CHABOT DISPLAYS HIS OLD SWAGGER
Sens pointman puts on true Vegas show
Success was all in the numbers for Ottawa Senators defenceman Thomas Chabot in Thursday’s wildly entertaining 3-2 shootout loss to the Vegas Golden Knights. Where do we start?
Perhaps with goal No. 1 of his season, a slick toe-drag of the puck past Paul Stastny and over the trapper hand of Golden Knights goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury?
Or maybe we can look at his 28:12 of ice time, including an astounding 3:58 during the five-minute overtime?
In the eyes of Senators coach D.J. Smith, Chabot owned the game due to his number of solid defensive plays, often matched up against the line of Stastny, former Senator Mark Stone and Max Pacioretty.
However you want to look at it, Chabot certainly sounded like he had some of his confident swagger back following practice here Friday in preparation for Saturday’s contest against the Arizona Coyotes.
“It’s always the same thing every year, that first (goal) is always fun to get and everyone thinks about getting that first one of the year to get going,” said Chabot, who scored 14 goals and 41 assists in 70 games last season.
“It felt good to get that out of the way and now I can just focus on keeping improving, keep on trying to help team have success.”
Chabot, whose 26:22 of average ice time per game leads the NHL, saw a little bit of good and bad from his squad in the loss to the Golden Knights.
Naturally, allowing 54 shots and forcing goaltender Anders Nilsson to stop waves of pressure from the Golden Knights wasn’t so positive. At the same time, though, the Senators did show the resolve to battle back, tying the game 2-2 on Jean-Gabriel Pageau’s third-period goal.
The Senators also owned the overtime, much of it spent with the puck on Chabot’s stick, forcing Fleury to perform some magic of his own to keep the Senators from winning.
“In overtime, it was kind of funny,” said Chabot. “My first shift, it was maybe over two minutes, but the forwards were playing (up ice) and I was just kind of staying back, and you’re not really wasting energy there, so I was fine.
“I guess it just depends (on the type of ) game it is. But I like playing three-on-three. I think it’s the best part of overtime. There’s always so much action going back and forth. It was fun.”
Smith, like Chabot, wasn’t over the moon about his club allowing 54 shots. But among the many bright spots for the Senators coach was the play of his star 22-year-old defenceman.
“That was by the far the most competitive game he has played (this season),” said Smith.
“He was cutting people off. He wasn’t letting guys take the puck. I thought he took the game over for us. He gave us every opportunity to win.”
Smith might be overstating it a bit — the Senators did allow 16 shots in each of the first two periods and 20 in the third — but the organizational mandate is about building around whatever positives the club’s youthful core can deliver.
Picking up a single point against Vegas to begin the threegame road trip was a measure of success.
Next up are the Coyotes, a team that the league best not take lightly. They’ve been a tidy group, outscoring opponents 16-11 in starting the season with a 3-2-1 record.
“We have played six good games,” Coyotes coach Rick Tocchet said following Friday’s practice. “It’s not woulda, coulda, shoulda, but we could be 6-0. I like the way we’ve bounced back after a couple of early losses. We’ve been consistent.”
It’s that consistency, along with plenty of depth, that makes the Coyotes a tough test every night. In past years, NHL teams had a tendency to lose focus in the desert, taking Arizona lightly.
Chabot says the strength of the Coyotes is as simple as a glance at the forward lines.
“They’ve got (Michael) Grabner and No. 13. I don’t want to make a mistake on pronouncing his name (Vinnie Hinostroza). Very talented guys that are on the fourth line,” he said.
“They’re a tough team. They have lots of skill, lots of speed. We have to try and cut down their speed.”
Given his recent play, Chabot will be given half the game to try to do just that.