FIVE QUICK THOUGHTS
-When you’re in the midst of a five-game losing streak, moral victories start to lose all meaning. Reality is, that was another gutsy effort by the Ottawa Senators in a situation where it would have been pretty easy for them to just roll over. Much like the loss against the two-time Stanley Cup Champion Tampa Bay Lightning, the Senators were a cross-bar away from dragging this game to overtime. In addition to Batherson’s shot that hit the bar, both Brady Tkachuk and Nick Paul had great chances. And that’s sort of the way things have gone for this Sens team lately. They just can’t get a break or a bounce and as a result, the losses are piling up in a hurry.
-It was a strength early in the season but last night, Ottawa’s power play cost them the game. You’re just not going to win many games when you go 0 for 6 with the man advantage. Obviously the Senators have the skill required to run a successful power play but right now, it’s just the decision-making that’s the biggest issue. An extra pass far too often and not nearly enough pucks directed toward the goal. Should be a relatively easy fix considering the personnel they have at their disposal. That obnoxious fan at the CTC said it best- “Shooooooooooooooooooooooooooooot”.
-There’s really not much the team can do at this point but keep working. With the early season injuries to Colin White and Shane Pinto and then the ongoing battle with both a COVID outbreak and a separate viral outbreak in the room, the team is facing a ton of adversity. You’ll often hear analysts, players and coaches say things like, “it’s no excuse”. Which is fine. As professional athletes, a team will always try to avoid making excuses. But what the Senators have gone through in the first month of this season in terms of injuries and illness certainly explains why they haven’t been at their best.
-He didn’t play a ton but even in limited ice time, Egor Sokolov found way to be useful in his NHL debut. Whether it was winning puck battles in his own end of the rink or parking himself in front of the Bruins net when the opportunity presented itself, Sokolov kept it fairly simple in his 7:42 of ice time. Sokolov is one of those guys that you just can’t help but root for but his ceiling as a player and his role as an NHLer is still very much up in the air. He has produced offence in both the QMJHL and in the AHL but if he’s ultimately going to make it with the Sens, he’s going to have to continue to show that ability to play well in his own end and use his size in the offensive zone. Mission accomplished last night.
-Kind of a similar night for Erik Brannstrom actually. He skated well, he moved the puck out of the zone in a hurry and he gave that second power play unit some much-needed life. At the same time, he was pretty clearly targeted by the Bruins physically and ended up on the wrong end of a couple big hits. That’s the way things usually play out for Brannstrom at the NHL level. Taking a regular shift up here would help him figure out the timing a little bit and learn to avoid some of those big hits. But at his size, he’s always going to have a bullseye on his back. Brannstrom played 14:52.
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