Okay, I’m back. And alive.
There were some times in the last 48 hours where I wasn’t sure that would be the case but I made it through and now I’m finally starting to get back to normal.
And not a moment too soon because it appears as though the Ottawa Senators may in fact be the best team in the National Hockey League. Except when they play the worst team in the National Hockey League. Then they are the worst team in the National Hockey League.
While consistency continues to allude this collection of hockey players, the last three games have been some of the most encouraging efforts from the Senators in the better part of a decade. That may sound like an exaggeration but after taking a walk through the ol’ memory bank, I am not so sure that it is.
They came away with three of a possible four points in two really tough road games in Florida and then somehow took it to another level last night, playing what was pretty close to a perfect game against one of the league’s top teams in the Dallas Stars.
The first period was pretty even obviously but the final forty minutes of that game was complete domination.
The Stars really didn’t belong in the same rink as the Senators and at no point did it cross my mind that Ottawa would lose the hockey game. It’s been a long time since I felt that way watching the Senators.
There were a lot of things to like about their game obviously but it was the relentless puck pressure that stood out more than anything else. In all three zones, they gave the Stars zero time and zero space. It was a clinic in structure and defensive positioning and game management and all those things that Jacques Martin has been preaching as Head Coach. The challenge now is bottling whatever the hell that was because it was amazing.
The Senators host the Golden Knights on Saturday night in Ottawa.
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