The Ottawa Senators Can Still Be Really Good, Actually
The win against the New York Rangers was nice, but how the Sens won was even better
At the risk of placing too much emphasis on the outcome of a single game, last night's match-up between the Ottawa Senators and the New York Rangers felt like it could be a good omen for the rest of the season. Yes, the team is still firmly mired in mediocrity at 10-10 through twenty games, but, contrary to popular belief, how a team looks when it wins matters quite a bit to what we can expect from their future performances. The Sens not only beat up on the Rangers to the tune of 6-2 triumph, but they reached that score line while out-chancing New York, and getting contributions from a variety of different players. It was the type of top-to-bottom effort that fans were envisioning this whole off-season.
Some important factors from last night's win:
1) Ottawa received offensive contribution from more than one forward line
2) The Sens out-chanced their opponents at 5v5
3) The goalie was good, even if he didn't have to steal the game all by himself
4) The team was attacking-minded, despite the fact it resulted in giving up some chances against in the process
