Michael Stuart: Thumbs Up, Thumbs Down: Tkachuk Leads the Way as Senators Drop Canadiens

Stutzy reminding me alot of P.Kane 88. Nifty mittens

Montreal is not very good and as the season moves on their deficiencies will become more apparent. Is it my imagination, but seems to me that Montreal is not seem to have much pace to their game?

So excited to see Tkachuk, Stutzle and Norris take the shoot out. Kids need to play. They have improved tremendously from week one.

I’m not sure why Montreal was so hyped to begin with. Just because they won a play-in and one playoff round last year should not make them a great team all of a sudden.
I didn't think that was goaltender interference either, but the Sens seem to have so many bad bounces during the first of the year - we’ll take it!
Great to see the fun between Tkachuk and Stutzle - those two need to stick around for a long time.

I have a completely off topic fantasy question -

i'm in a keeper league

i was offered Bo Horvat in exchange for Zibby. ( i have zibby, would get horvat )

on the surface, horvat's numbers are way better.....but if Zibby pulls out of his slump, he's the better fantasy player.

it's a keeper league. Horvat is younger and potentially not yet at his prime.

thoughts?

Thumbs down to Brannstrom being made to look like a beer league defenseman by Tyler Tiffoli. It would really be nice to have a defense coach who could teach these kids angles and transitions. Luke Richardson comes to mind....but we ran him out of town.
Maybe Marc Methot.

Thumbs down to Tkachuk having to get into a fight at all. We can't have this kid making this a regular thing or celebrating it. His pattern of play is another reason we can't ever consider him for the captaincy. While it is leadership like stuff....it's not the acceptable kind.

Iginla, Chara, ok...they were captains...they won awards...they occasionally had to fight. But their balance in this regard was perfect.

Finally another thumbs up night for Nick Paul. He gets on people, his reach is amazing he pushes when they don't think they're gonna get pushed and he creates turnovers or chaos

Thumbs down to Brannstrom being made to look like a beer league defenseman by Tyler Tiffoli. It would really be nice to have a defense coach who could teach these kids angles and transitions. Luke Richardson comes to mind....but we ran him out of town.
Maybe Marc Methot.

Thumbs down to Tkachuk having to get into a fight at all. We can't have this kid making this a regular thing or celebrating it. His pattern of play is another reason we can't ever consider him for the captaincy. While it is leadership like stuff....it's not the acceptable kind.

Iginla, Chara, ok...they were captains...they won awards...they occasionally had to fight. But their balance in this regard was perfect.

Finally another thumbs up night for Nick Paul. He gets on people, his reach is amazing he pushes when they don't think they're gonna get pushed and he creates turnovers or chaos
- Octavarium

Mildly disagree on your Tkachuk take. I don't like his fighting because he is going get hurt. Also, other teams will soon figure out how to use a goon to take him out of the rotation for half a period.

But, on the other hand, the kid is a natural leader. Fighting is part of the job description at this point in his career. It will change soon enough.

Without Price it would have been over in the 2nd period.

Justin Bourne
@jtbourne
The Sens rolled back a 5-1 lead on the Leafs and got the Habs coach fired, they can basically put their feet up and call their season a success at this point

tweet of the day

The Sens are not chumps by any means, and they're starting to show it. But that was NOT goalie interference, I am sorry. That was a garbage call, and everyone knows it.

The kids on the Sens are gonna be super dangerous soon!!!

Thumbs down to Brannstrom being made to look like a beer league defenseman by Tyler Tiffoli. It would really be nice to have a defense coach who could teach these kids angles and transitions. Luke Richardson comes to mind....but we ran him out of town.
Maybe Marc Methot.

Thumbs down to Tkachuk having to get into a fight at all. We can't have this kid making this a regular thing or celebrating it. His pattern of play is another reason we can't ever consider him for the captaincy. While it is leadership like stuff....it's not the acceptable kind.

Iginla, Chara, ok...they were captains...they won awards...they occasionally had to fight. But their balance in this regard was perfect.

Finally another thumbs up night for Nick Paul. He gets on people, his reach is amazing he pushes when they don't think they're gonna get pushed and he creates turnovers or chaos
- Octavarium

Dude, we didn't run Luke Richardson out of town, that guy was awesome as a coach and a player. Him and Jason Smith and Shean Donovan and other former players were all given some of their first coaching opportunities here. He had to get away from here given what happened with his daughter during that time which is completely understandable. If you're gonna troll in commenting, know the context of what you're talking about first.

That said, Brannstrom had another strong game despite the one time he looked bad. He had the least ice time of all the D and despite that led all Sens D men (and players except Stutzle) in shots on goal and despite getting only one shift on the PP (Chabot played with 4 fwds the whole rest of the time).

Tkachuk had an awesome game and is showing the other youth what is needed to win in the NHL. I dunno if you noticed all the cheap shots by MTL over the last couple of games, but what he is showing is that our stars will take it, give it back and still score on you after. You're still talking about it, showing it made an impact. He willed a team to win today.

And yeah, we remember the Chara fights well, thanks XD. Not sure you remember how crazy Chara was while here, he wasn't a captain here (wore an A) but he fought almost every second game when with the Sens:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=317UxnIXvTw

I think it was disallowed because I swear there's an unwritten rule (why not make it written?) that if a player makes incidental contact with the goalie and doesn't leave the blue ice before the puck goes in, the goal is disallowed. Plus it was Gallagher, and the NHL hates him.

I 100% agree with the fact NHL is super inconsistent with these goals. But goals like that should never count because then players will try to poke legs/pads/etc. to get the goalie to move and then set up a slap shot soon afterward when they're not in the best position to make the save.

But then you could also argue that Zaitsev pushed him into Murray... but I'm bias, so no goal, lol.

The Sens are not chumps by any means, and they're starting to show it. But that was NOT goalie interference, I am sorry. That was a garbage call, and everyone knows it.

The kids on the Sens are gonna be super dangerous soon!!!
- Lato649

it ABSOLUTELY was interference, there is ZERO DOUBT that Gallagher interfered with Murray.......the only thing that can be debated is whether or not Murray had time to get back in the play, and that's very debatable. to avoid those situations in the future, maybe gallagher doesn't skate through the crease and spin the goalie around

The Sens are not chumps by any means, and they're starting to show it. But that was NOT goalie interference, I am sorry. That was a garbage call, and everyone knows it.

The kids on the Sens are gonna be super dangerous soon!!!

Agree it was not goalie interference, but I think it was closer than some other people feel. The league is garbage at consistency once again.

it ABSOLUTELY was interference, there is ZERO DOUBT that Gallagher interfered with Murray.......the only thing that can be debated is whether or not Murray had time to get back in the play, and that's very debatable. to avoid those situations in the future, maybe gallagher doesn't skate through the crease and spin the goalie around
- sensarmy_11

Eh, I think it the goal should have counted. Gallagher having a reputation likely played a role as you said.

Eh, I think it the goal should have counted. Gallagher having a reputation likely played a role as you said.
- david22

goals have been waived off for less, and they've also counted with more contact.

like i said, whether or not murray could have recovered in time is debatable, but nobody can look at that and say that gallagher didn't interfere with him.

Nice to see some improvements as the season goes on, hopefully it can continue.


Looking at the standings, it's Still crazy that some teams have played so many fewer games than others.

Nice to see some improvements as the season goes on, hopefully it can continue.


Looking at the standings, it's Still crazy that some teams have played so many fewer games than others.
- david22

i love that it's entirely driven by the kids too. i was that over the last 6 games, only something like 3 goals were scored by players above the age of 22

Dude, we didn't run Luke Richardson out of town, that guy was awesome as a coach and a player. Him and Jason Smith and Shean Donovan and other former players were all given some of their first coaching opportunities here. He had to get away from here given what happened with his daughter during that time which is completely understandable. If you're gonna troll in commenting, know the context of what you're talking about first.

That said, Brannstrom had another strong game despite the one time he looked bad. He had the least ice time of all the D and despite that led all Sens D men (and players except Stutzle) in shots on goal and despite getting only one shift on the PP (Chabot played with 4 fwds the whole rest of the time).

Tkachuk had an awesome game and is showing the other youth what is needed to win in the NHL. I dunno if you noticed all the cheap shots by MTL over the last couple of games, but what he is showing is that our stars will take it, give it back and still score on you after. You're still talking about it, showing it made an impact. He willed a team to win today.

And yeah, we remember the Chara fights well, thanks XD. Not sure you remember how crazy Chara was while here, he wasn't a captain here (wore an A) but he fought almost every second game when with the Sens:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=317UxnIXvTw
- ahjnkn

Trolling is bringing up his daughter at all.
Classy.
Get informed please.

Can't say I agree with some of the comments re: Tkachuk. At no point was it ever suggested he was anything but a wrecking ball-type player, which means he's going to get in the occasional fight. So far this year he has 4 major penalties in 21GP, which does lead the team, but is hardly a chronic issue... especially when he's in many instances trying to model the kind of tenacity and push-back that a competitive team needs to have in order to be successful. At the end of the day, he's not only leading the team in scoring, but also leading the NHL in hits, and is a top-10 LW in terms of goals... carry on, young man.

Conversely, Haley serves literally no purpose in the lineup... especially when he plays just ~6min/GP. If a settle-up fight needs to happen, they have Watson and Gudbranson playing regular minutes, who are ~5 years younger, and have a 5"-6" height advantage. Plus, they're already the league-leaders in hits and major penalties, and have the 3rd most PIM in the NHL. So I think we can safely say toughness isn't really the team's primary issue right now.

I have a completely off topic fantasy question -

i'm in a keeper league

i was offered Bo Horvat in exchange for Zibby. ( i have zibby, would get horvat )

on the surface, horvat's numbers are way better.....but if Zibby pulls out of his slump, he's the better fantasy player.

it's a keeper league. Horvat is younger and potentially not yet at his prime.

thoughts?
- sensarmy_11

I would hold onto Zib.

The entire rangers roster is in a slump. Now with Panarin gone, the team will rely more heavily on Zib.

Keeper league?

Is it a good time to bring up Brady’s contract situation?

He’s without a doubt the most important forward, maybe player on this roster and he’s pretty much been the difference in every Sens win this season.

I hope Logan Brown gets a chance with Stepan out.

I hope Logan Brown gets a chance with Stepan out.
- PogBoi

Isn't he injured?

I hope Logan Brown gets a chance with Stepan out.
- PogBoi

Thought Logan Brown was injured