|
Thumbs Up, Thumbs Down: Senators Nearly Steal Victory from Toronto |
|
|
|
|
|
The Ottawa Senators were outplayed by the Toronto Maple Leafs in a material way on Thursday night, but still managed to extend the game to overtime. While the end result, a 3-2 loss, wasn’t the best-case scenario, it was a testament to the renewed level of competitiveness that this Senators team has been displaying over the last number of weeks. They just refuse to go away. Here are last night’s thumbs:
Thumbs Up: Goaltending… Again?
It feels strange to be awarding “thumbs up” honours to goaltending on such a frequent basis lately, but it’s been that good. Last night, it was Anton Forsberg, in his Senators debut, who delivered a gem of a performance. He stopped 38 of 41 shots fired his way, and did more than enough to give the Senators a chance to win. There were routine saves mixed in, but also some truly magical stuff; his cross-crease glove save on Auston Matthews in the second period was one of the most memorable. His play was especially impressive given the long gap he was forced to contend with between games.
While it’s certainly true that the Senators have been playing better lately, the solid goaltending received from Joey Daccord, Filip Gustavsson, and now Anton Forsberg makes Matt Murray’s underwhelming play to start the year even more confusing. This is largely the same team, playing the same system, with the same players. Why are the cheaper goaltending options seemingly able to deliver what the team’s $25-million commitment wasn’t on so many nights? It will certainly be something to watch when Murray is healthy.
Thumbs Up: Alex Formenton’s First of the Season
Don’t get me wrong – last night was a real mixed bag for Alex Formenton. He wasn’t particularly effective at five-on-five, and he got caught in no man’s land on Toronto’s overtime winner. Even so, the goal he scored really speaks to the unique skill set that he and Ryan Dzingel have brought back to the Senators lineup. It’s all about speed.
That goal only happens because of the speed that Dzingel and Formenton were able to deploy to pressure Toronto skaters in the neutral zone, and then again deep in the offensive zone. Speed creates pressure, and pressure forces bad decisions. It wasn’t the prettiest goal in the world, but it was a goal that only came because of the speed brought by those two guys. Put simply, it wasn’t a goal that you would have seen with Alex Galchenyuk and Cedric Paquette in those spots.
Thumbs Down: Managing the Defence
Hi, me again! Here to point out that it still doesn’t make sense to have Thomas Chabot play north of 30-minutes per game in a lost season. Waiving Christian Wolanin, only to have Braydon Coburn come in and play 11 minutes, provides this team with nothing.
As Toronto’s overtime winner suggests, fatigue is certainly a concern with respect to Chabot. He just doesn’t have enough support around him on that blue line for this to be the right situation for him. The Senators have made a big-dollar, long-term commitment to this player for good reason; they need to be protecting that investment by not forcing him to play absurd minutes in a bad situation. There will come a time – hopefully, anyways – when Chabot will be surrounded by names like Erik Brannstrom and Jake Sanderson, but that day is not today. Protect him until it comes.
Thumbs Up: The Opening Goal
Even Connor Brown couldn’t miss that opportunity.
Thumbs Down/Up/Not Sure: Pierre Dorion’s Reaction
Pierre Dorion took the overtime loss surprisingly hard, considering it happened in the middle of the regular season, against one of the top teams in the division, and with his team already out of the playoff conversation:
I guess it's good that he cares. I just hope he stayed behind to help with the clean-up.
--
The streak of Senators-less Saturdays continues, with Ottawa not returning to action until Sunday against the Montreal Canadiens.
As always, thanks for reading.
Ottawa Senators Blogger • 
Join the Discussion:
»