FIVE QUICK THOUGHTS
-A little bit of everything from the Ottawa Senators through the first four games of this shortened season. They outworked the opponent in the opener, followed that up with a dud that they could have won, dominated but couldn’t close in their third game of the season and then last night, they just stunk. Hard to really pick out anyone that played well on a night where they looked mostly over-matched by the same team they skated circles around on Tuesday night. The highs and lows have been pretty dramatic through the first week of the season but it’s still a little too early to know exactly who these Ottawa Senators are. They certainly need to be better on Saturday night.
-Matt Murray has been fine. Not great, not bad but fine. The whole no preseason thing is hard on all players but safe to assume it’s especially tough on goalies. Timing is such a big part of the position and these guys sort of have to just hit the ground running. That first goal that beat him last night was a stinker. No other way to describe it really. He bounced back nicely and made some good saves after that one but he was mostly on his own back there last night. Good idea to get Marcus Hogberg into the game into the third period. He should probably get the start on Saturday night.
-Colin White was there. He definitely played better. But his ice time suggests he’s still pretty firmly planted in DJ Smith’s doghouse. He finished the night with a team-low 8:37 of ice time. Sort of tough to know where they go from here with White. Obviously it’s early in the season but the focus has to be on building up his confidence. That doesn’t mean handing him ice time but there has to be clear expectations set for the player and then he has to have a legitimate chance to meet those expectations and ultimately earn a little more ice time.
-One thing that has become abundantly clear through the first four games of the season is even the fan base is a little rusty. After ten months without hockey and years without a meaningful game to watch, the highs and lows of a game as generally random as hockey are getting to us a little bit. Micro-level player deployment, shot shares and goaltending aren’t usually worthy of such scorching hot takes but the first week of the season has been full of ’em in the Nation’s Capital. At this rate, everyone outside of the Tkachuk-Norris-Batherson line will be fired and/or traded by the end of the year. And if we have our way, an actual human baby will be inserted into the line up. Based on some of the comments and tweets I read last night, I wondered if maybe the season started three months ago instead of uhh seven days ago. PLAY THE KIDS!
-Nikita Zaitsev continues to be one of the most surprising stories early in this season. With his assist on Chris Tierney’s goal, Zaitsev now has five points through four games. While the offensive outburst is surprising, it’s pretty clear that Zaitsev is a different player than the one we saw last year. He’s skating a lot better, making better decisions with the puck and getting everything towards the net in the offensive zone.
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