FIVE QUICK THOUGHTS
-Raise your hand if you had the Ottawa Senators pegged as a home ice juggernaut this year? Must be those electric CTC crowds that give them an extra boost. The Senators have now picked up at least a point in 10 of their last 11 on home ice, putting up a 9-1-1 record over that stretch. Only six teams in all of the National Hockey League have more wins on home ice. The Sens are 11-5-1 in their own barn this season. They’ll play 8 of 11 on home ice in the month of January.
-As has often been the case this year, it was pending free agents leading the way. Jean Gabriel Pageau had cooled off a little bit lately but he scored a couple last night and now has 18 on the season. He sits 13th in the league in goals and is now +21 on the year (ranked). In goal, Craig Anderson returned to the crease and looked like the Andy of old, turning aside 43 of 44 Buffalo shots. There was an element of luck to it but his third period blocker save was one of the best I’ve ever seen from an Ottawa goalie.
-It’s unfortunate but it does sort of feel like the Logan Brown experiment is coming to an end. For now, anyway. Brown has fallen from his spot on the top line to the point where he’s playing right wing on the fourth line. No power play time either. Obviously not the ideal situation for his development. For the record, I have no problem with DJ Smith making him earn his ice time here. Safe to assume there have been clear expectations set for Brown and he just hasn’t been meeting them lately. Belleville plays three games before Ottawa’s next game against the Devils so this is probably a good time for him to go down there and put some work in. He played just 9:56 last night.
-It’s going to be interesting to see if this 30+ minutes a night thing is just the new normal for Thomas Chabot. It looked like he might end up north of 35 minutes last night but the coaches eased up a bit over the second and third, and he finished the night with 31:46. There has been some concern about this recent trend and the fact it might break down Chabot a little bit but that certainly hasn’t been the case so far. Actually, he looks better the more he plays. Not sure if there is a player in the game that looks as relaxed as Chabot does when he’s playing well. Just makes the game look so easy sometimes.
-This has been a bit of an up and down year around these parts. Without getting into the details, it has become increasingly difficult for me to find the time and the motivation to keep the SensChirp dream alive. And in those times, it has been the loyalty and dedication of the readers that keeps the lights on around here. I don’t know what the future holds for this site but there are days when it almost feels like it’s barely even up to me- the community we’ve built here is what makes this place special. It might be a little quiet for the next few days but we should be back up and running in time for the game against the Devils. I hope everyone has a Merry Christmas and a happy holiday season!
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