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Anderson Gets 200, Phillips' Number Sent to Rafters |
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The Ottawa Senators and Buffalo Sabres took to the ice on Tuesday night after an extended pre-game ceremony to honour Mel Gibson, with the home team winning out by a score of 7-4. Seeing Senator greats such as Wade Redden, Chris Phillips, Daniel Alfredsson, and others there to support Ricky Gervais’ favorite target was truly inspiring. As for the game itself, it was an exciting, offense-filled evening that distracted from a lackluster return in the Dylan DeMelo trade earlier in the day. Here are tonight’s thumbs:
Thumbs Up: The Chris Phillips Ceremony
Okay, so all the Senator greats weren’t there to celebrate Mel Gibson. Instead, they were there to celebrate the career of Chris Phillips, as his number was raised to the CTC rafters. A lot has gone wrong for the organization in the last few years, but they got this ceremony absolutely right. It hit every note it needed to hit, with emotion, nostalgia, a championing of all that it can mean to be an Ottawa Senator. In a roundabout way, it made me more excited about the future even though it was a celebration of the past.
Much like the Sedin twins in Vancouver, who had their numbers retired there last week, Phillips spent his whole career with the organization that drafted him. That’s a special, special thing in today’s game. Congratulations to him on what had to be a memorable night!
Thumbs Down: Mel Gibson?
Thumbs Up: The Mel Gibson Jokes
Do yourself a favour and go search through Twitter. There were some gems.
Thumbs Up: J-G Pageau’s Stock Continues to Rise
The underwhelming return for Dylan DeMelo emphasized the need for Ottawa to cash in on its other pending free agents. There will be no better opportunity to do that than with J-G Pageau, who was once again fantastic for the Senators on Tuesday night. He scored his 23rd and 24th goals of the season, and added two assists, to put him on pace for more than 30 goals and 50 points. There should be a healthy market for that kind of production combined with Pageau’s style of play, even if the production side of things might be unsustainable.
Pageau is an excellent hockey player with a lot to offer any team that trades for him or signs him on July 1. If he desperately wants to stay in Ottawa, and the team is okay with a hefty price tag, it still makes sense to deal him at the deadline with a wink-nudge agreement for contract talks in the summer. There’s no reason not to trade him before Monday.
Thumbs Up: Craig Anderson’s 200th Career Win with Ottawa
It was a special night for a lot of reasons, which took some of the attention away from Craig Anderson’s 200th career win with the Senators. It’s a wonderful accomplishment for the best goaltender in franchise history, and one that signifies his longevity with and dedication to the organization. There was even some talk on the TSN broadcast during the intermission that Anderson’s number could be the next one heading up to the rafters.
There’s been speculation that Anderson could still be on the move in advance of Monday’s deadline; seeing him get to 200 before decision day was really quite fulfilling.
Thumbs Up: Slump… Busted?
He lives! Anthony Duclair scored one of the prettier goals you’re ever going to see to end his marathon scoring slump… Okay, it was an empty net goal, but it still counts. The goal itself, Duclair’s 22nd of the season, wasn’t the story; the reaction of his teammates, coaches, and the broadcast crew was. It was a great way to end the evening.
Thumbs Up: Drake Batherson’s Role
Batherson has done so much to improve the Senators, especially on the man advantage, since being called up from Belleville. He creates time and space for his teammates, which in turn creates offensive opportunities for the Sens. That skill set was on full display last night. Batherson scored a goal and added an assist.
Thumbs Up: Brady Tkachuk is a Beast
Two assists. Five shots on goal. Six hits. Brady Tkachuk is developing into a force at the NHL level. Put him beside an Alexis Lafreniere or a Quinton Byfield, and you’ve got something that most teams won’t be able to contain.
Thumbs Up: Two More Goals for Artem Anisimov
Anisimov’s 13 goals through 42 games played this season would put him on pace for a career high if he were to have played every game. Nobody saw it coming.
Thumbs Up: This Exchange
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The Senators are off today, before welcoming Dylan DeMelo and the Winnipeg Jets to town for a matchup on Thursday evening.
As always, thanks for reading.
Ottawa Senators Blogger • 
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