FIVE QUICK THOUGHTS
-After that ugly loss to the Montreal Canadiens, there was plenty of talk about the Senators getting back to playing their brand of hockey. That’s exactly what they did last night against the Red Wings. From top to bottom, this was a total team effort and maybe one of their best of the year. You could see it in the early going that the plan was to play a more straightforward game- control the neutral zone, make simple plays and to get pucks at the net whenever possible. It payed off in a big way as those first 40 minutes were some of the best this team has played all year. While they were maybe guilty of taking their foot off the gas a little bit in the third, this was a well-deserved two points. Ottawa’s best players (Stone, Karlsson and Anderson) were the difference.
-When Mark Stone is at the top of his game, there is really no player like him in the National Hockey League. It’s not that he’s the most dominant necessarily but rather that his particular style is unlike any other player. His ability to force turnovers with incredible hand-eye coordination and an elite hockey sense continues to amaze even more than 260 games into his NHL career. And as we saw last night, he’s not afraid to get to the front of the net and his vision with the puck on his stick is underrated. Hopefully one day we’ll get to see him healthy during the playoffs because he can win a game on his own some nights.
-Craig Anderson has had sort of an up and down start to the 2017/2018 season. His save percentage is well-below his career average and there have been a few glaring mistakes that have cost the team points. But he was locked in against the Detroit Red Wings. While the Senators did a great job of limiting secondary chances and didn’t give Detroit much, Andy was sharp when he had to be. While Erik Karlsson is the engine that drives this team (he has 12 points in 8 games, by the way), the reality is the Senators will only go as far as Craig Anderson takes them. There was no doubt he was going to bounce back with a strong effort after the game against Montreal.
-Okay it might be time to talk about the Johnny Oduya experiment. Signed to a one year deal this past summer, the hope was that Oduya could help address the loss of Marc Methot. It hasn’t really worked out that way. Not yet anyway. While he’s still a useful veteran to have around, there’s no indication that he’s a fit in the top four or that he can take a regular shift with Erik Karlsson. Not sure the Coach sees it that way yet though as Oduya was up over 20 minutes for just the third time this season.
-The talk prior to puck drop circled around the ridiculous number of scouts in attendance. A total of 22 scouts took in last night’s game from 20 different teams. That’s more than double what you’d expect. The Senators leave for Sweden next week and it’s possible that Pierre Dorion has let it be known he’d like to make a move before then. Adding a forward and moving a defenceman may be a way to get that done. Could be something to keep an eye on in the next couple days.
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