-Ottawa faces Boston (19-6-3) tonight; the Bruins are lead by Patrice Bergeron (25 points) and backstopped by Tuukka Rask (14-4-3 1.92 .928). Robin Lehner will get the start while Mike Lundin slides into Marc Methot‘s place.
–Scott had the scoring chances in the Islanders game 13/15.
–Patrick Wiercioch talked about himself and playing with Sergei Gonchar:
Confidence is a two-edge sword. It’s quick to get and really easy to lose, so you don’t want to build it up too quickly, but you obviously want to know you’re capable of making those plays and go from there. [Gonchar is] so patient and so poised with the puck. He draws a lot of guys into himself and opens up so many other opportunities for other guys on the ice, so when you do get the puck, you don’t have to make a quick play. You can kind of read off him. He has been nothing but spectacular for the past 10 or 15 games.
–Bobby Kelly goes over yesterday‘s official signing of Andrew Hammond. I bring it up because of this:
Though this signing serves an immediate purpose for the team in Binghamton and adds slightly to the Senators’ goaltending depth, it will be most notable for the conjecture and speculation that arises as a result. Rumours abounding because of Ottawa’s depth in nets are sure to feed off of this signing. I would exercise a word of caution, but upon second thought, where’s the fun in that?
Normally I’d agree with Bobby that speculation about the goaltending situation is premature, but given that Hammond is destined for the AHL next year (and presumably the rest of this season), there truly is a logjam that makes no sense at all unless a player is moved (unless Bobby envisions an Anderson/Bishop duo next year with Lehner remaining in the minors). The Sens really must move one member of their three-headed monster (no later than the off-season) and what makes the most sense is retaining Anderson and Lehner with the latter playing in the NHL next season.
–Mike Hoffman is close to coming off the injured list and Jakob Silfverberg had a lot of praise for him (link below):
He’s an incredible skater. He’s pretty much like Erik [Karlsson]. It doesn’t look too hard on him, but he’s so fast out there. Other than that, he’s got a great shot, he’s skilled with the puck, he’s got a good head, he reads the play. To me, he’s a really good hockey player.
–Don Brennan reminisces about trying to run Gonchar out of town (well, he doesn’t actually reflect on himself, but it would have been more entertaining if he did).
-Speaking of reminiscing, we can remember how Damian Cox thought the Sens rebuild was a complete mess last year.
This article is written by Peter Levi (@eyeonthesens)
eyeonthesens 