FIVE QUICK THOUGHTS
-It’s a damn shame this is only a 56-game season because in a regular year, this team probably makes the playoffs. The hole they dug themselves was a little too deep but there is no doubt that this version of the Ottawa Senators finishes in the top four in the North Division. With last night’s gritty 2-1 win over the Vancouver Canucks, the Sens have now won five of their last seven. One point back of the Canucks, five back of the Flames and 11 back of the Canadiens. They would certainly be in the mix. As enjoyable as it will be to ruin the hopes and dreams of a few Canadian teams down the stretch (you’re next, Montreal), it’s hard not to let the mind drift to next season. This team is absolutely going to push for a playoff spot.
-It’s probably safe to just go ahead and assume that the Ottawa Senators are a good hockey team now. Okay maybe it’s not that simple but what we’ve learned over and over again during the last two weeks is that the Sens have come a long way since the start of the season. Almost unrecognizable, in fact. Roster turnover and the hostile takeover by the team’s young players is a big part of the turnaround but the coaches deserve a ton of credit too. Their defensive structure is vastly improved from the start of the year and it’s not just a handful of players that have improved. It’s everyone. No passengers, as the old saying goes. And that’s a sign that the players are buying into what the coaches are selling. Defending as five-man units, consistent breakouts, aggressive on the forecheck and outworking the opposition on a nightly basis. That was always supposed to be the identity of this team- now they have the right collection of players to implement that style.
-Artem Zub. That’s it. That’s the thought.
-That middle frame was probably the best period the Senators have played all season. It took them awhile to find their skating legs in this one but when they did, they ran wild on the Vancouver Canucks. The sequence that led to the go-ahead goal by Drake Batherson was some of the most impressive hockey we have seen from this team in years. The forecheck was relentless, the pinches were perfectly timed and every Senator on the ice seemed to know exactly where the other four guys were going to be at all times. The sequence lasted close to two minutes and included a full line change- it was just poetry in motion. Oh and it happened a few times in that period.
-Let me preface this thought on goalies by saying, nobody knows anything about goalies. They’re wildly unpredictable and just when you think you have them figured out, you don’t. But watching Marcus Hogberg last night, it’s hard not to wonder if that first month debacle is more about the defence than goaltending. It’s a bit of both obviously but we’ve now seen Matt Murray and Marcus Hogberg bounce back from tough starts. When you add that to the strong play of both Joey Daccord and Filip Gustavsson and Anton Forsberg…there has to be something they are doing defensively since that first month of the season that is making life a lot easier on their goalies. Things like clearing shooting lanes, boxing guys out, limiting second chances and avoiding full-scale breakdowns all make life a lot easier on goalies. I’ll let one of the resident nerds confirm this but I bet there is a huge difference in the number and the quality of the chances they are giving up recently.
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