FIVE QUICK THOUGHTS
-All things considered, the Senators can be fairly pleased with the effort they put in last night against the Metro-leading New York Islanders. It would have been pretty easy for the Sens to just roll over in the third period but they stuck with it and found a way to rally against a damn good hockey team. The second period was dreadful but give them credit for bouncing back in the final twenty minutes and OT, where Thomas Chabot was incredible. Speaking of overtime, that was a whole lotta Zack Smith in the extra five minutes. It’s early in his tenure but you can already see that Marc Crawford, like his predecessor and like most NHL Head Coaches, has a preference for more veteran players.
-The NHL General Managers are meeting in Florida this week and you would hope that the topic of goalie interference comes up in some capacity. There are a few baffling things about the game right now but nothing as perplexing as what constitutes goalie interference. Not saying we need to go back to the days of toe in the crease but the league has to find a way to do a better job of protecting goalies. On Pageau’s game-tying goal, there is no doubt that Brady Tkachuk was pushed into Robin Lehner. Everyone seems to agree on that part. But at the same time, he was clearly headed in that direction anyway and at a high-rate of speed. It was going to take some sort of magic to avoid contact completely on that play. But from a goalie perspective, what the hell is he supposed to do on that play? And considering some of the gentle nudges that have wiped out goals this year, how can that goal stand? Brock Nelson did his job on that play and Brady Tkachuk did his too. Robin Lehner had no chance of doing his. Really hope he’s okay.
-There are going to plenty of nights for the next couple seasons where we are going to have to look for the little things. It’s going to be painful but seeing progress in young players is going to be one of those things you keep an eye within a season. Brady Tkachuk’s willingness to battle in front of the net and stay on his feet during those battles, Colin White having the confidence to hang on to the puck for an extra second in open nice or Rudolfs Balcers dropping a shoulder and cutting to the net. The dismantling of this team may have happened over night but building it back up is going to take time. In stretches where wins are hard to come by, watching for those little things is a good way to stay engaged. Or just uhh turn off your TV until September 2021. Because it could be pretty rough until then.
-Christian Wolanin looked like he was going to be a surprise healthy scratch based on the morning skate but instead was in the line up and Christian Jaros the odd man out. Makes sense considering Wolanin had a pretty good showing on Sunday against the Panthers. One of the things new Head Coach Marc Crawford has said during his comments to the media is that he’d like to see Wolanin play a little bit more like his old man and Stanley Cup champion Craig Wolanin. It’s a little thing but it’s encouraging that Wolanin was able to expand on that during his between periods interview. That means the Head Coach is delivering the same message about a player to the media as he is when he’s speaking to the player directly.
-The Senators are going to have to make a decision on Ben Harpur in the not too distant future and that makes these final few weeks of the season important in their evaluation. The 24 year old defenceman has another year on his deal at $725,000 but to this point, he really hasn’t done enough to earn an everyday spot in the line up. Not much was going right for him last night either. Harpur and Mark Borowiecki bring a needed edge to the blueline but having them both on the roster feels a tad redundant. They both make fine 6/7 options but they both should be part of the upcoming healthy scratch rotation on defence.
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