Backup goalie Condon gets call against Kings
Sens likely giving each goalie two starts over six-day stretch, writes Bruce Garrioch
The Ottawa Senators are determined to give goalie Mike Condon a chance to play more than a normal backup this season.
That’s about to happen in this next stretch of games.
As the Senators prepare to play four games in six days, starting with tonight’s visit by the Los Angeles Kings to Canadian Tire Centre, coach Guy Boucher confirmed Monday that Condon will make the start, and there’s a good chance the club will split the duties between goalies in the next four games.
This will be Condon’s first start at home this season and his first in Ottawa since March 23 against the Pittsburgh Penguins last season.
“Every chance you get to go into a game you’re excited,” Condon said. “It’s going to be against a hot L.A. team and it’s going to be a challenge, with us facing a little adversity. It’s going to be a challenging game.”
Moving back into this role has been an adjustment for Condon. When Craig Anderson was gone for a long stretch to be with his wife Nicholle while she underwent treatment for throat cancer last season, Condon made 27 straight starts.
But this is a role he’s also used to playing.
“There’s always been times in my career, even in college, when I wasn’t the No. 1 guy,” Condon said. “I learned a lot of lessons there and the importance of practice and competing in practice. It’s not exactly a new role, and unfortunately I’ve had to learn it a lot, especially at Princeton, but I enjoy practice.
“I like working on the little intricacies of the game and I’ll be interested to see (tonight) how they pay off.”
Boucher said he’s not sure how he’s going to use his goalies with the Philadelphia Flyers here Thursday, a trip to New Jersey on Friday and the Montreal Canadiens visiting next Monday, but Anderson will likely play two and Condon will get two.
“We’ve got many games in very few nights and we decided we want to go two and two, not necessarily knowing which one of the two, but we’ll start with (tonight),” Boucher said Monday.
White closing in on return: Colin White has been cleared for contact but he won’t be rushed back into duty.
White broke his wrist by blocking a shot in training camp in September. The 20-year-old will be joining the club’s AHL affiliate in Belleville on the weekend to try to get his game back on track.
Signed last spring after leaving Boston College to turn pro, White, a first-round pick (No. 21 overall) in 2015, was trying to make the club coming out of camp, with an opening up front when winger Clarke MacArthur didn’t pass his medical. White was sidelined Sept. 18 in the club’s first exhibition game.
The last words: Winger Zack Smith, who left Thursday’s 5-4 OT loss to the Devils at home, has resumed skating and could play as early as Friday in the rematch against New Jersey at the Prudential Center . ... This will be Jean-Gabriel Pageau’s 200th consecutive game, and when he plays against the Kings he’ll be only the ninth player in franchise history to accomplish that feat. Pageau’s streak started on Feb. 18, 2015, against the Canadiens. Pageau has five points in seven career games against the Kings.