FIVE QUICK THOUGHTS
-Maybe it’s because I was sitting too close to the ice but I found that the performance by Mike Hoffman was one of the most impressive I’ve seen in a long time. Seeing his speed up close was really something. All night you could see he was surprising the Jackets’ defence with his speed and forcing them back on their heels. I honestly don’t see how they can take him out of the line up again. Game-breaking speed.
-There was a play with about two minutes left that absolutely blew my mind. The Senators were hemmed in their own end and Karlsson picked off a pass, came to a complete stop, and in two or three strides skated past three Columbus forwards and had the puck out of the zone. Plays like that grab your attention on TV but when you are about 20 feet away, they are absolutely breathtaking. Ottawa is so lucky to have this guy.
-The advanced stats type will tell you the trend of Ottawa getting out-possesioned is an issue so far this season and they might be right but it’s good to see Ottawa finding a way to win games they were losing last year. There are still defensive issues to clean up but I think we all knew that would be the case. I have seen signs of improvement every game.
-I’m going to make an assessment on Mark Borowiecki without looking at the stat sheet but I was really impressed with his game last night. Again, it may be a product of sitting so close to the ice but man oh man, does this guy every work hard. Every single loose puck, every play on the boards, Borowiecki was there making life miserable for Jackets’ players. MacLean saw something he liked too, putting Borowiecki on the ice with Karlsson late in the game.
-He really didn’t have much chance on either of the Columbus goals but I was really impressed with the play of Robin Lehner again last night. It’s pretty clear that he and Anderson are going to battle for every single start this year and that’s a good thing for the Senators. The save Lehner made on Wennberg is an early candidate for save of the year.
