Sens focus on the biggest net gain
Coach has tough decision: Keep riding Murray's hot hand or go back to Forsberg?
The Ottawa Senators haven't decided if they'll stick with the hot hand.
Coming off an Alberta sweep with victories in Calgary (Thursday) and Edmonton (Saturday), the Senators will make a brief stop at Canadian Tire Centre on Tuesday to face the Buffalo Sabres.
While coach D.J. Smith gave goaltender Matt Murray lots of credit for stopping 60-of-65 shots in those two games, there are no guarantees he'll start against the Sabres — although it would make sense if he did.
Before making a commitment, Smith wanted to sit down with goalie coach Zac Bierk to determine whether it's Murray or backup Anton Forsberg between the pipes against the Sabres.
“It's up in the air. I will talk to Bierk again,” Smith said following the Senators' skate Monday. “If you look back at December, we got some really good goaltending from Forsberg and he got this thing started for us.
“He hadn't played in a while, he came in and battled, he got this thing going and there's some compete going on in there as to who wants the net. Murray gave us a couple of good games in there. We're coming back from the West, I'll talk to Bierk to see what his thoughts are and who gives us the best chance to win.”
This is an opportunity to get Murray on a roll. He played a big role in both wins in Alberta and it keeps him active as the Senators prepare to face the Pittsburgh Penguins on Thursday at PPG Paints Arena. You'd think the 27-year-old Murray would want the chance to face his former team for the first time since being dealt here in October 2020.
Forsberg hasn't played since Ottawa's 4-3 overtime loss to the Philadelphia Flyers on Dec. 18, so you have to get him in sooner or later. But maybe now isn't that time. Forsberg spent nearly two weeks in COVID-19 protocol and will eventually get his chance.
As we know, this season has been a roller-coaster ride for Murray. He cleared waivers in late November, spent a month with the Senators' AHL affiliate in Belleville and returned after
Christmas when Forsberg was in protocol.
Before the break, Forsberg was 5-1-1 in December which is why, with a heavy schedule ahead, this decision is up for discussion.
Smith and Bierk want the best goalie to play on a nightly basis and this may be a chance to see if Murray can handle the workload.
“Every coach would rather have a clear No. 1 because a clear No. 1 is the guy who is going to play the majority of the games,” Smith said. “He's going to give you a chance to win every night and that's what Murray was brought in to do.
“He would tell you the same, we didn't play great in front of him, and he didn't get the results he wanted. We're looking for him to try to re-establish himself, but sometimes that's another guy pushing you. It's no different than the centres or wingers, you could be the top dog, but somebody is always pushing you from behind to push you.
“I know (Filip Gustavsson) and Forsberg are capable of that.”
Gustavsson is in Belleville right now, so he's not an option, which means it's up to Murray and Forsberg to push each other.
After suiting up for only one game in 26 days, the Senators didn't waste their time during practice. They used it wisely to make adjustments, to stay sharp and be ready for what should be a steady schedule of games
through the end of the season, barring anymore COVID-19 outbreaks.
Spending all that time skating may have given the Senators a greater appreciation for playing games.
“These guys really like each other. There's been a lot of teams I've been on and been around, where you have guys that don't mix in the group or where you have split groups,” said Smith.
“That's not the case here. Brady (Tkachuk) and (Thomas Chabot) are the leaders and they do a really good job with the guys. Everyone is involved. It's hard when you're not winning, but when you're winning, everybody is having a lot of fun. We want to keep this going but you can see something special being built here.
“You're not going to win every night but these guys care about each other and you can clearly
see that if you hang around our locker-room. They like each other and they have fun. They joke with each other. It's the start of something good. There's lots of work to do but that part is in place.”
Now, the Senators would like to continue the consistency that started in December.
This got lost in the lengthy time between games, but the Senators are 6-3-1 in their last 10 games.
“The practice was good just to implement the system work,” said winger Austin Watson. “It's tough when you get into long stretches of games where you don't have the practice to work on things. It was beneficial for us.
“You don't want to not be playing, especially with (this) group, but any time you can work on those things and get systems dialled in it's good.”