The Ottawa Senators were nearly run out of the building in the first two periods on Wednesday, but phenomenal goaltending from Filip Gustavsson and a late burst of offence allowed the team to steal a victory from the Calgary Flames. Here are today’s thumbs:

Thumbs Up: Filip Gustavsson… Again
Goaltending hasn’t been a good news story for the Senators too many times this season, so Filip Gustavsson’s play since arriving is the definition of a breath of fresh air. He was once again excellent for the Senators today, earning a second straight win in his second straight start for a second career victory. Especially through the first two periods, he was the only reason that Ottawa was able to hang around. If this is what the future looks like in Ottawa’s crease, this rebuild may proceed faster than anyone thought.

Thumbs Up: Alex Formenton’s Season Debut
Even though his stat line (all zeroes and a minus-1) doesn’t look particularly impressive, I thought Alex Formenton had a very strong season debut for the Senators this afternoon. He looked very comfortable next to Clark Bishop in limited minutes, and made a number of smart defensive plays to help his team. The underlying numbers were just as nice as the eye test suggested, with Formenton generating an 86% five-on-five expected goal share per Natural Stat Trick. One game doesn’t count for much, but it’s yet another example of the Senators’ prospect depth being more valuable than some of the veteran bodies they brought in during the offseason.

Thumbs Up: The Tierney Line
There are times when Chris Tierney has looked completely out of place between Drake Batherson and Tim Stützle, but today was not one of those days. That line was clicking on all cylinders this evening, driving play like no other trio. Natural Stat Trick had that line as contributing a five-on-five shot attempt share of 76% and a five-on-five expected goal share of 88%. Those strong numbers were coupled with the game-winning goal, Tierney’s fifth of the season. Batherson and Stützle are quickly becoming one of the must-watch tandems in the league.

Thumbs Up: Brady Tkachuk Does the Little Things Well
It was a week ago, after a game against the Canucks, that I referenced the great work Brady Tkachuk does that often goes unnoticed by the official scorekeepers. We saw another example of that in this game with Josh Norris’ eighth goal of the season. It was a goal only made possible by the unassisted work Tkachuk did to charge into the zone, force the Flames off the puck, and allow Evgenii Dadonov to cycle the puck to Norris. His underlying numbers weren’t particularly spectacular, but he played a direct role in the win. Sometimes the latter is more important.

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The Senators won’t get much time to enjoy having severely undermined Calgary’s playoff aspirations, as they are scheduled to take on the Toronto Maple Leafs tomorrow.

As always, thanks for reading.

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