When future historians look to define the 2019-20 Ottawa Senators, they’ll continually circle back to tonight’s game against the Boston Bruins. Against a team far better than them, the Senators did enough to hang around when they should have had no business doing so. DJ Smith’s pesky Ottawa squad shut down one of the best teams in hockey, thanks in large part to wonderful goaltending, quality-focused defense, and timely offense. It was a textbook performance from a team that isn’t supposed to author textbook performances, and yet another chapter in the story of this Senators group outperforming its roster talent.
Here are tonight’s thumbs:
Thumbs Up: Surprise!
The Senators continue to surprise nearly everyone in hockey, including opposing teams, the media, and even their own fans. There’s no doubt that the Bruins were shocked to walk out of the rink with a grand total of zero points after this game; it’s only the fifth time that has happened to them all season.
While score effects took over late in the game, the Sens did what they needed to do upfront, generating north of 70% of the five-on-five expected goals in the first period and nearly 58% of the five-on-five expected goals in the second period (Natural Stat Trick). Empty-net markers ultimately padded the boxscore, but Ottawa was full value for a victory against the league’s best.
Thumbs Up: Dylan DeMelo’s Vision
This space has seen its fair share of ink spent praising Dylan DeMelo’s calm, quiet presence on the blue line. Tonight, he had a chance to show off some of his flashier offensive instincts early on in the game:
He saw Artem Anisimov. He kept his head up as he was making the feed. He connected. It was a thing of beauty, and it provided Ottawa with an early 1-0 lead.
Thumbs Up: Anthony Duclair Continues the Hot Streak
Having scored his 14th and 15th of the year tonight, Duclair is now on pace for a ~40-goal season; he has scored five goals in his last three games. What he is doing for this Senators group, a group that was expected to struggle mightily on the offensive side of the puck, is nothing short of spectacular. He’s quite arguably the best non-entry-level bargain in the league right now, and shows no signs of slowing down. It’s amazing what confidence and some belief from the coaching staff can do for a player.
While there's no guarantee that he can continue to be such a potent producer, it's clear that he can be a contributing player on any given team. Considering where his career was at when he left the Blue Jackets, that's a pretty neat thing. It's a testament both to the Senators - for scouting him, identifying the potential, and providing the opportunity to succeed - and the player's own hard work that we find ourselves in a situation where a long-term deal might make sense.
Thumbs Up: Anders Nilsson’s Bounce Back
It wouldn’t be unfair to describe Anders Nilsson’s last road trip as an unmitigated disaster. In three appearances, he failed to register a save percentage better than .867. The Big Swede needed a bounce back, and he got one tonight. While the Senators did a generally good job of limiting the quality that he faced throughout the game, Nilsson was busy; he faced 40 shots, stopping 38 of them on the way to a 5-2 victory. ‘Generally’ is the operative word in that previous sentence, as Nilsson was still counted upon to make a handful of truly unbelievable saves:
Thumbs Up: Chris Tierney and J-G Pageau Snap Slumps
Sometimes it just takes a bounce, right? The beneficiary of a ruthless forecheck by Anthony Duclair, Chris Tierney was finally able to snap his goal-scoring drought with an early second period goal. He hadn't lit the lamp since late October, which is almost unfathomable considering he generated more than two individually expected goals in that time per Natural Stat Trick.
Pageau, for his part, had gone a whole two games without scoring. The Senators just have to hope that his third period empty-net goal did enough to restore some of the confidence that was undoubtedly lost during that lengthy slump.
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The stay at home was a quick one for the Senators, as they are set to go back out on the road for a Wednesday night matchup against the Montreal Canadiens. That divisional game will be followed by two days off before an afternoon game at home against Columbus on Saturday.
As always, thanks for reading.
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