Another Rookie Tournament is in the books and as has so often been the case in recent years, it was a strong showing for the Ottawa Senators.
After dominating the Montreal Canadiens to the tune of 8-2 in the opener on Saturday, the Sens rallied for a 4-3 shootout win over the Leafs on Sunday afternoon. Two games and two satisfying wins over long-time rivals. Not a bad way to start preparations for the 2017/2018 season.
In the game against Montreal, it was a complete team effort. Eight different players scored goals as Ottawa’s rookies took it to the Canadiens for the entire sixty minutes. And while the game was unfortunately not televised or broadcasted (seriously, how does that still happen?), by all accounts it was a strong showing from the top guys, especially Thomas Chabot and Francis Perron.
No surprise with Chabot although it was fun to follow along on Twitter as many seemed to be in complete awe of the guy.
Best player so far at the rookie tournament in Toronto is @senators Thomas Chabot. What a pick by Ottawa.
— Renaud Lavoie (@renlavoietva) September 10, 2017
Perron, who has put on some muscle during the off season, may have been Ottawa’s best player though, racking up three assists, including a pretty feed on a power play goal by Christian Jaros.
Nice apple from Chabot on the PP @Senators @ThomasChabot1 pic.twitter.com/J0d2rrK8DW
— Jaskarlsson (@jaskyyy) September 10, 2017
You can see full highlights from the game here.
On Sunday, both Thomas Chabot and Colin White were given the game off and the result wasn’t quite so clear cut.
The Leafs stormed out to a three goal lead, scoring three times in the first ten minutes of the game, and chasing Ottawa starter Kevin Bailie in the process.
Marcus Hogberg took over at the half way mark of the second period and it proved to be the spark the Sens needed. The Senators would score three times in the third (Englund, Gennaro, Chlapik) to force overtime and then win in the shootout and stun the Leafs in the process. In fact, as of last night, some Leafs blogs were still in denial about the result.
Hmm. #FakeNews pic.twitter.com/OgceyGMQ8W
— SensChirp (@SensChirp) September 11, 2017
Obviously you don’t want to put too much stock in a two-game preseason tournament but there was a lot to like about the way the Senators played these two weekend games.
The organization’s improved prospect depth was on full display as not only did the top guys like Thomas Chabot and Logan Brown stand-out, but people that watched both games were left raving about some of the second tier guys including Francis Perron, Filip Chlapik, Maxime Lajoie, Christian Jaros and Marcus Hogberg.
If nothing else, it’s an early indication that this should be a much better year for the AHL team and it should make for a competitive Training Camp and Preseason.
