FIVE QUICK THOUGHTS
-All things considered, that’s actually not a bad effort by the Ottawa Senators. The early penalty on Mark Borowiecki was garbage and completely set the tone in this game. And then to lose Cody Ceci and Bobby Ryan with injuries, the Sens were playing massively shorthanded and actually did a pretty good job hanging around in this one. I mean, they were pretty sloppy at times and the power play let them down but not a bad effort considering the circumstances. Would have been nice to grind out at least a single point though and they had plenty of chances to do so.
-On nights like last night, it’s hard not to just be in complete awe of Erik Karlsson. The guy finished the game with 36:34 of ice time. I mean, just think about that for a second. Included in that was an incredible 9:42 on five power plays. Not only did he play like two thirds of the game, but he actually played well. Other elite players might crumble under circumstances like that but Karlsson actually seemed to get better as the night went along. In the last few minutes you could tell he was just about out of gas but can you really blame the guy? Karlsson’s time on ice was the highest of any player in the last seven years.
-And while we’re on the topic of the defence, I was also quite impressed by Patrick Wiercioch. This has obviously been a disappointing season for Wiercioch so far but there are definitely signs that he’s starting to turn the corner a little bit. I mean, you definitely don’t want him playing 29 minutes a game like he had to last night but he definitely looks ready to take on some additional responsibility. Coming into this season, so much of Ottawa’s success was tied to the play of Wiercioch and Ceci on that second pairing. They struggled through the first 25 games but have been much better lately. Hopefully they can keep it up.
-So much of Ottawa’s success through the first few months of the season has been because of the power play but things have started to dry up a little bit lately. They went 0 for 5 last night and were 0 for 3 against the Sharks on Friday night. Not having Bobby Ryan for most of the game hurt but it may also have something to do with the presence of Zack Smith on that top unit. Smith has had an incredible season but he’s just not a great fit there. And while I understand the appeal of trying to create two balanced power play lines, it just doesn’t make sense to leave Mike Hoffman off the top power play unit. Ever.
-Full day off for the Senators today so it’s going to be tough to get any sort of updates on the injured Senators. Bobby Ryan’s injury was on the same hand that has given him trouble in the past and Cody Ceci’s injury was defined as an “upper body” injury. Neither was believed to be serious thankfully. On defence, the Senators can always just insert Jared Cowen back into the line up but they would need to call somebody up if Ryan is going to miss a game. (UPDATE 11:02 AM- Ryan Dzingel has been called up from Binghamton. Expect Ryan to miss tomorrow night’s game) One thing is for certain- this four day holiday break could not come at a better time for the Sens. Hope they have something left in the tank for tomorrow night in Florida though.
