DiDomenico gets new lease on life with Bolts
On Wednesday, Gabriel Dumont arrived with the Ottawa Senators, carrying his Tampa Bay Lightning equipment bag with him. On Friday, Chris DiDomenico left with his Ottawa Senators equipment bag, en route to join the Tampa Bay Lightning. He was plucked off waivers by the Lightning Friday, capping a bizarre game of trading places that had also seen the Senators pick up Dumont off waivers from the Lightning.
MINORS TO TOP OF NHL
With one phone call, DiDomenico went from having one foot back in the AHL to having a legitimate shot at winning the Stanley Cup. If DiDomenico does anything to help Tampa go on a long playoff run, Senators GM Pierre Dorion is going to be on the hot seat.
“To be honest, I really didn’t think it was going to happen,” said DiDomenico, who flew with the Senators to Columbus from Washington, and was preparing to join Belleville of the AHL. “I’m excited. It shows another team is interested in me. But it also sucks to be leaving Ottawa, (the team) which gave me another chance to play in the NHL. I give them all the thanks in the world for that.”
FUN WHILE IT LASTED
DiDomenico provided an earlyseason offensive spark after being called up from Belleville, scoring three goals and three assists in his first eight games.
He was pointless in his final four, steadily losing ice time and was a healthy scratch for Wednesday’s 5-2 loss to Washington.
“I felt more confident playing,” he said of comparisons to last season when he arrived from Switzerland. “I got a chance to play power play and stuff and game by game I felt more comfortable, but at this level, you’ve got to bring it every night.”
... THAT FIRST ROUND PICK
With the Senators sitting 25th overall in the NHL standings before Friday’s games, a reminder about the small print included in the Matt Duchene trade. If the Senators finish among the NHL’s bottom 10 teams, they will keep their 2018 first round selection and the Avalanche would get the Senators 2019 first round choice instead. That would be a nightmare scenario for the entire Senators organization, but so far, so good for Avalanche GM Joe Sakic. Before Friday’s games, Colorado was tied for the final playoff spot in the Western Conference.
FROM DUMONT TO DUCHENE, DO MORE
Before puck drop Friday, Duchene was reminded that former Senator Nick Foligno broke a 12-game pointless drought with Columbus in Wednesday’s 1-0 win over Calgary. “It happens to everybody,” he said. “Right now, everything is there but the puck going behind the goalie. The worst thing you can do at this point is to try and change it. I’ve been through this before. There are tons of guys that go through this.”
The Senators have been a sluggish squad, post-Sweden, but the overseas trip hasn’t hindered the Avalanche. They went into Friday’s game against Minnesota with a 3-1-0 record since their return, scoring 14 goals in those four games.
SATURDAY NIGHT, (NOT SO) SPECIAL
Considering that Craig Anderson played Friday, the Senators will likely turn to backup Mike Condon Saturday when the Senators play host to the New York Islanders. It would be his third straight Saturday start and the past two haven’t gone so smoothly. Condon has been idle since allowing a weak overtime goal and for his stickhandling miscue in the 3-2 defeat to Arizona on Nov. 18. A week earlier, Condon was pulled in the second period of the Senators second game against Colorado in Sweden. Still, Condon (1-0-3) has yet to suffer a regulation loss.
LOCKER ROOM LANGUAGE
Sometimes Blue Jackets head coach John Tortorella doesn’t say much. Sometimes, he likes to spark a discussion. Hence, the following response when asked about the science of line combinations. “It’s a bunch of bull----” he told Columbus reporters. “I get a kick out of us, as coaches, we talk about this, that and the other thing, ‘this is what I’m looking for with that line’. It’s a bunch of bull----. We try things and if it works, it works.” The comments were sparked by questions about the success of Blue Jackets rookie Pierre-Luc Dubois, who has gone from fourth line left winger to firstline centre, playing with Artemi Panarin.
VIEW FROM THE OTHER SIDE
Tortorella’s sauciness comes in the same week that Senators coach Guy Boucher used 25 line combinations in a 3-0 loss to the New York Rangers. “If the lines represent what we’re trying to do, they stay,” Boucher said before facing the Blue Jackets. “If they don’t represent what we’re trying to do, then somebody else gets a chance.”… The Senators will sport yet another look against the Islanders if Zack Smith is able to return from his broken thumb. “We’re crossing our fingers for that, but we’ll see,” said Boucher. kwarren@postmedia.com Twitter.com/ Citizenkwarren