FIVE QUICK THOUGHTS
-Hope you stuck around, Sens fans. If you left early last night, you missed one of the best finishes of the season. Simply put, the Ottawa Senators stunk last night. Through 57 minutes, the Calgary Flames dominated this hockey game and if you were in the rink or watching on TV, the idea of a comeback likely didn’t even cross your mind. It was one of those games where a two-goal deficit felt like four. Mads Søgaard was playing well but that was the only noteworthy performance. They just didn’t have it. Until they did. With 2:14 left, Batherson jammed home a loose puck and suddenly, it was a one-goal game. Moments later, Alex DeBrincat wired a shot over the shoulder of Jacob Markstrom although in the goalie’s defence, no human was preventing that puck from entering the net. In overtime, Tim Stützle came flying off the bench and put this thing to bed. A season-saving win really.
-And it just doesn’t happen if not for a stellar first start of the season from the 22-year old Mads Søgaard. Thrust into action after injuries to the first two goalies on the depth chart, Søgaard was rock-solid in his season debut. He came as advertised- massive, technically sound and uh big. The Flames were the better team in this one through 57 minutes and if not for the Dannish netminder, the Senators would be down by four or five heading into the third period. The commonly held belief is that you just don’t start the same goalie on back to back nights but the Senators should make an exception tonight. Søgaard should be back between the pipes against the Islanders.
-It just wasn’t his night. For whatever reason, it seemed like every time Tim Stützle touched the puck, it would roll off his stick. He wasn’t the only player bobbling the puck through 40 but he was certainly the most noticeable. It wasn’t that he was playing bad necessarily but it just seemed like nothing was going his way. And in the blink of an eye, it all changed for a player that is quickly emerging as one of the best young forwards in the National Hockey League. With his team on the ropes, Tim Stützle took this hockey game over. Three primary assists and a dazzling overtime winner to lead the Senators to victory on a night that seemed destined for disappointment. Good players find a way. Great players just do it themselves. This kid is special.
-It probably doesn’t get a ton of attention on a night where the Senators mostly struggled but Brady Tkachuk was incredible last night. And really, he is on most nights. His team was struggling and you could tell he was hurting after a couple tough collisions but he just never let up. He was noticeable every shift, finishing every hit and desperately trying to wake up his sleeping teammates. There shouldn’t be a day that goes by where Sens fans don’t spend at least a moment thanking the teams that left Brady Tkachuk on the draft board back in 2018. A franchise-defining moment really. Tkachuk finished the game with a goal, an assist, two shots and six hits in just over 20 minutes of ice time.
-It may have got lost in the shuffle a little bit during last night’s dramatic comeback win but during the second intermission, Bruce Garrioch revealed some significant news on the ownership front. Ryan Reynolds, who has been at the centre of rumours to this point, has aligned himself with a particular bid. And it’s a little off the board. The Remington Group, a real estate development corporation and one of the largest builders in Ontario, has aligned themselves with Reynolds and in the process, become the favourite in this whole process. On paper, it looks like a perfect fit. Deep pockets, the development experience you want with LeBreton looming and a group that would allow Ryan Reynolds to the face of the operation. It’s no secret that the league wants Reynolds involved in some way so the fact that the Remington Group has convinced Reynolds to join their bid is signifcant.
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