FIVE QUICK THOUGHTS
-It’s probably not the result they were hoping for against a team like the Sabres but coming away with a single point is a pretty good outcome. A disastrous 3:21 seconds in the second period put the Senators in a 3-1 hole but to their credit, they stuck with it. And really, this ended up being a game that Ottawa could have won in regulation if not for a late tying goal by the Sabres. Oh and two of those Buffalo goals probably shouldn’t have counted but that’s a separate discussion.
-When Dave Cameron took over the team, he mentioned that he was going to try to cut back on Karlsson’s ice time a little bit. Now that he’s calling the shots from behind the bench, he’s finding out that’s a little easier said than done. Karlsson played 34:02 last night. I like Karlsson but that’s a little too much. At this point, maybe the Senators want to consider leaving him off the penalty kill completely? Not that he’s bad at it necessarily, but it might be one way to cut back on his ice time and keep him a little fresher for the power play and at 5 on 5.
-Again, the end result wasn’t there but you had to like the effort from the Senators. It’s only been three games but so far, I like what I’ve seen from this team under Dave Cameron. Obviously the new Head Coach still has to do something about those damn second periods but otherwise they’ve looked pretty good. This is still a bottom of the league in payroll team so we need to manage expectations a little bit but as long as the effort level is there, fans will stick by this team.
-The Ottawa Senators have now won one game in regulation since November 7th. One game. In like, 40 days. It’s a pretty incredible stretch and one that should have completely buried any chance of making the playoffs this season. But it hasn’t. As of this morning, the Senators currently sit just two points out of the final playoff spot. Pretty incredible. I mean, at some point they are going to have to win some hockey games but a weak conference is at least giving them a fighting chance.
-Congratulations to Senators forward Curtis Lazar who finally scored his first in the National Hockey League last night. You know there are more to come but at times during the last 26 games, it felt like it just wasn’t ever going to happen for him. Now that he has that first one out of the way, they should start piling up for him. The Senators have to make an important decision on Curtis in the next couple days and decide whether or not to send him to the World Juniors. Personally, I think he should go. As long as he’s not bumping Nick Paul from the team, of course.
