FIVE QUICK THOUGHTS
-Reading the comments on the site and the action on Sens Twitter, you would think this was a game the Senators ended up losing. There was a whole lot of anger and confusion directed towards the Head Coach after some puzzling third period line juggling. Obviously it worked out for the Sens as they scored three times in the third period to pick up a huge road win in Florida. Considering the fact that the Panthers were just three points back of Ottawa heading in, this was a massive two points for the Senators. And it would be nice if at least a little bit of today’s discussion could be about that. That said, the line juggling is worth discussing.
-I don’t know why Mike Hoffman missed a few shifts in the third period. And really, it doesn’t matter if I know. What matters is that Mike Hoffman knows and that Dave Cameron is the one to tell him. Benching a star player is fairly common practice in today’s NHL and a player like Hoffman certainly shouldn’t be immune to that possibility. But it has to serve a purpose and that purpose has to be to make him a better a player and make the team better in the process. That can only happen if whatever message Cameron is trying to send is clearly communicated with the player afterwards. And from Hoffman’s perspective, he has to listen and learn from it. That’s his job.
-But on the whole messaging sending thing- there’s a time and place. And a tie game (or even down a goal) in the third period is not that time or place. Especially when by taking Hoffman off the top line, you are forced to replace him with a 6/7 defenceman who has never played forward in the NHL. Maybe if the Coach had MacArthur and Michalek at his disposal on LW he could pull a move like this in the third period of a close game but he just didn’t have the depth to justify it last night. I mean, it worked so in the end, way to go Coach. But really, Cameron thinks the top line was playing too risky? I think his move was the riskiest one of the night.
-The Mark Borowiecki experiment at forward ended up being fairly uneventful. Until he ended up on the top line, of course. He certainly wasn’t producing any scoring chances for his line but I didn’t mind was Borowiecki was able to do in his 11:12 of ice time. He was physical and for the most part, played his position pretty well. I think this may be something that is worth a longer look because I do think there’s potential for him to be more effective as a fourth line winger than as a defenceman. And it allows Wiercioch to get into the game on a more regular basis.
-The Senators power play just keeps humming along. They finished 2 for 5 last night and ended up being the difference in this hockey game. Not a lot of talk about it to this point but you have to admire the job new Assistant Andre Tourigny has done with the Ottawa power play through the first quarter of the season. This is as dangerous as I can remember the Senators ever looking with the man advantage. The Sens now sit 6th in the league on the power play, converting 22.1% of the time. They also have the best power play in the league on the road, clicking 31.4% of the time.
-Bonus Thought- Mike Hoffman scored the game winning goal and was named the game’s first star.
