The Ottawa Senators scored on former teammate Robin Lehner 3 times in less than 3 and a half minutes as the Senators went on to beat the Buffalo Sabres 5-2.
Lehenr, who was critical of the Sens organization last week, saying that they really didn't give him a chance, got beat by Max McCormick, Alex Chiasson and Zack Stortini in quick succession just before the middle of the second frame and the Sabres couldn't come back from the deficit.
The teams alternated goals in the third, with Evander Kane twice narrowing the gap to 2 but Mika Zibanejad responded once and then Ryan Dzingel added the empty netter to cap off a 3 point night.
It was a good night for a couple of players on the bubble.
Jared Cowen played on what amounted to the first pairing and was very good, making smart decisions with the puck and being very solid positionally. That is the type of game the Senators want him to play and if he can replicate that performace over and over he and the Sens will be in good shape.
Meanwhile, Chris Wideman made his pre-season debut and was pretty slow (almost invisible) to start, but picked his game up in the second half and became more assertive with the puck. He also scored early on in the league-testing overtime period that really wasn't needed to solve anything but this was one of those games where they tried it anyway.
The battle for the last forward spot raged on, with Matt Puempel outpointing Shane Prince 1 assist to nothing, but overall I think Prince had a much better game and was far more engaged and effective. He looks like he might be able to maintain what looks like the inside track for the spot, due to waiver rules. At this point I would take Prince over Puempel straight up, let alone adding the fact that Prince could be plucked by any other team if the Sens tried to send him down.
Matt O'Connor played the first 29+ minutes in the Ottawa net, and stopped all 18 shots he faced including some dangerous chances in close and in goalmouth scrambles. He is very strong at taking away the lower part of the net and is big enough to cover the top half pretty effectively at the same time. He yielded the crease to Chris Dreidger, who faced 24 shots and would probably like the shorthanded effort from Evander Kane back, as it was a bad angle shot that a goalie should stop 99% of the time.
MURRAY SITS WITH MCKENZIE TSN's Bob McKenzie continued his tour of NHL GM's and sat down with Bryan Murray for a 25 minute or so interview, that if you haven't seen in its entirety is worth taking a look at. You can see it on TSN's website HERE.
If you haven't seen it, or don't have time, here is a quick synopsis:
Among the things Murray discussed was the fact that trading Patrick Wiercioch was close but not quite at the deadline last season, and might be the best trade he never made in hindsight. He said in a conversation with Wiercioch that the player just said he needed a stretch of 15 or so games to get his legs and show what he really is. He got that opportunity and lived up to his word, at least so far.
He is still looking for a top 6 forward upgrade more than another defenseman. He will give it 20 games or so to see what the current top 6 has and after that will decide if that search will intensify or move to the back burner so to speak. He stated that although they are a budget team, that Eugene Melnyk has never said no to adding money if it makes sense.
He also touched on Daniel Alfredsson's role this season, which will be varied, Dave Cameron's coaching, Andrew Hammond's part in the amazing run to the playoffs last season, the Prince-Puempel battle, and the expectations for Jared Cowen.
He also indicated that his health is as good as can be expected, and he looks that way too. It is good to see him seemingly in better shape and more energetic than he looked at times last season, and he didn't confirm whether or not this would indeed be his last season as the club's GM. He still seems to be enjoying it and his role, and considering where he was at at points last year, it is great to have him still around the club, and more power to him.
The Senators will be off (at least from game action) until Saturday night when the Sabres pay a return visit. Expect some more roster moves in the meantime as they near the midway point of training camp.