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Hoffman, Lehner Lead Sens To 4th Straight Win; OTT 3, CBJ 2 |
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Mike Hoffman, the on-again, off-again healthy scratch so far this young season, might not have to worry about coming out of the lineup for a while if he continues to perform like he did against the Columbus Blue Jackets.
The player who was put in because "he brings us speed and skating", as coach Paul MacLean stated earlier in the day as to why he was in the lineup, showed that in spades. His hustle and determination led to a first period penalty shot, allowed him to get to a loose puck and set up David Legwand's goal and then he put on a nice display of not only speed but great hands as he went backhand shelf from in close for the game winner in the third period.
Hoffman said a performance like that, after sitting for the last game said it helped "a lot, for my confidence here going forward and helps to get the first one out of the way this year and I am looking forward to the next game."
Ottawa took a 2-0 lead on goals from David Legwand and Erik Karlsson, the last of which was an attempted pass to Mark Stone, but deflected in off a diving Nick Foligno, who also took out his goalie, Curtis McElhinney on the play resulting in an appearance of The Bob, Sergei Bobrovsky.
Another 2nd period lapse where the Blue Jackets took the play to Ottawa resulted in a pair of goals in a 41 second span which resulted in a timeout for the Senators to "get everyone to settle down and take a deep breath and lets get back to playing." said MacLean. "We needed to take an extra minute to give direction to the group as opposed to trying to do it like we were on the bench in the middle of it while the play was going on."
Hoffman's goal just before the midway point of the third period put the Senators ahead for good, as he knifed in between Jack Johnson and David Savard to pick up a bouncing puck, settle it down and tuck it in a small space over Bobrovsky's shoulder.
Robin Lehner was more than solid in the Ottawa net, making 38 saves including a highlight reel stop on Alexander Wennberg in the first period, sprawling with his paddle down, as save that Lehner himself called lucky. But as the saying goes, you have to be good to be lucky and lucky to be good. Lehner was both.
HERE ARE SOME RANDOM THOUGHTS ON THE GAME
*It didn't feel like a 40 shot game against the Senators. In the first period when it felt like Ottawa had a decided advantage in play, the shots were just 12-11. In the second where it felt like Ottawa was on its heels for the most part, at the end of the period the shots were even 12-12. And in the third the Blue Jackets were credited with 17 shots but it just didn't feel that way.
*I am probably not the first one to make the connection, but I don't think the Senators had in mind when they matched up Chris Phillips and Curtis Lazar that the first thing that would rub off from the veteran to the youngster would be the penchant for inadvertently putting the puck behind his own goalie. The career franchise leader in "own goals" saw his young new tenant put his first NHL shot into the net, unfortunately it was into his own net for the Blue Jackets' first goal, credited to Nick Foligno.
*Hoffman used tremendous speed to get around James Wisniewski and earn a penalty shot, and then he proceeded to use first gear on the penalty shot and didn't really stand much of a chance to open the scoring. Mix in some speed, or at least a change of pace and don't try so many moves (says this guy, who has never played an NHL game).
*The Hoffman - Legwand - Chris Neil line was easily the best on the ice for the Senators, even before they scored the game's first goal. They got the cycle going down low with multiple give-and-go's between Hoffman and Legwand that hemmed the Blue Jackets in their own end for a long time. They didn't score on that particular shift but it created momentum for the Senators that the Turris line followed up with a similar shift.
*The line of Bobby Ryan - Mika Zibanejad and Alex Chiasson continues to underwhelm. Its tough to change things up when the other three lines are all playing pretty well together and have chemistry, because you don't want to mess that up. Patience might be the key with that line, but neither of the trio is really a guy who wants to have the puck on his stick for an extended period of time. I was sitting with a scout from another team who made the observation to me that "Zibanejad is a player who want to dish and then drive the net without the puck." This means he needs to play with a winger who is comfortable carrying the puck into the zone, and I am not sure either Ryan or Chiasson is that guy. Ryan wants to be a finisher, and Chiasson is more of a mucker who will go to the dirty areas. If that line is going to work, Zibanejad might have to channel his inner Spezza a little bit and be more of a puck-control forward rather than dish and drive.
*Lazar and Ryan both had quick wraparound attempts on consecutive shifts but were denied by Bobrovsky, and Cody Ceci tried to bank one in off the flailing goalie from behind the net after he picked up a rebound.
*The difference between this season and last season? Goaltending. Ottawa is getting the saves from Anderson and Lehner that they didn't get last year. The "Pesky Sens" phenomenon from 2013 was not gone last year, as I have said before. but for a team to win like that, they need world class goaltending. That is what the duo in the Senators crease has been providing. They haven't been able to reduce their shots against, and they still have trouble in their own zone, but because the netminders aren't allowing that extra goal, the Senators are staying in games and have now won 4 in a row. And we have had the debate before about my opinion of the one game they lost and why.
Now, the Senators have a couple of days to relax and reset, because up next is the home game with a neutral site crowd as the Battle of Ontario kicks off for the 2014-15 regular season on Wednesday night.
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