FIVE QUICK THOUGHTS
-The stuff of legends. A tad premature perhaps but that’s what it felt like in the moment. A fight and then an overtime winner. If it feels like that doesn’t happen very often well that’s because Tim Stützle is the first Ottawa Senator to ever do it. Yea, you read that correctly. The progression in Stützle’s game since moving to centre has been one of the most significant developments in this rebuild and watching him lately, it’s tough to know just how high that ceiling really is. This kid is special. We knew it when they drafted him, we knew it when he dominated at the World Juniors with that certain flare for the dramatic in everything he did and now we can see it playing out in real time at the NHL level. That was the best game of his NHL career.
-It was certainly nice to see this team end up on the right end of an overtime/shootout because they certainly deserve it with the way they’ve been playing lately. Despite facing a fairly ridiculous run of injuries, this team just continues to find ways to remain competitive. They just come to work every night and with the way they are playing right now, it’s a ton of fun to watch. The Sportsnet West crew could not stop singing their praises during the game and it was more of the same from Oilers Head Coach Dave Tippett after the game- “Effort is a big part of it. They force you. They make you work. They make you play fast and they make you execute under pressure” DJ Smith has this team playing the right way.
-It was ultimately overshadowed by the finish but there was another moment in overtime that may have been just as important as the eventual game-winner. For what felt like an eternity, Nick Paul went head to head with Connor McDavid and shut him down. Like, shadowed him all over the ice and gave him absolutely nothing. Just over 23 minutes of ice time, five shots, 54% on draws and nearly four minutes of ice time shorthanded. Oh and a goal too. DJ Smith called him the best player on the ice. Word is the Senators have already had some preliminary contract talks with Nick Paul and after watching his effort against the Oilers, it’s pretty easy to see why. As the old saying goes and as his agent is surely reminding Pierre Dorion, Nick Paul does it all.
-It’s becoming routine and that’s probably the best thing about it. Matt Murray was damn good again last night and continues to string together strong starts in the Ottawa goal. Since that ugly start against the Leafs on January 1st, Murray looks like a different goalie entirely and looks a lot like the guy the Senators hoped they were getting when they acquired him from the Pittsburgh Penguins. Murray was probably the difference in this one and while it may not have looked spectacular, he had a whole bunch of game-saving stops against a dangerous Oilers team. Murray has now gone six straight starts without a regulation loss.
-Sure was nice to have Erik Brannstrom back in the lineup. It gets lost in the shuffle a little bit with so much talent on both sides of this one but there was a lot to like about Brannstrom’s game and it’s been that way throughout the month of January. The Senators have preached patience with Brannstrom and it’s pretty clear that it’s really starting to pay off. His ability to hold his own defensively despite being undersized and more importantly, his ability to make elite plays on the breakout is a difference-maker back there.
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