FIVE QUICK THOUGHTS
-How good did Mika Zibanejad look last night? This past off season, Sens GM Bryan Murray talked about how he believed Zibanejad could be a number one centre in this league and all year we’ve seen signs of it. Last night was certainly one of his best games of the year. The strength, speed and skill required on his second goal of the night was incredible.
-An interesting comment from Bruce Garrioch during his Question Period segment last night. Garrioch suggested that defenceman Patrick Wiercioch was about five minutes away from being dealt at the deadline and that a trade would have happened if the other team called back. Terrifying. Wiercioch has responded well to the increased responsibility he’s seen under Dave Cameron and looks like an important piece on the blueline moving forward. Garrioch also suggested that the improved play of Wiercioch may mean the Sens have to consider dealing Jared Cowen this summer.
-Injuries are becoming a bit of a concern for Ottawa though. Puempel is done for the regular season, Michalek is day to day with a head injury and now Mika Zibanejad and Andrew Hammond are both a little banged up. The Zibanejad injury looked especially bad but the team indicated that he’s fine and should be available for Thursday. Same goes for Andrew Hammond although he did get treatment after the game and was seen limping out of the building. Obviously something to keep an eye on. Meanwhile, Bryan Murray was on TSN1200 and suggested that Craig Anderson could be back as early as this weekend. Clarke MacArthur is also close to a return, possibly as early as Thursday night.
-This team is playing with a ton of confidence right now. You can see it from the moment the puck drops. Even after a mistake, a bad shift, a slow 5-10 minutes- they always have the patience and poise to get it back. It’s a team that trusts the system and really does a great job of sticking to it for the full sixty minutes, even when things might not be going their way. All I can say is I have never had this much fun watching Ottawa Senators’ hockey games.
-Playoffs. The Ottawa Senators are in a playoff position. In the second wildcard position. In the top eight. In the playoffs. Sorry, had to type that a few times just to believe it. The run this team is on is without a doubt one of the most impressive in franchise history and certainly one of the best the league has seen in the last few years. There’s still lots of work to do (like winning 5 or 6 more games probably) but seeing the Senators on the right side of the cutoff line this morning is an accomplishment in itself.
