FIVE QUICK THOUGHTS
-Well that wasn’t very good. Great third period push and you have to be happy anytime you can tie a game late, but for the most part, a disappointing effort heading into the All Star break. The Senators talked a lot about facing a desperate Calgary team and they just weren’t able to match that desperation. After a month of playing some of the top team’s in the league, this seemed to be a pretty clear case of the Senators taking their opponent lightly. It happens to all teams over the course of an 82 game schedule. What matters is how they respond after the break.
-That first 40 minutes was as bad as the Senators have looked all year. Their defensive structure kept the game close but they really just could not execute. Boucher talked about it in his post-game comments and mentioned that it was as bad as his team has looked since the Anaheim game a few weeks back. Ottawa has been playing some of the top teams in the league lately and proving that the can play with anyone. Their challenge last night and down the stretch will be finding a way to elevate their game against non-playoff teams too. They weren’t able to do that last night. Only 12 of Ottawa’s remaining games are against playoff teams.
-Pretty eventful debut for Tommy Wingels. He was noticeably cautious his first few shifts of the game which is to be expected for a player in his first game with a new team. Especially when it’s a team as detail-oriented as the Senators are under Guy Boucher. He took a bit of a wipe-out that led to the first goal of the game but was able to even that out by scoring the first goal in the third period rally. It’s easy to see what Pierre Dorion liked in Wingels. He’s a quick skater, he goes to the net, and he plays physical. Definitely a nice addition to the team’s bottom six and penalty kill, where he took a few shifts last night.
-With his team struggling to generate offence through the first two periods, Boucher was pretty quick to juggle his lines. Hoffman moved up to the line with Brassard and Stone. Karlsson was with Phaneuf for a few shifts. There was a Smith-Turris-Stone line followed by Kelly-Brassard-Ryan and the always popular Dzingel-Lazar-Wingels line. The lines were in a blender, as they say. Completely understand wanting to find a spark when things aren’t going well but last night seemed a little excessive. It really felt like it was a different combination every shift. Then again, it woke the team up in the third period. So maybe it does work?
-While the start of this game was obviously disappointing, picking up a point when coming into the third period down a couple goals is certainly a positive. And on a night where the Leafs lost in regulation,it helped Ottawa stretch their lead to three points over the Leafs. Boston sits two points back but Ottawa has five games in hand. Plenty for this team to build on heading into the All Star break. Points in six straight and eight of their last nine games. That’s an impressive stretch for any team but considering where Ottawa is at and looking at the schedule they’ve had this month, it’s nothing short of spectacular. They’ve put themselves in a great position heading into the second half. A .500 record the rest of the way would have them pretty close to a playoff spot.
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