FIVE QUICK THOUGHTS
-That was the best game the Ottawa Senators have played in the last two weeks. At least. They completely controlled the pace from the minute the puck was dropped and unlike those two games over the weekend, looked like a team that was playing to keep their season alive. If not for the heroics of Petr Mrazek, this could have been a five or six goal victory for the Sens. They were that good.
-And as good as the Senators were last night, it really had the feel of a night where they just weren’t gonna score. It even got to the point where just passed the mid way point of the second period I sent a text to a friend saying, “they aren’t gonna score tonight.” The ol SensChirpCurse in full effect, I guess. I should have known better because Ottawa is the only team in the NHL that hasn’t been shutout this season. After all the Grade A scoring chances the Senators had, it was only fitting that a long point shot from Clarke MacArthur end up being the only shot to find a way through Mrazek.
-Pretty quiet night for Andrew Hammond but he made a couple stops at key times and came up with two important saves in the shootout. That can’t be an easy spot for a goalie to sit there all night, relatively untested, and then be thrown into the fire in a shootout with your season hanging in the balance. And actually, there was a stop Hammond made in the the third period, on a weird bouncing puck from the point, that was a lot more difficult than it looked. Full credit to Hammond for finding a way to keep his head in that game.
-I want to be careful how I word this one for fear of coming across as a bit of a homer but here goes- Mark Stone is the most impressive forward I’ve seen in the second half of the season. On any team. Part of that has to do with the fact that I get to watch him every night and also because I really didn’t think he would ever be this good, let alone this early in his caereer. But man oh man, has he found another level to his game the last couple months. It seems like almost every shift, he’s making a play that stands out. And last night, he probably played his best game of the season. Nice to see him finally get one in the shootout.
-No love from the out of town scoreboard last night with both the Capitals and Bruins winning in regulation. The Senators are obviously running out of games here but the reality is, without that win last night, their season was all but done. Now they live to fight another day. The Bruins remain the obvious target (3 points back, 1 game in hand) but don’t lose sight of the stumbling Detroit Red Wings. They are five points clear of Ottawa but play the Bruins on Thursday. If the Bruins win that one in regulation, Detroit may suddenly become the target. Either way, the Senators need to win at least four of their remaining six games to even have a chance. Although at this stage, it looks like 96 points may not even be enough.
