As far as pre-season games go, it couldn't have been a much better result for the Ottawa Senators as their stars looked in mid-season form, and some of the kids made good showings in their 6-2 win over the Maple Leafs on home ice Monday night.
Mike Hoffman had a pair of first period goals, including a nice solo effort that earned him highlight of the night honors on TSN. That came after a power play marker that almost didn't happen because he didn't have a stick in his hands. After missing a point blank shot from in close, Hoffman not only raised his eyes skyward in disbelief but tossed his stick in the air as well. Fortunately, he caught it and rejoined the play just in time to put home a loose puck to give his team a two goal cushion.
Mark Stone also had a game, scoring one and setting up two more, while rookie prospect Thomas Chabot also stood out with his ability to join the rush and also playing solid in his own end. There were some stumbles in his game, but for a 20 year old with the spotlight on him he fared pretty well. Also catching my eye in a good way was defenseman Christian Jaros, as well as Swiss forward Pius Suter, a forward who came in under the radar but was involved in a lot of areas. So the Swiss-Senators pipeline is still active, as Suter played for a season under Marc Crawford and looks like he could be a solid minor leaguer with energy. He did score 43 goals with Guelph in the OHL in 2014-15 so there is some offensive potential there, and he will be an interesting project.
Criag Anderson and Danny Taylor also played well in splitting the duties in the crease, with Taylor's only miscue a shot that went through him after the game was well in hand. Auston Matthews was the lone Leafs player to beat Anderson, with a rocket wrister off the post and in.
Maybe the bigger story than the play on the ice was the increased vigilance of calling two particular infractions - end zone face-off violations (for which there were 3 minor penalties called) as well as the "tapping" (aka slashing of the hands) of which there were multiple calls as well. If that trend continues on into the season, there will be an increased emphasis on special teams as the players adjust to the newly enforced guidelines.
The teams will square off again tonight in Toronto, or at least the jerseys will. Ottawa's traveling roster sees no player who played last night, (with the exception of rugged Tyler Randell) and also notably without Kyle Turris and Ryan Dzingel, the latter of whom had some nagging bumps early on in camp, neither of whom played in Ottawa.
Things to look for from Ottawa tonight will be the battle for the last 2 or 3 defensive spots, with the likes of Freddie Claesson, Chris Wideman, Mark Borowiecki and Ben Harpur all expected to play and to battle for the 5/6/7 defenseman role, at least while Erik Karlsson is out, and then it will be reduced to the 6/7. With Karlsson, Dion Phaneuf, Cody Ceci, Thomas Chabot and Johnny Oduya seemingly being the top 5, this could be the biggest battle in camp and someone is going to be disappointed. I would imagine that Claesson and Borowiecki have the inside track, and Karlsson being out will delay the decision on one of the others.
Up front the lineup is pretty thin of any elite talent, with Logan Brown probably the centrepiece. It will be a very young group with forwards Brown, Filip Chlapik, Drake Batherson, Alex Formenton and defenseman Maxime Lajoie all still under 20 years of age. A lot of forwards eyeing what could be the last spot or two on the roster will be looking to make an impression as well, like Chris Didomenico, Max McCormick, Mike Blunden, Chris VandeVelde who will join Tom Pyatt and Nate Thompson, both of whom should be in the lineup on opening night.
One interesting battle for the Senators is occurring in the crease, as there is a logjam of contracts after Craig Anderson. It will be interesting to see where Mike Condon, Danny Taylor, Marcus Hogberg, Andrew Hammond and Chris Driedger slot. I would expect Condon to back up Anderson, Hogberg (being the top prospect for the future) to get a lion's share of the AHL work with either Hammond or Taylor supporting him. That would leave Driedger and either Hammond or Taylor trolling in the ECHL. Hammond is on a 1-way deal that sees him making $1.35M regardless of where he plays, while the much traveled Taylor (11 pro teams in 10 seasons) is going to make $300K guaranteed in the minors.