FIVE QUICK THOUGHTS
-Maybe Rome was built in like 20 days? Nearly three weeks later, the Ottawa Senators are finally back in the win column. This was billed as a David and Goliath match-up coming in and on this night, David just wanted it more. Honestly, this was more what I expected from the Senators coming into this season. They played with structure, they got good goaltending, they outworked their opponent and their young talent ultimately made the difference. Montreal took Ottawa lightly and the Senators made them pay for it. Now if we could just get eight or nine more games like that one we’ll be right back in this thing.
-Matt Murray desperately needed a game like that. The transition to a new team is never an easy one for a goalie and Murray has had to do it under especially challenging circumstances. With no preseason and a leaky defence in front of him, Murray really hasn’t had a chance to breathe since arriving here in Ottawa. DJ Smith talked about it in his post-game remarks and said that in his assessment, Murray is just putting a ton of pressure on himself to be the guy here in Ottawa. And as we saw last night, when he’s on, he’s more than capable of being that guy. When that first weird one went in, there was definitely a feeling of “here we go again” that entered my mind but Matt Murray shut the door from that point on. Everything looks better when you get solid goaltending.
-The kid is going to be a star. And at the rate Tim Stützle’s game is progressing the last few games, it’s not going to take a couple years. It’s happening right now. With the first period ticking away and the Senators facing the possibility of heading into the intermission trailing again, Stützle took control of the game. In the blink of an eye, with an absurd outlet pass and a perfectly placed wrist shot, Stützle gave his team something they haven’t had much of this season. A lead. It’s that exact quality that we saw on display at the World Juniors, the ability to take over a game and the will to win, except now it’s on display in the best league in the world. Watching Jimmy dominate this game last night, it’s hard not to think back to Draft Lottery night and twist of fate that landed the Ottawa Senators at third overall. Special thanks to the Rangers and Kings for making it possible.
-Erik Brannstrom made his regular season debut last night and came as advertised. It’s sort of amazing how much his skating sticks out on the blueline although that’s at least in part due to the guys they’ve been rolling out there up until this point in the season. As DJ Smith mentioned in his pregame remarks, the Senators desperately need help getting pucks out of their zone and Brannstrom provides exactly that. Honestly, it’s so strange that this became such an issue in the last week or so but that’s almost entirely due to some unsubstantiated and entirely false tweets that made the rounds in the last couple days. Considering he missed most of Camp, it makes sense that the Senators wanted him to spend a bit of time with the AHL group to get up to speed. Hopefully Brannstrom is here to stay now though. Couldn’t help but notice he got a couple shifts on the penalty kill in the third period.
-It’s pretty clear that the situation with Derek Stepan is going to be something to keep an eye on over the next couple weeks. It started with an off-hand remark from Nick Kypreos but last night., Bruce Garrioch confirmed that there’s something to it. Listening to Garrioch, it sounds like there are a number of factors at play here including fit with the team, family concerns and maybe a bit of an issue with the Head Coach. Whatever it is, you can be sure Pierre Dorion is looking for a quick resolution. Stepan was brought in to be a mentor for some of these young kids and it’s pretty tough to fill that role if your heart isn’t really in it. Of course moving Stepan is going to be easier said than done. Not many teams that have room for a cap hit like that right now and his early play probably hasn’t done much to improve his stock around the league. Either way, this isn’t something the Senators should let linger.
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