FIVE QUICK THOUGHTS
-It would have been pretty difficult to dream up a better start than the one the Ottawa Senators had last night. Brady Tkachuk, one of the team’s young building blocks, beating Cody Ceci to the front of the net and scoring the fastest goal to start a season in franchise history. Twenty-five seconds in and they were off and running. Only problem is that ended being a pretty clear high point on the night. The Senators got off to a good start through the opening twenty minutes but just seemed to run out of gas in the second and third. Of course the performance of the other team probably played a part in the way things played out. Some things to build on but also a pretty clear snapshot of what this team’s struggles might look like this year.
-And while the Leafs clearly took the game to the Senators in the second and third period, ot sort of felt like the two points were still there for the taking if not for the toe of Bobby Ryan lifting off the ice a fraction of a second too early. Stupid rule but a rule nonetheless. That waived off goal by Ron Hainsey really seemed to suck the life out of Ottawa and when the Leafs took a lead of their own moments later, you could tell it was going to be an uphill climb from there.
-It didn’t take long to pick up on what will likely be some of the hallmarks of the DJ Smith era in Ottawa. All over the ice the Senators looked like a more aggressive team, with players noticeably quicker to challenge the puck carrier. Less sitting back relying on a structure that wasn’t there and a whole lot more stick on puck. This was the case at 5 on 5 but also on the penalty kill. Will be interesting to see how that evolves over the course of the season as the team gets more comfortable with this style of play. It’s also going to be interesting to see if they have the legs to keep it up for longer than twenty minutes.
-During the broadcast, the Sportsnet crew spent a considerable amount of time talking about what went wrong with Cody Ceci in Ottawa, focusing in on the idea that he was somehow miscast with the Senators. And they’re right. But also entirely wrong. He wasn’t miscast as a player that could produce offence and he wasn’t miscast as a defenceman that could thrive in a shutdown role. Where the Senators, and now the Leafs too, are getting it wrong is by thinking that Cody Ceci can be anything other than a third pairing defenceman in mostly sheltered minutes. We’ll see if the brilliant minds in Toronto figure that out quicker than Ottawa did.
-It was a hell of a story when he made it through the first round of cuts. It became one of the better moments in the preseason when he earned an NHL contract and a spot in the line up on opening night. It became downright unbelievable when he scored a goal in his first game. Scott Sabourin has quickly made his mark on this team but not sure anyone could have predicted that kind of start to his NHL career. At 27 years old, the undrafted local kid made his debut in the league, and scored a goal to boot. There have probably been countless nights over the last seven years in the minors where Sabourin thought an opportunity like this one might never come his way. Where he thought maybe he should hang ’em up. Kudos to Scott Sabourin for sticking with it and making the best of his opportunity.
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