The day started with an announcement from the National Hockey League. It ended with one of the Ottawa Senators top prospects scoring a Gold Medal clinching goal at the World Juniors.
In between, the Sens scored their 4th straight victory, a win that vaulted them into 5th place in the Eastern Conference. Ladies and gentleman, this was a fantastic day to be a fan of the Ottawa Senators.
Nobody told me a rebuild would be this fun!
The Senators picked up their fourth straight win and a huge two points with a tough road stretch looming. All Star starter Daniel Alfredsson scored into the empty net and added two assists in another stellar performance from the Captain. Jason Spezza, another All Star, scored his 15th and the newest Senator, Kyle Turris scored his first in an Ottawa uniform.
The real story in this one was Craig Anderson.
The Senators ran around in their own end for prolonged stretches tonight and Anderson was up to the challenge. He made a number of excellent saves, controlled his rebounds well, and battled from opening puck drop to the final horn.
Said this on Twitter but I think this may have been Anderson's best game of the season.
As if seeing the Sens vault the idle Pittsburgh Penguins for 5th in the Eastern Conference wasn't good enough, fans were given one more reason to get excited when Mika Zibanejad broke in and scored a beauty of a goal to clinch the Gold Medal for Sweden.
Earlier in the day, Mark Stone, another top notch Sens prospect, went home with a Bronze Medal and was named one of the players of the tournament for the Canadian side. The future is unbelievably bright for this organization but to the surprise of many, the present is every bit as promising.
Sit back and enjoy the ride Sens fans!
- While we are talking about young players Sens fans should be excited about, another stand out performance from Jared Cowen. With Phillips sidelined, Cowen logged just over 23 minutes of ice time and was a +4 on the night. Along with Sergei Gonchar, the two were out against Steven Stamkos most of the night.
