The Senators are currently on their first extended break of the season, and sit with a 3-2-1 record after 6 games. They are out of action until Thursday night, so it gives a couple of days to dissect what has gone down so far.
The defensive play of the Senators has been a big focus in the fist couple of weeks of the season. While there is still a widespread almost panic about the play of the blue line, but many still seem to be focusing that in the wrong place.
For months I have been suggesting that the second pairing of Ceci and Wiercioch might not be up to par of a second pairing, because neither one brings much of a physical element. I have suggested sort of a 2A and 2B strategy by splitting up Ceci/Wiercioch as well as Cowen/Borowiecki, neither of which are great puck movers.
Well, at least through 6 games, the pair of 2-74 has been doing what has been asked of them, in their own end.
Neither Cowen nor Borowiecki have been on the ice for an even strength goal against in 6 games. The same can not be said of any other defenseman (except Wideman who has played just one game), despite the fact that all have pretty comparable scoring chance differential, and the 3rd pair has far more defensive zone starts.
It hasn't always been pretty, but for all the grief that that pair took leading into the season and continues to take, they have been very effective at keeping the puck out of their own net.
Meanwhile, Wiercioch and Ceci have struggled against similar quality of competition, and you get what you get with Karlsson, who on some nights is an equal opportunity defender.
The one thing lacking when Cowen and Borowiecki are on the ice is the opportunity to create offense at the other end of the ice.
So I stand by my opinion that the best way to deploy the 2nd and 3rd pairings would be to have a puck mover and defensive stalwart on each pair. That might be the key to balancing the tilt of the ice.
The team as a whole has been playing a bend but don't break style so far this season, and when you do that sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't and it puts pressure on the offense to score when it gets their chances. And so far, only 1 line has been able to do that, which we will talk about tomorrow since there is still a couple of days until game day.
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Speaking of the Senators and defensemen, 2015 Sens 1st rounder Thomas Chabot made his only appearance of the regular season in the area yesterday when Saint John visited Gatineau. I took in the game and focused mainly on the Senators prospect, the first time I have seen him play with his peer group in person. As advertised, I saw a tremendous skater and a left-handed shot, and in 2 or 3 years will be dynamite with Erik Karlsson on the power play. I saw that he has a cannon of a shot, although he is more than willing to take something off of it to make sure it gets through and not blocked.
Defensively, he still has some work to do in terms of decision making, as most young defensemen tend to need. He is able to get away with a lot of things that he wouldn't be able to as a pro because he is simply bigger and faster than most of the guys he is playing with. He could add a little more grit to his game, but he did show a couple of instances of being able to stick up for himself or a teammate.
I covered the 67's the year before and the year after the Sens drafted Cody Ceci, and I see a lot of the same traits. Chabot is a smoother skater with quicker acceleration and higher end speed. His size makes his strides look effortless and the speed he gets while attacking the zone with the puck is pretty remarkable, even when you factor in the fact that it is still junior players he is playing against.
All in all, there is plenty to be excited about. Despite the fact that Chabot was held pointless and was a +1, he played all situations for the Sea Dogs, and was instrumental in the 3-2 win over the Olympiques. Last week he was named to the QMJHL roster for the Canada-Russia Series, which will play their segments of the series November 17th in Rouyn-Noranda and November 19th in Halifax.