FIVE QUICK THOUGHTS
-It’s been awhile since I’ve put together some post-game ramblings but a win like that deserves a little extra love and attention. Considering the way they started the game, which was um atrocious, this really may have been one of Ottawa’s most impressive victories of the season. It would have been pretty easy for them to pack it in after a dreadful opening 20 minutes but instead, they took over the game in the final two periods. Hockey players talk a lot about “sticking with it” and that’s exactly what they did against a perpetually vulnerable Toronto Maple Leafs team. Another building block kind of effort from a Senators team that is starting to show some signs of life.
-It’s funny how much better the Senators look when they actually get decent goaltending. The struggles of Joonas Korpisalo and Anton Forsberg have been well-documented early in the season but like the rest of the team, they are both starting to show signs of life in the crease. Forsberg was a big part of that win over the Penguins before the break and Korpisalo was probably Ottawa’s most important player in this one. One of the unfortunate trends over the early part of the season has been the tendency for both guys to let in those “deflating” goals at the worst possible times. It was the exact opposite last night as Korpisalo was solid throughout and made a handful of key saves at critical moments.
-A moment of appreciation for Drake Batherson. Two more goals last night, including both the game-tying and game-winning goal, in what has been a blistering hot month of December for the talented winger. He now has at least a point in 11 of 13 games this month and 16 points over that stretch. It’s early but you get the sense that Batherson is one of a handful of players that is really going to benefit from the change behind the bench. He has all the talent in the world but there were definitely some bad habits creeping into his game over the last couple seasons. If he can clean those up and continue to produce the way he has this season, he can be a game-changer.
-Ridly Grieg is quickly becoming one of those players you really have to focus in on over the course of a game to truly get an appreciation for how good he is. There’s nothing particularly flashy about his game but when you watch him closely, he’ll do a couple things every shift that are either a) incredibly smart or b) incredibly obnoxious. And it’s the best. Last night, Ridly fought a much bigger William Lagesson and showed that he’s pretty good with his gloves off too. On a team loaded with young talent, Greig has a tendency to get lost in the shuffle a little bit but he’s exactly the type of player this team needs – a high-energy, 200-ft player with tons of skill.
-We complain about Sportsnet a lot around these parts but last night may have been the worst yet. Watching that panel twist themselves in knots to either praise the Leafs during the good points or avoid saying anything about the Ottawa Senators was pretty remarkable. I lasted all of 30 seconds in my attempt to view their post-game coverage. The opening question of, “Did the Ottawa Senators REALLY win the game or did the Leafs give it away?” was all I could handle. Don’t get me wrong – I understand why it’s the way that it is and I know that they are speaking to the largest portion of their audience but yeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeesh does it ever suck.
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