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Senators open road trip with 3-0 win in Vancouver |
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It was a good night for the Ottawa Senators and their new-look line combinations, as they played their most complete game of the season on the west coast.
Craig Anderson made 23 saves for the shutout in the 3-0 win, looking solid although there were a couple of close calls and missed open nets from the Canucks that helped him out a bit.
The newly-assembled line of Derick Brassard, Bobby Ryan and Ryan Dzingel got to work and accounted for 2 goals, both off of the stick on Dzingel. The second year player now has 4 goals to lead the Senators, one more than the total he managed to score in 30 NHL games last season.
The other lines also had their chances, with Mike Hoffman getting robbed by Ryan Miller's catching glove and his line with Kyle Turris and Tom Pyatt having a soid outing.
Perhaps the most impressive trio was the re-assembled Zack Smith - Jean-Gabriel Pageau - Mark Stone unit. They carried the Senators in the second half last season and had multiple opportunities to score but were guilty of over-passing and not taking the quality shot when it presented itself. Pageau did put the game away with an empty netter to make the final 3-0.
It might not be a coincidence that this game was played 5-on-5 for more than 59 minutes, with the only two penalties coming six seconds apart. Each team had six seconds of power play time, so the Senators avoided having to use their struggling special teams units.
It was good to see the Senators put a clamp on the game, and didn't allow the Canucks to get any momentum. In the third period, where you would expect a surge from the home team, Vancouver was held to just three shots on goal. That is a big part of the Guy Boucher game plan, and at least for one night it worked to a "T". They now have a couple of days off before heading to Calgary to take on the Flames, who after a slow start have strung some wins together against some tough competition.
Ottawa Senators Blogger • 
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