Danny McCloskey
Talk about a dominant performance. The Senators controlled tonight’s game against the Maple Leafs from start to finish. There was a short burst of energy from the Leafs to end the second and start the third, but other than that, this one was all Senators. For the third straight time this season, they managed to score five goals against the Leafs. The last two have resulted in 5-2 victories. Let’s dive into the details.
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Shot Dominance by the Senators
The Senators won the shot battle in all three periods tonight. The first period was the closest at 9-6. The next two periods weren’t even a contest. The Senators outshot the Maple Leafs 19-5 in the second and 15-3 in the third. Add it all up and the final shot count was 43 for the Sens, 14 for the Leafs.
It wasn’t just the amount of shots, the Sens were all over the Leafs the entire game. Ridly Greig had a goal called back because of a high stick. The Sens had another end up in the net that was taken away for a Tim Stützle goalie interference penalty. Michael Amadio hit a post, Brady Tkachuk missed a partially empty net high, the list goes on. The Sens also seemed to be strategic with their shots- three times they hit Leafs goalie Joseph Woll right in the head.
Claude Giroux’s Big Game
After the Senators beat the Ducks 2-0 last weekend, I mentioned that Giroux had gone cold. He then picked up an assist against the Sharks the next night, followed by another assist against the Capitals in the next game. After being held off the scoresheet in the last game, Giroux was able to end his 13 game goalless drought tonight.
It’s obvious that Giroux is being used less as the year has gone along. He’s averaged just 13:55 per game in the month of March. He still has the smarts and competitive edge to make a difference, though. Tonight, to go along with the goal, he added seven shots, two hits, two takeaways, and won 75% of his faceoffs.
Additional Notes
The only two Senators to score multiple points tonight were both defensemen- Tyler Kleven and Jordan Spence, with two assists each. How about Warren Foegele, with his third goal and fourth point in the last four games. Talk about fitting in nicely with his new team. Michael Amadio is such a hard working, strong defensive player. As for his weaknesses, he doesn’t exactly have the best finish. He missed a few great chances tonight but did manage to score a big one part way through the third to make it 4-2. Next up for the Sens, a road game against the Rangers on Monday.
