Ottawa Senators Take Family Affair Vs Arizona 7-2

Zybnek Michalek may have opened the scoring, but it was his brother who responded for Ottawa. Milan Michalek, who has been noticeably better of late continued his hot streak with a beautiful goal.

GAME RECAP

The 1st got off to an incredibly fast start. A weak one beat Robin Lehner glove side as Marc Methot‘s glove would get in the way of this one. Zybnek Michalek, who has been subject to trade rumours of late had a strong game, opening the scoring for the Arizona (don’t call me phoenix as per Bruce Garrioch) Coyotes.

Ottawa answered back right away, as it was Mike Hoffman who responded. Hoffman’s goal is his 17th of the season, as he inches closer and closer to the 20 goal marker. At this point in time Hoffman is still on pace to score 30 goals, whether he reaches that marker or not will be a storyline to follow.

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Not much else happened in the first, other than a few penalties where Ottawa failed to capitalize on 5 PP attempts.

2nd period.

After a slow start to the period, Ottawa picked things up. It was Milan Michalek who made the game 2-1. Milo has certainly had a surge of late, tallying 8 points in his last 9 games.

Besides the point totals, it’s been clear Milan has been more effective of late. He has appeared to be speedier of late and we’ve seen that style of play we have come to miss.

Milan’s goal was yet another example of this, as he used his speed and hands to combat Antoine Vermette. GIF. 

Mark Stone widened Ottawa’s lead with a tip in front of the net. 3-1 Ottawa. That was all for the 3rd, but here on out It was all Ottawa.

The 3rd saw more pucks in the net, as the parade to the bench began with Bobby Ryan on a goal with a feed from Clarke MacArthur. Jean-Gabriel Pageau also netted one, which led to this hilarious post-goal celebration.

Sam Gagner got one back for Arizona, as Gagner closed the gap to 5-2.

Ottawa would end up finishing this one with a 7-2 victory, their highest goal total on the season. Erik Karlsson ripped one by Mike Smith‘s replacement and Mika Zibanejad finished another after a nice set-up by Bobby Ryan.

7-2 the final. Senators win.

NOTES & OBSERVATIONS

  • Milan Michalek has been great lately.
  • Clarke MacArthur needs to net one. Nice to see him get an assist on Ryan’s goal.
  • Erik Karlsson had a nice game. Offensively and defensively.
  • Marc Methot with the 3 assist performance. Please sign this guy.
  • Bobby Ryan is Ottawa’s best forward. By far. 1 goal, 1 assist for him.
  • Jean-Gabriel Pageau is here to stay. He’s a legit NHLer at this point.
  • Nice victory to get in an afternoon game. Arizona is ready to be blown up.
  • Another ARZ/OTT family connection? Prospects David (OTT) and Darian (ARZ) Dziurzynski.

SPOTLIGHT CARD

RW. Ottawa Senators. BOBBY RYAN. A+. Bobby continues his fantastic play. Ryan netted one and added an assist, good enough for 37 points on the year. The overall effort by the team was great, and Bobby Ryan stood out especially in the latter half of the game A+ well received.