CFN – Christmas came early for Ottawa Senators fans as the home squad delighted those in attendance (and watching on TV) by shutting out the mighty, but injured Pittsburgh Penguins 5-0 in time for the holiday break.
The Pens had star Sydney Crosby slowed down after a clean check by a rejuvenated Marc Methot sent him flying as he was zeroing in on goalie Craig Anderson early in the first. Anderson would record his first shut out in a long time, and second for the season.
Zack Smith, Bobby Ryan, Erik Karlsson, Kyle Turris, Cory Conacher all scored for Ottawa who out shot Pittsburgh 29-27 including 15-9 in the third period.
Ottawa has been inconsistent of late; beating good teams like the Penguins and the blues and falling back against weaker teams. The big buzz is that they are about to land Rangers D man Mike Del Zotto. At 23 and with some offensive upside it might just be what the doctor ordered depending on the price. Del Zotto was an RFA that wasn’t in a rush to sign last time around before signing a 2 year bridge contract which is up at the end of this season when he’s RFA again.
The Sens are now 15-17-7 at the break with 111 goals for vs 126 against after 39 games. They sit in 11th place in the conference, but only one point out of 8th. Truly a bubble team. The good news is that the team has played below their ability and if they can get it up for the next quarter of the season there’s no reason why this squad can’t make the play offs, especially if Craig Anderson gets it back together.
Cody Ceci, playing with Chris Phillips and getting a bit of PP time now has 1 g & 1 a after 7 games. He’s zero on the plus minus and has 11 shots and 8 hits. Not too shabby all considered. If Ottawa does pull the trigger on Del Zotto the question becomes will Cody stick in Ottawa or head back down to the Bing?
What do you think Sens fans? You can post your comments below.
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