Traded players are centre of attention
Derick Brassard and Mika Zibanejad face off tonight as Ottawa takes on New York
OTTAWA — It may not be fair, but comparisons between Derick Brassard and Mika Zibanejad will be inevitable as the Ottawa Senators take on the New York Rangers in the Eastern Conference semifinals.
The Senators acquired Brassard and a seventh round pick in exchange for Zibanejad and a second-round pick in a big trade nine months ago. Now they are set to face off in the second round of the NHL playoffs, and measuring two centres against each other will likely be a persistent storyline throughout the series.
“He’s a good player,” said Brassard of Zibanejad. “The Rangers got a really good, young centreman, but it’s not about me and him here. It’s two hockey teams going at it. I respect him as a player, as a person, but at the end of the day there’s hockey trades happening every year and there’s always players changing address.”
That’s not to say Brassard wouldn’t love to beat his former team and earn some bragging rights.
“It’s going to be special and I’m just planning on not changing anything and doing what I do best, but it is a little more special than usual,” Brassard said.
“We have a goal as a team and right now they’re in the way. It doesn’t matter if it’s the Rangers or any other team around the league I’m going to try and do our best to try and advance.”
When the Senators acquired Brassard in the off-season, general manager Pierre Dorion said Ottawa acquired a veteran player who could not only help them get to the playoffs, but also help them win in the playoffs.
So far Brassard hasn’t disappointed — at least in the post-season. During the regular season he was underwhelming with 14 goals and 25 assists in 81 games, his lowest fullseason point total since 2009-10.
In comparison, Zibanejad had 14 goals and 37 points through 56 games before the 24-yearold missed over two months with a broken fibula.
Despite the totals, Senators management and its coaching staff said they were pleased with Brassard’s performance and that, from an analytics perspective, Brassard had been the Senators’ best forward.
Many received that assessment with skepticism, but Brassard’s performance against the Boston Bruins in the opening round of the playoffs quieted the doubters. Brassard played like a man possessed as he led the Senators with eight points (two goals, six assists) through the six-game series.
“He’s really come through, definitely stepped his game up,” said teammate Zack Smith. “Some guys elevate their game in the playoffs and some guys can’t, but he’s obviously done that. If you look at his numbers in the playoffs he’s played a lot of games and put up a lot of points. He’s a postseason player and that’s good to see as we’ll need everyone, that’s for sure.”
So far Zibanejad has been equally impressive, leading the Rangers with one goal and four points through New York’s six games against the Montreal Canadiens.
“For me, it’s just winning this series,” Zibanejad said on NYRangers.com. “Taking a game at a time and winning. It’s all about the team right now. I knew it was going to come up and be brought up a lot, but for me, try and just win.”
OILERS 5, DUCKS 3
ANAHEIM, Calif. — Adam Larsson scored his second goal with 4:40 remaining, Mark Letestu had two power-play goals and the Edmonton Oilers defeated the Anaheim Ducks 5-3 in Game 1 of the second round on Wednesday night.
Cam Talbot made 33 saves for the Oilers, who regained the lead when Larsson’s centring pass from behind the net struck Ducks defenceman Josh Manson’s skate and went in.
Jakob Silfverberg and Patrick Eaves scored 1:20 apart midway through the third period to erase a 3-1 deficit and Ryan Getzlaf had a power-play goal for Anaheim. John Gibson made 27 saves.
PREDATORS 4, BLUES 3
ST. LOUIS — P.K. Subban had a goal and two assists and Vernon Fiddler scored with 5:05 left, sending the Nashville Predators to a 4-3 victory over the St. Louis Blues in Game 1 of their second-round playoff series on Wednesday night.
The Predators lost Kevin Fiala to an ugly leg injury in the second period and blew a 31 lead before Fiddler poked a loose puck past Jake Allen in the third. It was the fifth career playoff goal for the 36-year-old Fiddler, who did not play in Nashville’s first-round sweep of Chicago.
Colin Wilson and Filip Forsberg also scored for Nashville, and Pekka Rinne made 27 saves. Colton Parayko, Jaden Schwartz and Vladimir Sobotka scored for St. Louis. Allen finished with 28 stops.