Relax, the Senators have not traded Mike Hoffman and Bobby Ryan to the Blue Jackets. However, the Senators duo that make up 2/3rds of their most effective line combination of late will be making their way to Columbus for the NHL's All-Star weekend.

Ryan was selected to play in the game, while Hoffman is among a group of rookies that will participate in the skills competition. Hoffman won the fastest skater as well as the individual puck control relay events at the Senators team skills competition last month.

Now...on to the game.

Dave Cameron stated after the loss in Denver that the Senators needed more net front presence in order to score goals. Well, after their first 3 markers in the 5-1 Senators win were scored from a total distance of about 15 feet. The other two both came from shots taken below the faceoff dot, so you could say that, at least for one night, the message was received.

Ottawa got the advantage of at least a couple of calls (or non-calls) that went their way, something that usually doesn't happen for them, especially on the road, and they were due for some calls to go their way.

They took advantage of their opportunities, and on their first power play they finally snapped their extended 0-for-30 skid with the man advantage. They added another for their first 2 PPG game since November 22nd against the Blues.

Craig Anderson had a bounce-back game, and for the most part the Senators did a pretty good job of keeping most of the shots from the outside and allowed their goalie to see the shots coming at him. On the one shot he couldn't see, the puck ended up going off both posts and out when the score was 2-1 Ottawa, a fortunate bounce that could have altered the momentum had it spun the other way.

Hoffman's second period goal moved him into a tie with Filip Forsberg for the NHL rookie goal-scoring lead. Forsberg still has a healthy lead in points, with Hoffman being more of a trigger man than playmaker, and a very Cy Young like 14 goals and 7 assists, sitting 4th in points. Hoffman doesn't have a point on the power play, while Forsberg has notched 11 (3G, 8A) on the man advantage for the Predators Mark Stone is 5th in rookie scoring, by the way.

A big difference in this game than the previous few is the percentage of shot attempts that the Senators actually got through and on the net. Almost 60% of their attempts found the target, and although the analytics crowd might look at attempts as the big factor, I tend to prefer a little better shot selection rather than just shooting it wide or into a defender's shin pads. They have been at or below 53% for the last few games, and getting that percentage up closer to 60 will go a long way to creating more offense, in my book.

Did anybody else notice the guy working in the Ottawa Senators penalty box in Phoenix bore a striking resemblance to Paul MacLean with a little less hair?

Up next for Ottawa is the much anticipated matchup, as for the first time ever Jason Spezza will be lining up against the Senators instead of with them. That game will wrap up the road trip on Tuesday night.

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