Sens feeling Smith’s absences
Whenever there’s talk about the scoring potential of the Ottawa Senators top lines, left winger Zack Smith is often overlooked.
In 12 games, Smith has no goals and six assists.
Yet, his absence to a thumb injury has been noticeable. When he’s at his best — skating in straight lines and annoying defencemen with his speed, size and boardwork — he opens up ice for the skilled players around him.
It says here that when Smith does return — perhaps next week — he might just be the ideal presence on a line with Matt Duchene and Bobby Ryan, allowing those two to bob and weave in and around the opposition net.
Musical Chairs at LW
Right now, Senators coach Guy Boucher is mixing and matching to try and find a left wing fit on his top two lines.
Sunday against the New York Rangers, Boucher started with Tom Pyatt playing with Duchene and Ryan. Ryan Dzingel was with Derick Brassard and Mark Stone.
Mike Hoffman, meanwhile, was playing on a line with Jean-Gabriel Pageau and Alex Burrows.
“I try to spread our wealth a little bit,” Boucher said before the puck dropped against the Rangers. “We’re a stronger team when Hoffman plays with Pageau and whoever. And in the absence of Smith, who is a top six forward, some guys are going in and out.”
Harpur Takes a Seat
Nick Paul was back in against the Rangers as Boucher went with the more traditional 12 forwards and six defencemen alignment, a change from Saturday against Arizona when he dressed 11 forwards and seven defencemen, including Belleville call-up Ben Harpur.
“It’s a back-to-back and let’s say I had one or two forwards who weren’t necessarily at their best (Saturday), so I played a lot with 10. That’s taxing. I don’t want to double tax. Being taxed once is enough.”
Youth vs. Experience
The Senators definitely giftwrapped Saturday’s victory for Arizona, but there is some legitimate hope for the future. After Anthony Duclair’s hat trick against Mike Condon, the Coyotes have already received 30 goals from players 22 years old and under. Before Sunday’s game at MSG, how many goals did the Senators have from players 22 years old and younger? If you guessed zero, good for you… The longer the Senators older lineup (average age of 28.5, second highest in NHL behind Detroit) continues its in consistency, the more the organization will hear demands for Colin White and/or Thomas Chabot to get a look.