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Thoughts on tonight’s 4-1 loss against the San Jose Sharks:
---This was the third and final game for the Senators on a tough California road trip, and somehow they had a chance to sweep the series. Despite the 4-1 loss, Ottawa actually had a pretty solid effort tonight, especially considering that Matt Duchene, Thomas Chabot, Colin White, and Craig Anderson were out of the lineup. The Sharks are third in the entire league, and the game was 2-1 with under five minutes to play. A Joe Thornton goal and an empty netter from Melker Karlsson would put the game away, but Ottawa was in this one the whole way through. It’s hard to be upset with that.
---The final shot attempts were 51-46 for San Jose, which is not bad at all. The scoring chances were also 21-19, so it was a close game overall.
---This was obviously the second game that Erik Karlsson played against his former team, but he was held off the scoresheet. It wasn’t the busiest night for the defenseman, and that’s probably for the better because I don’t think fans can handle seeing him succeed in another city. His comment in the intermission was a dagger to the heart of Senators fans though:
It’s hard not to miss him.
---Ryan Dzingel continued his fantastic season by potting his 18th goal of the season, and that was the only goal for the Senators tonight.
He just needs five more goals to tie his career high, which came last season.
---There has been a lot of talk about Brady Tkachuk getting a demotion either within the team or even down to Belleville, as he has been struggling to get on the scoresheet. However, he has always been generating chances, so I think it’d be foolish to lose faith in him just because he is going through a bit of a rough patch. As per usual, he led the team in shot attempts tonight with four at even strength, and eight in all situations. He had some good chances but he just needs to bury them.
---Anders Nilsson allowed three goals on 32 shots, which is not great but he still looked good enough in net. Through five games with the Senators, he now has a .920 SV%. He’s a UFA this summer, and I just hope that Pierre Dorion has learned his lesson with backup goaltender contracts.
---Bobby Ryan looks 2017 playoff run Bobby Ryan recently. With an assist on the Dzingel goal, he now has a seven-game point streak (3G, 5A), giving him 28 points in 43 games. In an 82-game season, he would be on pace for 53 points, which I did not expect. He had some nice moves in the game, and it’s such a boost to the lineup if he can at least bring something to the team offensively.
---The team leader in TOI tonight? None other than Christian Wolanin at 23:31. I’ve been one of Wolanin’s biggest supporters over the past two seasons, and I’m happy to see Guy Boucher trust him a bit more tonight. Hopefully, he won’t be taken out of the lineup in the future.
---Bob McKenzie had some interesting updates before the game:
Everybody knows that teams will usually have to overpay star players and that’s just the cost of doing business most of the time. Dorion can’t expect to get Duchene and Stone on cheap contracts, and it’s sad hearing that real negotiations haven’t even started. As for the Ceci tidbit, I can’t believe that some GMs are still interesting in him. But if they are, Dorion needs to move him as soon as possible before he loses all of his value.
The Senators have a few days off and next play on Wednesday against the Colorado Avalanche at home.
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