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Brannstrom, Brown Lead Senators Rookies to 8-1 Victory Against Winnipeg |
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Hockey is back.
The Ottawa Senators and Winnipeg Jets took to the ice in a 2019 Rookie Showcase game last night, streamed live by TSN. It was, quite simply, a dominant performance from the young Senators, as they downed Winnipeg by a score of 8-1.
While it would be foolish to draw conclusions from a single game at a rookie tournament, the Senators have to be incredibly happy with how many of their key future building blocks performed on Friday night. Logan Brown, Erik Brannstrom, and Filip Gustavsson all looked fantastic on the evening, with Brown and Brannstrom each having multi-point nights and Gustavsson stopping 22 of 23 shots fired his way.
Brannstrom and Brown, in particular, often looked like men among boys when they were on the ice. Brannstrom’s poise with the puck, and specifically his flawless knowledge of how and when to get pucks through and on net, was on full display almost every time he was in the offensive zone. Brown, on the other hand, showed off an effortless stride and combined it with his size to play keep-away with the puck on more than a few occasions. His second goal of the game, which made it an 8-1 score, was a perfect encapsulation of all the skills that make him such an intriguing Senators prospect.
With all that said, it’s not as though those were the only Senators players making noise. Maxence Guenette, the team’s 7th round pick at June’s draft, tallied three assists on the evening, and Parker Kelly scored one of the best never-give-up goals this blogger has even seen. Those are just a couple examples of some less-heralded players making their mark during Friday’s contest.
Next up: The Senators rookies will be taking on the Montreal Canadiens squad later tonight. There’s not much time for rest.
As always, thanks for reading.
Michael Stuart was the Tampa Bay Lightning writer for HockeyBuzz from 2012 to 2015, and has been the Ottawa Senators writer since September 2019. Visit his archive to read more or follow him on Twitter.
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