‘Pesky Line’ injects energy into the Sens
‘Invaluable’ trio always a threat to change momentum in a game
One began the season as a healthy scratch. One spent half the season in the minor leagues. One spent three weeks of the season in junior.
Now, Erik Condra, Jean-Gabriel Pageau and Curtis Lazar have become an instrumental energy line, a vital component in the 111-1 streak that still has the Ottawa Senators dreaming of a playoff berth.
“It’s awesome,” says Lazar, the 20-year-old former captain of Canada’s world junior team who has finally settled into an ideal spot after a year of being juggled throughout the lineup — and sometimes out of it.
It scarcely seems possible, but Lazar is even smiling wider than when he began his NHL career in October and when he captured world junior gold.
“We jell so much,” he says. “We get along off the ice and on the ice. We play a similar game and that’s what pays dividends for us. We take pride in our (defensive) zone and when we get in the offensive zone, sometimes it’s not the prettiest of hockey, but it’s effective.”
It’s a Pesky Line, if you will. They’re not a threat to break scoring records, but they’re always a threat to change momentum in a game. And Coach Dave Cameron is comfortable using the trio in any situation.
“It’s a great line from a coaching point of view just simply because they’re so solid away from the puck that it’s easy to get your match-ups (against opponents),” he says. “If (the other team) has a line that’s trying to establish a forecheck and be physical, we can put them on because they have (offensive) zone time the other way. If it’s the other team’s best line, you can put them on, because they’re so good away from the puck, you feel comfortable.”
Cameron labels the trio as “invaluable.”
Pageau was the sparkplug in Sunday’s 2-1 shootout win over the Philadelphia Flyers. He was the best player on the ice and scored the Senators lone goal in regulation. After beginning the year with Binghamton of the AHL, forced to push somebody out of the lineup, his confidence seems to grow by the game. While Zack Smith is healthy enough to return to the lineup, the presence of Pageau means Smith is going to have to wait before seeing playing time.
Perhaps Pageau looks faster because a weight has been removed from his shoulders. Following Sunday’s victory, Le Droit reported that the Senators have told Pageau he’s staying in Ottawa for the rest of the season and that he needn’t worry about being re-assigned to Binghamton.
Condra is also resting easy. While he couldn’t find a home in the lineup early on and was on the trade market in early March, he has put up the best numbers of his career. Even though he has been with the Senators since 2010-11, he has always been bounced here, there and everywhere.
“It’s the first time since I’ve been here that I’ve played with the same line for more than six or seven games and with that you have some chemistry,” said Condra, who has a career-high nine goals.
As the Mika Zibanejad, Bobby Ryan and Mike Hoffman line has hit a cold snap — no goals in the past four games — the Pesky Line has picked up some of the slack.
“It’s not a secret, our line has not been clicking lately,” says Ryan. “They are taking a lot of pressure off ourselves. For them to go out and play like that, it takes a load off our shoulders. It has been our best line a lot of nights.”