FIVE QUICK THOUGHTS
-Well that was unpleasant. In many of Ottawa’s recent losses we were able to say “at least it was entertaining”. Not last night. The Senators deserved to lose this game, plain and simple, and those are two and a half hours of our lives we’ll never get back. The Senators were flat for most of the night and looked a lot like a group of guys that were in Vegas the night before. By the time the third period rolled around, they just had no legs. Theoretically the Senators should have been pushing for that tying goal in the third but the Arizona actually held a 10-4 edge in shots. Again, they got what they deserved.
-If there was a game to lay that kind of egg, it’s good that it came against one of the two teams actually behind them in the standings. Even better that it was in regulation. The last-place Arizona Coyotes are now just four points back of the Senators. Four! It really looked like the Coyotes were a lock to finish 31st but they’ve been getting some good goaltending lately and they’ve managed to close the gap a little bit. 8-2-1 in their last eleven games. In related news, here’s the Draft Lottery Simulator.
-It’s sort of remarkable that it has taken Guy Boucher this long to give the Ryan-Pageau-Stone line another look. Boucher loves to line juggle so you would think he might even land on this previously successful combination by accident even. But now with Derick Brassard out of the picture, Pageau is getting more of an opportunity to play in the top six and he’s making the most of it. He’s scored in consecutive games and racked up seven shots on goal. They’re going to need more offence from Pageau heading into next season because right now it looks like he might be their second line centre.
-You know, it’s sort of ridiculous that with all these meaningless hockey games left, the Senators aren’t finding ways to give a more significant opportunity to their younger players. I know this is something we’ve been begging for all season long and I know they want prospects like Colin White and Filip Chlapik playing big minutes but surely they could find a way to get them some of that here in the NHL. The Jim O’Brien call-up makes sense if you’re looking for someone to play six to eight minutes a night but Boucher should have a mandate to not only play young players down the stretch but to get them into more situations.
-I’m sorry, I just don’t have five things to say about this particular hockey game. If you happen to notice any technical issues with the website in the next few days, feel free to pass them along. The site went through a fairly significant hack over the weekend and we’re still trying to put things back together. Enjoy your Sunday, everyone!
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