Chabot, Stutzle, Tkachuk all Leave Early in Ottawa Senators Win

Talk about igniting the rivalry early. The Ottawa Senators beat the Montreal Canadiens 4-3 last night, but the real story was the violent nature of the game. Ridly Greig was a catalyst in the physicality, laying out Kirby Dach with a hit that earned him two minutes in the box for interference. From there, chaos ensued with the two teams combining for 79 penalty minutes. There was plenty of good to come out of this game for the Senators, including the return of Josh Norris. The main concern right now is with Tim Stutzle, Thomas Chabot, and Brady Tkachuk, who all had to leave the game early. Let’s dive into the details.

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Ridly Greig: The Pest

Towards the end of the first period, Greig caught Kirby Dach with a hit that was deemed a major at first, but then reduced to a minor for interference. From there, it was clear that Greig became public enemy number one for the Montreal Canadiens. Let’s face it, this is a big part of Ridly Greig’s game. He is supposed to be the type of player that you love if he’s on your team, but hate if he’s not. Think of a guys like Brad Marchand and Brendan Gallagher. As a pest, when you become the other team’s focus, you love it. Here’s how the rest of Greig’s game went: He took several slashes from Michael Pezzetta, he took a big hit from Jayden Struble, he scored a power play goal, and then he obliged when Kirby Dach wanted to fight him partway through the third. Not a bad night of work.

Senators Injury Concerns

This was the worst part of last night. Tim Stutzle took a late, high hit from Arber Xhekaj that led to Xhekaj being ejected from the game. Brady Tkachuk then threw Xhekaj to the ice. Neither Senator returned to the game after this. Thomas Chabot also left the game after playing just under 17 minutes. Travis Green said all three players would be re-evaluated today. The Senators can’t afford to lose any of these guys, so Senators fans just have to hope for the best here. The NFL has trended toward playing their star players less and less during the preseason. Meanwhile, NHL teams typically give their players a decent amount of playing time during the preseason, but we’ve already seen some key long term injuries to the likes of Drew Doughty and Patrik Laine. It’s a delicate balance between wanting to have your players healthy, while also wanting them to get in enough preseason action to be fully ready to go for the start of the regular season.

Carter Yakemchuk Thrives Once Again

The night didn’t start great for Yakemchuk. His giveaway in the defensive zone led to the first Montreal Canadiens goal. From there, though, Yakemchuk had yet another great game. He assisted on Michael Amadio’s power play goal, and then scored a power play goal of his own on an absolute bomb. That gives Yakemchuk five points in three preseason games. The other part of the equation is that Tyler Kleven has not looked great during preseason action. He needs to take on the role of the physical, hard working defenseman that can be trusted in his own zone. He has not been that guy thus far during the preseason. As of now, Yakemchuk has outplayed Kleven, and Bernard-Docker as well (to be fair, he’s outplayed almost every Ottawa Senators player). The Senators do have options if they choose to keep Yakemchuk up for at least a few regular season games. Kleven could be sent to Belleville. They could also start the year with eight defensemen. Having your top ten pick push for a roster spot right after being drafted is certainly not a bad situation to be in.

Josh Norris Returns

Norris looked solid in his preseason debut. He played just over 18 minutes, assisted on Yakemchuk’s goal, and won 10 of his 16 faceoffs. He was also one of Ottawa’s most used penalty killers, playing over three minutes on the penalty kill. Given the shoulder injuries, Senators fans have a right to be nervous when watching Norris play at this point. It was great to see him play with seemingly no restrictions. Green seems content to use Norris as a centre, and to play him in all situations. Now it’s a matter of having Norris not just survive, but thrive for the full length of the season.

Additional Notes

The battle for the 12th and 13th forward spots is heating up. Adam Gaudette scored another goal to make his case. Jan Jenik has shown some offense as well as plenty of physicality during his preseason action. The pressure is on the Zacks, Ostapchuk and MacEwan to step their games up to try to earn those spots. Artem Zub also made him preseason debut, eating up just over 19 minutes of ice-time. Linus Ullmark played his first full game, making 29 saves in the win. The best of them all came late in the third as Ullmark robbed Jake Evans with a beautiful glove save. The Ottawa Senators next preseason game comes this Friday at 7 pm, in Detroit against the Red Wings.