LNN: The Ottawa Senators are Good, Actually
The Sens are coming for more than just a Wildcard spot
How's everyone feeling? Still flying high from Saturday's 6-0 thrashing of the Minnesota Wild? I know I am. I re-read Beata's recap at least 3 times on Sunday, just to really soak it all in. Everything is coming up Sens right now, and I'm riding this high as far as it will take me (until Tuesday night at least).
Lots to dig into for the Ottawa Senators and around the hockey world this week:
-Speaking of Saturday night's victory, Ryan Hartman has been offered an in-person hearing for his match penalty for attempting to injure Tim Stützle at the end of the second period. An in-person hearing is required to hand out a suspension of six games or more, which...good! Hartman deserve extremely harsh punishment. On top of the specifics of this incident, Hartman has already been suspended four times. That doesn't sound like someone who's learned his lesson.
-Some not-so-great news to come out of the weekend is that Josh Norris' status remains unknown after he left the game early with an injury. The Sens recalling Cole Reinhardt on Sunday doesn't fill me with hope as to Norris' availability.
-In other injury news, Travis Green let it be known that Nick Cousins would be out for "months". That sounds like a potential season-ender.
-In good injury news, Linus Ullmark has been activated and will be suiting up at some point on this road trip. Leevi Meriläinen, coming off a shutout, has been sent to Belleville to make room. Graeme Nichols has a write-up of the promising youngster's season to-date.
-Alex Adams had a nice piece detailing some of the reasons for the Sens' recent strong form. Jake Sanderson's improved play is identified as a big cause, and Sandy himself seems to agree with the assessment:
“I think at the start of the season, I wasn't feeling myself,” Sanderson told Sportsnet.ca earlier this week. "And right now I feel pretty good. My energy is really good on the ice. I haven't scored in a while, but I'm getting a lot of chances, and that's all I can ask.”
Relative to his own extremely high standard, Sanderson struggled to start the year (in no small part because of an injury to Artem Zub), but for the better part of two months he's returned to the elite level of play that he showed in the second half of last season. When he's at the top of his game, the sky's the limit.
-As you may have heard, the Vancouver Canucks finally put an end to the drama surrounding their organization by trading J.T Miller to the New York Rangers. Ian MacIntyre has some interesting quotes from Patrik Allvin, the Canucks' GM, about needing more from Elias Pettersson. Thomas Drance over at the Athletic calls both Pettersson and Miller winners, and had this to say about the team's now-former #1 centre:
This has been a difficult season for Miller both on and off the ice.
The 31-year-old’s all-around game took a significant step back after his career-best numbers in 2023-24. He appears to have been playing through injuries at various points this season. In November, he took a 10-game personal leave of absence. Miller’s rift with Pettersson went public.
Watching Miller’s wavering engagement on the ice and the standoffish vibe around him in the locker room, it’s been clear for a while that he needed a fresh start. Miller got a relatively quick resolution — the Canucks could have looked at the tepid trade market for Miller and decided to wait until the summer to move him — and he got to go to an attractive New York market that he’s already familiar and comfortable with.
Miller’s first game back with the Rangers, a two-goal performance, was the most engaged, hungry and emotionally invested he’s looked all season. He told reporters there are “a thousand reasons” for him to want to be in New York. This is the perfect change of scenery for him.
I suspect we are going to get a few more juicy leaks before this story is totally put to bed.
-With newly acquired Joel Farabee and Morgan Frost arriving in Calgary, Eric Francis gives us a bit of insight into how much each might into the Flames' organization. There had long been rumoured friction between both players and Philadelphia Flyers' coach John Tortorella (what else is new?).
-In lesser drama, Martin St. Louis benched Patrik Laine and Kirby Dach for almost the entire third period of Saturday's 3-2 loss to the Anaheim Ducks. Laine's scoring at quite a clip for the Habs, but this is not the first time he's been benched for lackadaisical play!
-Power Rankings are silly except when they contain validation for me, as a Sens fan. Over at ESPN, Ottawa's all the way up to #13...and that was before Saturday's outing.
