Pageau’s Selke-smooth play applauded
Jean- Gabriel Pageau for the Frank Selke Trophy?
Well, maybe that’s a stretch, but you can understand Senators coach Guy Boucher’s excitement when he floated Pageau’s name for the NHL’s best defensive forward honour Saturday.
Pageau, generously listed at fivefoot-10 and 180 pounds, didn’t let New York Islanders captain John Tavares move in the Senators’ 3-0 victory. Pageau dominated the faceoff circle, winning 11 of 14 faceoffs. He was front and centre on a penalty kill that has improved to eighth in the NHL. He also finished off a pretty Tom Pyatt pass for the Senators’ final goal.
When Tavaras whacked him across the wrists with two minutes remaining, it wasn’t exactly a love tap.
“It’s more than what I was expecting,” Boucher said of Pageau’s increasing role as a shadow against top opponents. “He’s a spark. He plays against the best players every night. He’s the ultimate soldier. It doesn’t matter what the role is. A lot of players will say that, but when it comes down to it, an offensive player having to take a defensive role is sometimes hard to accept.”
With six goals and 14 assists in 53 games, Pageau is well off of his 2015-16 pace, when he scored 19 goals and added 24 assists. With Kyle Turris out of the lineup with an ankle injury last season, Pageau was asked to become more of a scoring threat.
Now, though, he is clearly accepting the position of shutdown specialist. He’s still wearing the scar above his top lip from where Alex Ovechkin clipped him six weeks ago.
“It’s something I take pride in, it gives me a lot of ice time,” said Pageau, who played 16:07 against the Islanders.
“The coach gives me good confidence and I’m starting to have good chemistry with Pyatt. We know our tendencies now, where we are on the ice. It makes it a little easier when you play with a guy for a while.”