Well, so the Senators can indeed outplay, out-shoot and out-chance the opposition and still win a game. And Erik Condra can indeed hit an open net.
Just a couple of things that were in doubt, but were confirmed against the Montreal Canadiens on Thursday night.
If the Senators could play 82 games in a season even close to the effort and execution that they did last night there wouldn't be the scrambling that has gone on this season. It was a solid effort from start to finish, with Craig Anderson making some tremendous saves to hold the lead.
They got production from 3 different lines, with the "top line" of Turris - MacArthur and Chiasson the lone unit not on for a Senators goal. Jean-Gabriel Pageau finally netted his first goal of the season and for good measure added an assist.
The defense was pretty solid as Marc Methot seems to be finding his game and allowing Erik Karlsson the freedom to find his.
Every centre except Pageau who took more than 1 draw was well over 50% against one of the best faceoff teams in the league.
It probably could have and should have been a shutout for Craig Anderson, as the one shot that did get by him really shouldn't have, and it was certainly one he would stop 99% of the time.
It wasn't an overly physical game or very chippy for these rivals, but Bobby Ryan certainly delivered the hit of the night on Alex Galchenyuk.
This was a nice win against a rival, but the Senators still have a long way to go to claw their way into the playoff race. They are at the point where they need to put 6 or 7 of those together and put an extended winning streak on the board before that will happen. The opportunity will be there with the Hurricanes coming to town on Saturday.
But for a night at least the Senators kept the Habs fans that continually invade CTC relatively quiet.
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Shame on TSN for cutting away from the pre-game festivities prior to the ceremonial puck drop. If it was a ceremony in Toronto or Montreal, you can bet they wouldn't have cut away to commercials. At least they made it back in time to see the red carpet being rolled up.