FIVE QUICK THOUGHTS
-This was another one of those games where fans seemed happy with the effort put forward by the Senators. It’s become a pattern under Dave Cameron, so far. Aside from a ten minute lull in the second, the Sens outplayed the Sabres most of the night. They are a looser group under Cameron and seem to be having a little more fun in all areas of the game. If you’re one of those fans hoping for a lottery pick, don’t bother. I don’t know if it will be enough to make the playoffs but this team appears to be turning the corner lately.
-Nice to see Bobby Ryan finally pick up his first hat trick in an Ottawa Senators’ uniform. Ryan was in the right place at the right time all night for the Sens, generating 8 shots on goal and buzzing around the Sabres net all night. He and Mike Hoffman have found great chemistry of late with Mika Zibanejad but last night it was Jean Gabriel Pageau in that role for most of the game. Interested to see if Cameron sticks with that trio.
-On the topic of strong in-game adjustments, Patrick Wiercioch spent a large chunk of the game skating alongside Erik Karlsson and both players ended up with one of their best games of the season. Karlsson looked like his Norris trophy self while Wiercioch had the type of game the advanced stats type rave about, finishing with a 81 CF%. Pretty impressive. That pair should stick together for a few games.
-I missed large portions of the third period last night because I could not stop watching this GIF of Sabres’ pest Patrick Kaleta punching himself in the head. I’ve always felt that Kaleta had one of those faces you just want to punch. Apparently he feels the same way. After significant thought, it dawned on me that this is some sort of actual planned tactic by Kaleta to make it look like he’s throwing a punch so that the opponent opens up for a quick follow-up jab. Kaleta’s commitment to landing that punch is pretty impressive. And ridiculously funny.
-Talk about a bizarre injury. Senators defenceman Mark Borowiecki was injured prior to the game when he cut his leg on an electrical outlet of some kind. Details seemed a little fuzzy afterwards but we do know is Borowiecki required 60 stitches to close the wound on his leg. There’s no immediate timeline for his return but it sounds like he’ll be out awhile. The Senators now have 12 healthy forwards and 6 healthy defenceman. Interested to see if they call up an extra body for their weekend back to back.
-How bout a bonus thought today? Congratulations to Colin Greening on his first of the year. Probably not the way he pictured busting that slump but as the old saying goes, they don’t ask how, they ask how many. Although, on this one, they may ask “How” too.
