry. Craig Anderson is already away from the team on a leave of absence and in the first period last night, Andrew Hammond sustained what the team was calling a “lower body injury”. Chris Driedger came out to start the second period and depending on the severity of the injury to Hammond, has suddenly become the starting goalie in Ottawa. Terrifying. Driedger was pretty impressive in training camp and the organization is actually pretty high on him but I don’t know that they had him penciled in as a starting goalie in October. Maybe Todd Ford wants a contract? Boucher seemed to hint at a Matt O’Connor call up in his post game comments.
-Still not worried about Mike Hoffman. Nope, definitely not worried. Not one bit. Hoffman now has 26 shots but is still looking for his first goal of the season. The law of averages states that at some point in the near future, the shots will start to go in for Hoffman but right now, he’s just not having any luck. Maybe worry isn’t the right word here but the Senators need Mike Hoffman to score goals if they’re going to have success the season. Hoffman got a big contract this summer under the assumption that like 11%-13% of his shots would actually enter the net.
–Boucher’s Post-Game Comments
–Boxscore
–Advanced Stats and Shift Chart
–Upcoming Schedule
