On Wednesday night, the Ottawa Senators squeezed the Montreal Canadiens 3-2 for the win.
Montreal and Ottawa’s spots in the standings are reversed so far this season. With the addition of Claude Giroux, Alex Debrincat, Shane Pinto and Jake Sanderson it was expected this would finally be the season the Senators stopped being doormats.
Despite tonight’s win — not yet.
Ottawa is still struggling while the Canadiens have been surprising the league.
Wilde Horses
The maturation process of Juraj Slafkovsky continues with more positives. In the first period, Slafkovsky was elevated to the first power play unit where he did not look out of place.
Slafkovsky is also learning to get his head up better. Austin Watson was ready to send him to another planet, but Slafkovsky saw the hit in time and laterally skated out of the way. Watson found nothing but air for his efforts.
It may seem like a small thing that Slafkovsky avoided that hit, but he has shown that he needs to have more on-ice awareness. At 18 years of age he has an intelligent mind for the game.
Slafkovsky’s learning quickly how to nullify his weaknesses. It’s been a pleasure to watch the development. He has five points in his last seven games.
The Canadiens counted two goals on the night. The first was orchestrated by Jake Evans and finished by Kirby Dach. Evans won the puck in the corner, did a 180 degree turn on his checker then backhanded a pass into the crease to Dach. He ripped it directly into the top corner. Dach had a rough night in the penalty box, but the goal was some redemption.
The second was a rare goal on a delayed penalty. The Canadiens held possession for long enough for a sixth attacker to come on. Nick Suzuki then fed Christian Dvorak who slotted a powerful shot into the top corner from 20 feet.
Jonathan Drouin had a strong night in his first game back. He was at the point on the power play and distributed passes well.
Wilde Goats
The Canadiens had an outstanding start to the contest. They had two open looks in the first period for possible goals and also hit two goal posts before the Senators even counted a shot on goal. The shots started 9-0 Montreal, but then Montreal completely fell asleep for 30 minutes.
Ottawa got 19 of the next 20 shots in the game to take over. The Canadiens didn’t get a shot on goal in the second until the ten minute mark. Montreal took a number of bad penalties, including Slafkovsky closing his hand on the puck and carrying it for a couple of strides before finally dropping it to the ice.
Ottawa scored on the ensuing power play to take a 3-0 lead. The Senators looked ready to be taken in the first period. They were horrible. However, as bad as Ottawa was in the first, Montreal was far worse in the second.
Montreal woke up in the last ten minutes, but could not come all the way back.
The Senators also gave Montreal a clinic in how to run a power play. It’s amazing to watch how hard they take it to the crease with the extra man. They’ll take a simple shot from 25 feet that has no real intention of going in. As the shot is taken, making sure to keep it low, three Senators converge on the crease to get the rebound.
The three Senators who are attacking the crease get credit for their courage. You’ll get hit hard occasionally with this play, because the defence doesn’t want to give you that space. However, down a man is your best chance to win that space and score that goal. Impressive from Ottawa in an area that Montreal does not show the same strategy.
Wilde Cards
Slovakia announced its lineup for the World Junior Hockey Championships on Wednesday, not that there was much drama in it, but now it is official. Juraj Slafkovsky is staying with the Canadiens.
Though there was a lot of discussion on the Slafkovsky decision in the media and amongst fans, in the inner sanctum of the Canadiens it was an easy call. As executive vice president Jeff Gorton said that ‘considering the way Slafkovsky was playing he certainly would not be going’.
Another Canadiens first round draft pick last summer Filip Mesar is on the roster for Halifax. Mesar plays for the Kitchener Rangers and is having an outstanding season playing for a bad junior club.
The huge news for Canadiens fans will be coming with the American roster announcement. Lane Hutson has been arguably the most exciting defender in college hockey at Boston University, but that doesn’t mean he is an absolute lock for the event. Hutson is in his draft plus one season, and this is a tourney for 19 year olds usually, not 18 year olds.
The American blue line is stacked as well with the likes of Luke Hughes, Seamus Casey and Ryan Chesley. The Americans have seven blue liners taken in either the first or second round of the NHL draft.
The odds are definitely in Hutson’s favour, but with the news that Riley Kidney and Owen Beck did not make Team Canada, it’s wise to actually wait for the decisions.