Bounce Back

The Senators bounced back from their second loss of the season and from a one goal deficit to down the Habs this afternoon. Again Alfredsson led the way, scoring when they needed a goal and playing hard on every shift until that point. Heatley does seem to miss Spezza, even if the team is 5 and 1 with him out of the lineup but they are getting strong play from every line even if the production isn't always there. Gerber was again good when he needed to be and shut the door once the team took the lead, making a couple nice saves in the last minute. Detroit extended their winning strea to 9 games last night, beating division rival and upstart Columbus, a test similar to the one provided Ottawa by Montreal. It seems these two teams have put some distance between themselves and the rest of the league.

Interesting amongst the similarities between the Red Wings and Senators is the play of Henrik Zetterberg. Picked even lower than Alfredsson, 210th overall in the 7th round versus 133rd in the 6th round, Both players are late bloomers, though Zetterberg at 27 is younger than Alfredsson, and they play a similar sort of game. Both are almost equally adept playmakers and finishers. Neither is big but both are strong and physical and great defensive players in addition to their offensive gifts. If there was a Hart Trophy for the first quarter of the season it would probably come down to these two with another late round Swede, Henrik Lundqvist, perhaps interjecting himself in the conversation as the only reason that his team is winning.

At the opposite end of the spectrum, I was at the Civic Centre last night to see the 67s play the Oshawa Generals and John Tavares, who has been annointed as the number one pick in his draft year, even though there remains another draft between now and his eligibility. He does have remarkable game breaking talent, scoring twice and assisting on another despite seeming to have a fairly quiet night. His skating needs work as he had a couple of one on one rushes and even the OHL defensemen didn't have to fear his beating them to the outside but that is an easy obstacle to overcome. He does have the goal-scorers instinct for where the puck is going to end up and an incredible set of hands that he showcased not only in the game action but also in the Charity shootout that took place in the first intermission. He scored three goals on four shots with three competely different moves and you almost had to feel sorry for 67s goalie Adam Courchaine. The 67s kept it close before allowing the Generals to bounce back from a one goal deficit with about five minutes left in the game. It was, as usual, a very entertaining hockey game and great value for the $15 dollar tickets.