FIVE QUICK THOUGHTS
-The Ottawa Senators saved their best for last. After what has been a bit of an up and down preseason, the Senators put in their best sixty minute effort against the Montreal Canadiens last night. Every part of their game appeared to be in sync, including an aggressive forecheck, a structured defensive zone, rock-solid goaltending and a good looking power play. Definitely an effort they can feel pretty good about heading into their preseason opener on Thursday against the Chicago Blackhawks. It’s probably worth pointing out that the Habs looked absolutely awful last night.
-One of the things that is abundantly clear, at least early on, is that this year’s version of the Senators is having a lot more fun. Obviously last year’s team was sort of beat down by all the losing but by the end of the season, it seemed like they could barely get through a sixty minute effort without fighting each other. Winning solves everything but it was hard to miss the way guys were acting on the bench and between whistles. A lot of communication and even a few smiles, including from Head Coach Guy Boucher. Nice to see the team having a little bit of fun out there.
-Brady Tkachuk is something else. It’s rare to see a 19 year old make a smooth transition to the NHL but it seemed almost unthinkable for a guy that plays the game the way Tkachuk does. He’s built his reputation on playing physical, getting to the front of the net and basically being a pain in the ass to play against. You would think it might take him a little while to build the confidence to play that way against NHL veterans but he really has hit the ground running. And man is it fun to watch. What is even more encouraging is that almost every shift, he’s doing some to impact the game in one way or another. And it’s not just physical play either. That set-up on the Matt Duchene goal was a thing of beauty.
-Speaking of 19 year old players finding a way to impact the game, Alex Formenton is doing the exact same thing. Not sure how much longer he’s going to be able to catch guys off guard with his speed but it’s happening on a regular basis right now. Like, almost every shift. Guy Boucher took some heat for comparing his straight-line speed to that of Connor McDavid but seriously, it’s not far off. What’s so amazing is how effortless it all looks for him. He’s getting a breakaway a game at this point too.
-So with the final preseason game in the books, the team’s line up is close to what we’ll see on opening night. They are still carrying 8 defenceman and it sounds like the plan is to keep it that way for the time being. Meanwhile up front, they’ll definitely start the season with the 13 forwards they have right now. While one of Ben Harpur, Christian Jaros or Max Lajoie may end up in Belleville at some point, they don’t appear to be in any rush to make that decision. The team now heads to Tremblant for some good old fashioned team bonding before returning to host the Chicago Blackhawks on Thursday night.
Boxscore
Boucher’s Post-Game Comments
Player Interviews
Regular Season Schedule
