Every so often there is a defining moment that sends a team one way or the other. Sometimes it is a big win or loss, sometimes it is a fight when one teammate sticks up for another, or sometimes it is an injury to a star player. The Senators have had 2 of those in the past week. While the Jason Spezza injury was kind of under the radar when it happened and couldn’t be capitalized on on the ice, the goalie interference call on Jakob Silfverberg Sunday afternoon could turn out to be one of those moments.
The Leadership of The Ottawa Senators have an opportunity to make something good out of the goalie interference call against them on Sunday. Mandatory Credit: Tom Szczerbowski-USA TODAY Sports
If the Senators coaching staff and leadership are smart, they will instill an “us against the world” mentality that could bring the team closer together and more united in every game they play from here on out. This could lead the team to get on a roll where the total is more than the sum of the parts.
Admittedly, it could also go the other way. The team could become discouraged after the call and Spezza’s injury adding together to make the players think “maybe this isn’t our year” and a great season isn’t in the cards.
I don’t think that Bryan Murray, Paul MacLean and Daniel Alfredsson will let the latter happen.