Norris patiently waiting to score his first NHL goal
Senators rookie takes ribbing for trying to steal Ryan’s thunder in Thursday win
The Ottawa Senators were giving Josh Norris a hard time Friday. Hey, it was all in good fun. When Bobby Ryan took a pass late in the third period Thursday night to score his fifth career hattrick in the Senators’ 5-2 victory over the Vancouver Canucks at the Canadian Tire Centre, it seems the 20-year-old centre was calling for the puck just before Ryan fired it into an empty net.
You can’t blame Norris, who was playing in only his second NHL game, for having that mindset.
Norris has scored 30 goals with the Senators’ AHL affiliate in Belleville, and is looking to get a little confidence at the NHL level. But he was getting a good ribbing in the dressing room before the Senators held their skills day at the Canadian Tire Centre.
Asked if he wished he’d got the Gordie Howe hat trick — a goal, assist and a fight (he dropped the gloves in the first period) — Ryan noted he was happier with scoring three goals.
“Nah, I’ll take what I got,” he said. “I’ll take anything at this point. I couldn’t believe Josh Norris was calling for the puck on that empty-netter. You can actually hear him and see him on the video calling for it.
“I’m staring down an empty net five feet away and I’ve got a guy touching the rafters, so I (was) all over him (Friday) morning. He’s a young kid, if you get your first one in an empty net, people will ask you who you scored against? What do you say? We’ll get him his first in due time.” Norris didn’t deny it.
“That’s been the chatter this morning,” said Norris. “Some of the guys already gave me a nickname Apu, from The Simpsons, who works at 7-Eleven because it’s always open. Hey man, I’ll take it. I think I’m always open.”
TSN’s Brent Wallace suggested maybe Norris was trying to get Ryan an assist so he’d get the Gordie Howe hat trick instead.
“Yeah, we’ll go with that,” said Norris with a laugh.
UNHAPPY ANNIVERSARY
There was no shortage of people in Canada who took the time to remember, on the 10th anniversary Friday, where they were on Feb. 28, 2010, when Sidney Crosby scored the Golden Goal to give the country a 3-2 victory over Team USA at the Vancouver Winter Olympics.
The memory was a little painful for Ryan because he was on the U.S. side when Crosby called for the pass from Jarome Iginla and beat Ryan Miller at 7:40 of OT.
“That was one of the worst (moments) of my career,” Ryan said. “I had a great view of it right down the bench line. It was tough, very tough.”
The Americans were feeling good about themselves because Zach Parise had scored with 24.4 seconds left in third period to force overtime in the first place and, of course, there was no shortage of pressure on Team Canada to win on home soil with Mike Babcock behind the bench.
“It’s much different (than the playoffs),” Ryan said. “We tied it up late so you go from this euphoric 20 minutes where you feel like you have all this momentum from the third period going into overtime, and it goes down to 4-on-4 and the game is different and it’s not fast in a sense.
“One guy beats one guy out of a corner and it’s going to be a Grade A chance in 4-on-4 hockey, and that’s what it turned out to be. You go from very, very high to very, very low quickly on that one.”
Ryan has a lot of respect for Crosby even though that goal still stings.
“It would have never crossed my mind to shoot from that angle and I think everybody felt the same way,” Ryan said. “He caught everybody by surprise that was on the ice. At the same time, you hate him a little more because it was a gold medal, but at the same time there’s a lot of respect because it’s a hell of play.”
THE LAST WORDS
Centre Colin White and winger Anthony Duclair, who have both missed the Senators’ past two games, were on the ice for the skills session Friday. White, who left the game after getting checked into the glass in Columbus on Monday, doesn’t expect to suit up until Tuesday in Pittsburgh against the Penguins. “I feel good,” said White. “I came back (and played) and took a few more bumps. In the heat of the moment, you always want to finish the game and I felt good for the moment.” The status of Duclair, who blocked a shot against the Jackets, will be determined Saturday morning when coach D.J. Smith updates the lineup . ... Defenceman Erik Brannstrom didn’t suit up in Belleville on Friday night against the Cleveland Monsters. It was the second straight game that Brannstrom, Ottawa’s top prospect on the blue line, had missed since suffering a wrist injury last weekend . ... Saturday will be a milestone night for defenceman Thomas Chabot. He will become the 55th player and the 20th blueliner in franchise history to suit up for 200 games with the Senators. Chabot matched a career-high with a plus-four rating against the Canucks on Thursday and his assist on Ryan’s empty-netter moved him to within a point of tying Filip Kuba (116 points) for seventh all-time in scoring among Ottawa blueliners.