The Ottawa Senators organization is looking to give its players as many safety equipment options as possible after losing star defenceman Erik Karlsson for the season.
At the end of a rare hour-long Ottawa Senators practice on Monday, Mika Zibanejad stayed on the ice for some extra work. Zibanejed spent time deflecting pucks from assistant coach Jason Smith. After Smith left, Zibanejad took shots on his own.
At some point late Wednesday night, as he was receiving the Justin Bieber treatment at Scotiabank Place, 19-year-old Mika Zibanejad was surely tempted to pinch himself.
Did all this really happen so fast?
Step right up, Kyle Turris, you’ve suddenly become the centre of attention for the Ottawa Senators.
You, too, Peter Regin. If ever there was an opportunity to re-establish yourself as a front-line NHL player, this is it.
There were still no answers about Jason Spezza’s status following Wednesday’s game – Ottawa Senators coach Paul MacLean said he didn’t know whether the star centre would be joining the team on the trip to Carolina Thursday – but the 5-1 romp over the Montreal Canadiens did allow the team to breathe a little easier. At least for the time being.
Ottawa Senators coach Paul MacLean was pressed and pressed on the status of star centre Jason Spezza Wednesday morning.
He offered little more than the fact that Spezza is “still being evaluated” and that he won’t be playing against Montreal Wednesday.
All things considered, the Senators stole two points from the Washington Capitals Tuesday, storming back from an awful start and a 2-0 deficit to improve their record to 4-1-1.
The Senators sit in fourth spot in the Eastern Conference, with a chance to pull even with the Boston Bruins atop the standings if they can knock off the Montreal Canadiens Wednesday.