Ottawa Senators Dominate Montreal Canadiens + Michael Amadio Is The NHLs Best Forechecker

Ottawa Senators Dominate Montreal Canadiens + Michael Amadio Is The NHLs Best Forechecker

On today’s show, the Ottawa Senators get a statement win over the Montreal Canadians. And do the Sense have a new secret weapon? And the longest road trip of the season is over. Your Ottawa Senators are coming home. This is Brad Kachchuck and you’re listening to the Locked On Senators podcast. Your Locked On Senators, your daily podcast on the Ottawa Senators, part of the Locked On podcast network. your team every day. Welcome. You are locked on to the Ottawa Senators. I’m Ross Levitan alongside Brandon Pillar and today’s episode’s brought to you by FanDuel. If you want to be right in the middle of the action this season, visit fanuel.com and place your live bets all season long. Today is Wednesday, December 3rd. And Pillsy, that was a picture perfect way to end the road trip. Oh, so beautiful, Ross. All of the other games, Western teams far away from Ottawa. And we looked at the end of this road trip being like, “Oh, man, the Suns are going to have to fly over Ottawa and go to Montreal to finish off that road trip.” But man, am I glad they did because the last two games before that, lost to St. Louis, a game you really should have won. on Brady Kachchuck return getting embarrassed by the Dallas Stars even though that’s not a game you really expected to win but it still leaves a bad taste in your mouth and then this opportunity up against Montreal your most heated rival in the Atlantic division or heated rival of all for sends fans you needed to get a win here and they didn’t just squeak a win Ross this wasn’t a onegoal game like the Ottawa Senators have been used to playing recently this wasn’t an overtime or a shootout miraculous comeback. This was a beatd down 5-2 over the Habs and Freddy Kachchuck scores his first goal of the season. Emphatic one to ice the cake with the fifth goal there. Like it’s just a beautiful thing. I love waking up in the morning after beating the Habs. And 52 looks good as is, but if you go at even strength, this was a five nothing game. Both Habs goals come on the power play. So if you’re Ottawa five on five, you dominated over 70% of the expected goals. And we’ll get into later the third line of the Ottawa Senators. And I really want to have a conversation about Michael Amadio, but we’ll save that because that was just part of the story of last night. The other main story beyond Brady Kachchuck just putting it to Habs fans again. Every time the Ss beat the Havs, which is 11 of the last 15 games head-to-head, I always go to to Google and I type in 2018 NHL draft and I just stare at the top five. I stare at it. And you know what the best part is? Is not that Yes. Perry Cockami signed elsewhere, left Montreal. Frankly, I kind of wish he’d stayed because then you’ve got the meme of the rookie tournament right after the draft where Brady bullies him in the corner, scores, and then just stares and screams at him. I wanted more face at the draft night. That’s a good one, too. Money. She might be the smartest hockey fan in the world. Yeah, she knows She knew that passing on Brady Kachchuck was going to set that franchise back and it put them into a full rebuild three years later. first team in NHL history to finish 32nd place in the National Hockey League. So, you look at that night, June 22nd, 2018, as one that just it exudes pride as an Ottawa Senators fan because they didn’t even know they were going to keep that pick. They do because Brady Kachchuck was available. They couldn’t finish last the next year, too, could they? Yeah, they did. But then the draft lottery did its thing and Ottawa ends up giving up the same pick that they end up making, fourth overall. I’ll take Brady Kachchuck over Bow and Byron to say the least there. Hell, I’d take him over Jack Hughes too, first overall pick from that next draft because the way Brady Kachchuck can impact the game plus the entertainment value on top of it. I would pay an amount that I don’t feel comfortable disclosing to get miked up Brady Kachchuck for all 82 games of the season on the bench, on the ice, in the locker room for intermissions. H um pumping up the boys. He said positivity alltime high in the locker room last night. Love to see that. Warm-ups, too, because I’m going to love to hear him cackling as he trolled that Habs fan pretending to give him a The That was just such pure reaction. Uh if you didn’t see it, a Habs fan had a sign of Brady Kachchuck and the Habs guy was dressed up as the Grinch and he was kind of pointing, laughing at him, whatever. Brady’s like, “Oh, here you want a puck?” The Habs fan’s like, “Yeah, awesome. Thanks.” Uh, nope. And then he throws it away and the house man starts smacking on the glass and he’s pissed. Like that would have been awesome to hear from Brady. And we did get some miked up uh content. Ross when he injured his thumb and he’s going back to the bench and he’s like, “I broke my finger. I broke my finger.” And the Nashville guys are chirping him and he’s like he do whips around and he’s like, “I don’t have a right hand, but I would still beat the f out of you with my left.” Like just I’m still throwing lefts. Yeah. No fear. And I believe it too. There’s probably only a handful of guys on Nashville’s roster that could take Brady Kachchuck, even with his right thumb broken and fighting one armed. Like, that guy is just an absolute beast. So, we love Brady Kachchuck as an Ottawa Senator and uh it’s it’s so great. So, perfect time for a PSA as well then because the Suns are coming home for three games. We’ll preview that uh later on in the show, but if you haven’t been down near the ice for warm-ups, I know some people are very for it. Kids love it. I still remember trading uh French fry for a puck from Kevin Denine when he was playing with the Columbus Blue Jackets in warm-up. Those memories stick with you. I think I ended up on the right side of that one for sure. But then the Senators end, it’s it’s like I don’t want to say party, it’s obviously professional business-like, but the boys are having fun in warm-up. like Timmy and Brady, they they like to entertain to say the least and they know that that’s a part of the growing the game and just being those like larger than life figures. They’re always piouetting and banging on the glass and getting the fans involved. So, it is a cool experience if you haven’t been down by the glass, whether it’s a family or whether you just want to go and hype up the boys. Especially, I mean, you see it more on the road. It’s almost like an area where the away fans congregate to say what up to each other and shoot the breeze. So awesome awesome night at the Bell Center for the boys to come out with a 5-2 win. The storyline that I tried to get to and then we just got way off track. But when you’re talking entertainment value and Brady Kachchuck, that’s prone to happen. The offense from the back end beyond just Jake Sanderson who scored a beauty in this game was incredible. when you have in a healthy decor your third pair by all intents and purposes, Cleven Spence third pair. When those two guys each have multi-point nights, like you’re feeling pretty good about how your team setting up offensively. But I also thought this was one of Nick Jensen’s better skating games that we’ve seen of late. Took a big hit behind the net from Brennan Gallagher. The guy saw numbers from the hash marks. I guess he doesn’t know kids are watching, but I thought Jensen bounced back up from that real well. And obviously you look at the top dogs, Ardam Zub, who knew that he had hands like that in front of the net. Incredible. I mean, he pulled a couple deaks on Montabau, but he’s still looking for his jock strap up in the Raptors of the Bell Center. And uh it was a beautiful goal. I couldn’t believe Zub was the guy standing there and he got that puck. Also, shout out Fabian Zetland. Great board work there. And then Brady Kachchuck, the no look pass to land right on Zub’s tape. Sets that up beautifully. Like that’s always been an underrated part of Brady’s game. Hey, the playmaking. Yeah, certainly. It’s like when you think of Brady Kachchuck, playmaking is probably the sixth or seventh thing that you think of. Uh it’s not exactly top of the mind there, but that’s a great play. Nasty play. There’s also a nasty play behind the net by Timmy to find him, too, on on that fifth goal. The the real kind of exclamation mark on that game. Oh, dude, that was sick. And it all starts with great board work. And that’s something that the Ottawa Senators were very, very vocal about after the game in the press conferences, just saying, “Hey, we need to dominate the boards and keep offensive zone possessions alive.” I thought they did a phenomenal job of that. I would love to see, and maybe we’ll add it to our game previews. I got to find that stat. If you can let us know where the best place to track offensive zone time, I would love to know that. Especially like with possession, without possession, it feels like Ottawa defends really well in the offensive zone. You don’t hear that term used often, but when they give up possession, they’re hounding that defenseman or the guy getting the first touch to pressure them into making an uncomfortable decision right away. It’s it’s a really cool part of how the Sense system is set up. Yeah. I mean, board battles don’t always lead to points, as in goals and assists, but they’re such a big part of the game because really, like, when you break it down, the game of hockey is broken down into like a hundred separate little board battles and puck battles. And it’s about winning more of them than you lose that ultimately leads to possession and creates offense or gets your team out of a jam defensively. So, you have to be confident that you can go into a board battle one-on-one hopefully because if you start bringing extra guys in, well, that means there’s open space on the ice somewhere else. And if you lose that board battle, then you’re creating great opportunities for the other team. So, for the sends to have that mentality to be like, hey, we’re going to be dogs along the boards and we’re going to make sure we’re coming up with that puck one way or another, no matter whether it’s offensive zone, neutral zone, or defensive zone. That’s the kind of mentality you have to have. And especially up against a skilled team like the Halves, if they’re able to win those battles and get into open spaces, they’ve got the guys that can finish those plays off. So, shout out to the Sens and the coaching staff for having the right plan here. And it really seems, and this is from me, hate scrolling on Twitter, Ross. Uh, whenever the Sens beat the Habs, I love to scroll and see what Habs fans are thinking and love seeing Habs fans crash out. And a lot of them were saying Martan San Louie just had no adjustment for the style of game that the Ottawa Senators were playing and he just allowed the Sens to keep that style of game going and a lot of them were upset there was no timeout called. That’s something usually Sense fans are upset about. But I agree with them. Like I feel like there should have been a time or two where St. Louis should have called a timeout to calm things down there and try to get the crowd back into this game and uh didn’t happen. What do you think about our guy Sens Chirp saying that from the moment that Curtis McDermott challenged Arbor Jackkeye who politely declined that Ottawa took over that game in the second period? I don’t that was not that was not a moment for me at all. But uh look, I’m I’m the narrative. I’m very much uh Curtis McDermad hasn’t really done much to impress since coming over. Quite the opposite in my opinion. But the numbers are the numbers, Bill. Exactly. I don’t care. And h I saw a Habs fan be this tweet is so good. I’m paraphrasing here, but a Habs fan said, “If you ever feel like a loser, just remember the Sens traded for Curtis Mcder because they’re scared of the Jack Guy brothers.” Like, uh, they first of all, they traded Zack Mchuan for Curtis McMurin. Zack Mchuan hasn’t done much of anything in New Jersey. And hey, nothing against Zack Mcuin, good guy. But like it’s not exactly like they gave up big assets. And like you said, Ross, if you think Curtis McDerman was brought to the Ottawa Senators to play hockey and put up points, you got the wrong idea here. And I don’t care. Sure, Habs fans, raise the banner. Jack guy reverse hit Curtis Mcder. Put the banner up. Awesome. Congrats. But when he’s in the lineup, inexplicably, his two and a half minutes of ice time each game, the Ottawa Senators find ways to win more often than not. And that’s the that’s the dumb analytics I’m looking at. Ross is games one. And if he is any part of that whatsoever, fine by me, dude. He’s played nine games and the sends have at least a point in eight of them. They’re 61 and two in the nine games that Curtis McDermad has played in this season. Now, he is not the Senator’s secret weapon, but they do have one. We’re going to get into Michael Amaddio’s brilliance on the other side, but for now, we will have the photo of the day, courtesy of our good friends over at USA Today Images. How beautiful is that? Ardam Zub standing in the crease looking like Kake Elijahan just dunking on guys and it was incredible in and of itself and then you look at the Habs that are surrounding them. Yep. It’s the tots. It’s Lane Hudson and Cole Caulfield just standing there saying, “Hey, anybody want to take that defensive defenseman? I heard he’s an Olympic gold medalist and he put on a performance that got straight tens for me.” Yeah, that’s uh that’s a great one. I love seeing Hudson and Cawfield right there. Although Pilzy I said who could have seen that coming with Ardum Zub’s hands. Don’t forget about that breakaway goal his rookie season in Toronto during the it was 5-1 comeback. Like he might be a sneaky shootout candidate if something gets past what seven or eight rounds. No, I’m down. If it gets past seven, I’m putting Zub in. Has to be at home though, right? Yes. Yes. Oh my god. Oh man. The the goalie would be like, “Are they booing this guy on?” Like, “Are they booing putting a defenseman this early in the shootout?” No. Yeah, that would be so good. Oh man. The ongoing zoo bit. Credit to Sens fans. Like that could have been a that could have been just like a a shot in the pan, you know, where it’s just quick in and out. Welcome to Ottawa. It kind of fizzles out. We’re like he’s like top 30 all time in games played for the Senators and every single time he’s ever touched the puck at home there’s zoo chance. So even on the road shout out we’re we got our zoo chance ready to go two weeks from last Monday. We’re boots on the ground. Senators Jets can’t wait for that. Michael Amadio he could have been a Jet. He could have been on any team. This guy was in the miners just a few years ago and now he is a Stanley Cup champion and an integral part of what the Ottawa Senators are trying to build their identity around. We’ll have a discussion more into that. Plus, previewing the home stand coming up. Three huge games to kick off December. You’re listening to Locked On Senators, your team every day. Today’s episode is brought to you by our friends over at Drip Drop. When I’m hydrated, everything just works better. My focus, energy, mood, even my skin looks better. That’s why I’ve been using Drip Drop. It’s doctor developed hydration that keeps me running at full power no matter what my day looks like. Drip Drop isn’t your average sports drink, guys. It delivers three times the electrolytes and half the sugar of leading brands using a sciencebacked formula trusted by medical professionals, firefighters, and over 90% of top college and pro teams. I like using Drip Drop as a part of my daily routine. It’s easy to mix that packet in in the morning during the gym session or a midday slump. And it’s got to taste good to keep you coming back. And it does. My go-to flavor, strawberry lemonade. So good. Hydration is non-negotiable for me. DripDrop helps me feel sharper, calmer, and honestly, just better overall. Right now, DripDrop is offering podcast listeners 20% off your first order. Go to dripdrop.com and use promo code locked on NHL. That’s dripdrop.com. Promo code locked on NHL for 20% off. Stock up now and keep your body and mind performing at their best with Drip Drop. Today’s episode’s also brought to you by the Gleeb Central Pub. Go visit the GCP where the vibes are free at 779 Bank Street. It is a locallyowned watering hole steps from Lands Down. It’s such a great area. I love hanging out in the Glee when I’m in Ottawa. You wake up, you go down, shop at Lands Down, go walk around the park, come over and sit down for a cold one or 10 at the GCP. They’ve also got something going on almost every night of the week. Live music every Saturday night. And how about tonight? It’s a Wednesday, which means it’s open mic night. You can come, you can play, you can sing, you can laugh, you can watch, you can have some great food while you’re at it. Get the nachos for the table. Hey, and how about wing night every Monday. Cheap wings Thursdays. Oh, buddy. I’m all about the GCP on a Thursday night. When you have cheap tacos, you have me in attendance. And you can go there to watch the game. You can go check them out. And the send shuttle is $18 roundtrip. So get your tickets for December games right now at glee centralpub.com. Let them know that locked on senators sent you. [Music] All right, Bill Z. So you mentioned what all Sens fans are doing this morning and that’s taking a peek over the border into Quebec. Hey Sabah, how’s it going over there? Well, um, notable tabloid media, I’ll call them, they love the big headlines. They’re the guys who sent the bus to Ottawa to watch their team lose. Was it last spring? The one game Ottawa beat them. Yeah. Well, this morning they put out a quote, oh, the sheriff is no longer fighting. Is it time for him to get out of Montreal? With a photo of him and McDermott having a chat. So after Habs fans rightfully said Mchuan kind of got punked by a jack guy and they traded him. Seems like uh they might have found the answer. So we’ll see. Uh we’ll see how in their own head Montreal media will get today. Hey that would that would disappoint me Ross cuz me too. I want to see Arbor Jack guy on the ice for the Montreal Canadians as much as possible. when he’s on the ice, it’s so much easier for the Ottawa Centers and every other team to have success. So, sure, I’m not denying he is one tough customer. Like, to bounce off Mcdermad like that is actually I I got to give him credit. That’s pretty impressive. But as far as playing hockey, that’s a guy you want to see on the ice if you’re an opponent. Totally. And beyond that too though, like there’s certain guys that you just have as integral parts of a rivalry. Like Mitch Mner’s a good hockey player, but I kind of liked them in Toronto because he’s a fun guy to hate and root against. I know it’s I it pains me, Ross, that I actually like kind of like Mitch Martner now that he’s out of Toronto. Like I still love to hate him, but it’s not it’s it’s not the same now that he’s because if he does well, then you can laugh at Leaf fans like, “Oh, you had him, right?” So it’s kind of a win-win as a rival of that. I was going to say I feel that way about Brandon Gallagher as well, but other than him taking a dumb penalty that caused the reaction that made Brady’s goal even more special, I didn’t even notice that he was playing in last night’s game. I mean, he’s a fourth liner making over $6 million. So, yeah, that’s actually a good gig. Yeah, big time. Yeah. When I was a kid, people asked, “What did you want to be when you grew up?” And I said, “Martain Burer’s backup.” Yeah. Yeah. or a couple games a year, hang out with some boys. That’s a good one, too. Yeah. Day after practice and help out and say that you’re you’re the reason why player X got so much better. Yeah. It’s kind of Eric Hry’s gig. And then he just had the worst news ever. He just got important at work cuz Connor Halba is out and Yeah, that sucks. Yeah, that hasn’t gone too well over there. But hey, we’re not throwing stones because we need to be focused for our boots on the ground experience. The Jets are reigning President’s Trophy winners. So, no easy games in this league and that includes an injury bruised New York Rangers team that’s coming in on Thursday. But before we get to the home stand, Pillzy, Michael Amadio, what made me start thinking that we had to have a conversation about Michael Amadio was Mike Kelly’s fantastic intermission report. if you saw it on Friday’s afternoon game uh against St. Louis where he had some great notes on Brady Kachak, but really caught my attention was his discussion about Shane Pinto, Michael Amadio, and Clo Jaru. And that line as a whole, they’ve been fantastic. One of the best lines in the National Hockey League this season. And that’s not even me as a Sens guy exaggerating it. That’s just what this the stats show. There’s only one line with more than 100 minutes of ice time together with a higher expected goals percentage than Pintoio and that’s the Washington Capitals line of Surf with Protas and Tom Wilson. Other than that, it’s the Giru Pintoio line. And I think that Michaelio is the straw that stirs the drink. Say what you want. The offense about Shane Pinto is amazing. Great player. Giru, I mean, what hasn’t already been said about him? But Michaelio is the secret weapon on the Ottawa Senators. Like if you asked Travis Green, truth serum, who’s your favorite player on your team? I think he would be top two with Sanderson. Yes. Yeah. Um Yeah. He just does all the little things so well and he’s a two-way forward that is very good defensively, but then also can have really nice moments offensively, too. like Ross, you were loving that play that he made to set up Jake Sanderson’s goal. I mean, even the whole shift was good, but when you really zoom in and watch how Amaddio set up Sanderson there, and that’s also high hockey IQ because if that’s, no offense, Nicholas Matimalo standing beside a Mario there, he can’t play that way. But he sees that’s Jake Sanderson and he says, “Okay, how can I give space to him and how can I keep this play going so that Sandy can pick this up and drive it to the net and eventually score?” And you couldn’t do it much better than that. No, you you can’t. And it’s the third angle that they show on the highlights. I’ll actually go and I’ll tweet out the video of it later today, but you don’t see it in real time. It just looks like he stops the puck along the boards and then just makes a little three-foot pass. It’s like, okay, what’s impressive about that? Well, what is is spinning around at full speed, tracks the puck on his backand under pressure, stops it with a guy coming at him, and just turns the other way. gives himself space, draws the other defender towards him, Noah Dobson, and then recognizes, and Sanderson needs credit for this, too, because he says, “I’m going to be beline towards the net.” Not a lot of defenseman are going to have that mentality. But a part of that is probably knowing that Amadia was so responsible that once he makes that dish play, he’s going to cover back for him and allow Sanderson to pinch without giving up a potential oddman opportunity the other way. I just thought the high hockey IQ was elite. And we kind of joked and maybe partly it was because he was coming from Vegas, but that there’s a lot of Mark Stone in Michael Amadio’s game. And I can’t shake that feeling. I don’t think he’s ever going to put up Mark Stone points. I think that’s ridiculous. Well, he gets 27 points a year, Ross. He might get 27 goals this year. He’s on pace for 19 goals uh this season. Michael Amadio. And he had that stretch of of a point streak that lasted six games. He had really it was a stretch of 11 games where he had nine points where he got a lot of his offense this season. It had been quieter. He went four five straight games without a point. Most of them on the road where he’s going up against the other team’s top lines and defense is the priority. But now two assists in his last three games. And I I mentioned Mike Kelly. one of the stats that’s not readily available for fans but that they have over at Sport Lique which again would pay an amount of money to get a subscription that they told him that not available unless you’re an NHL team or um TSN I think has rights to it as well but um he is grades out on Mike Kelly’s um player prototype list as the best forch checker in the NHL this season. The best. And if you watch between the dump in and how he chases, it’s ridiculous how he always seems to get a stick or a body in the lane and he just disrupts. He’s a disruptor for the Ottawa Senators. That to me is an upgrade. We call him a Swiss Army knife going into the season. Psey, Swiss Army knife’s not big enough to have the impact of Michael Amattio. Yeah, seriously. And uh yeah, Mike Kelly was talking about how good he is in the offensive zone. Five on five. He’s among, well, when we were looking at the stats, this was during the St. Louis game or right before it, he was first in puck battles won in the offensive zone, five on five in the league. First, no one wins more puck battles in the Ozone. So if you’re Shane Pinto and Klo Jaru, you got to be every day coming into work and seeing that lineup card chiseled in stone and Michael Amadio there being like this is going to be an easier night for me than most people in the league because he’s doing all the dirty work and that’s going to set me up. I almost I had the quick thought, Ross, but again, chisel that in stone, you can’t change that. Would you ever consider throwing Michael Amio up in the top six? Uh like just to help out some of those guys score effects game if you’re down by one maybe with a Timmy and Bath if those guys were on a line together just to get them to puck to try to create more offense or is it again in stone don’t even move it no matter what. It’s just the best line in hockey. And I’ll tell you after the break why I don’t think they should do that. And I also have an outrageous Michael Amadio stat for you. You’re listening to Locked On Senators, your team every day. Today’s episode is brought to you by our friends over at FanDuel. The NBA is back and there’s no better place to get in on the action than FanDuel, the official sports betting partner of the NBA. Even if you missed the start of the game or you want to ride that hot hand, FanDuel has live bets on everything from who will score next to fourth quarter comebacks. Plus, you can even combine your live bets into same game parlays for a shot at a bigger payout. Keeps every game exciting, especially when your team’s making that late push and especially when your team, the Ottawa Centers, comes back home after a long road trip. And right now, FanDuel is giving new customers $300 in bonus bets when your first $5 bet wins. So, head to fanuel.com to sign up and play your game with FanDuel, the official sports betting partner of the NBA. [Music] All right, Billy. Before I tell you why this lineup, at least the top nine, is going to stay the same for this upcoming three-game home stand, this blew my mind. And maybe it shouldn’t because we just talked about how fantastic of a player and season Michael Amadio is having. But did you know that at five on five this season, no Senators forward has played more minutes than Michael Amadio? What? Yep. No, I would have thought Tim Stuts for sure. At five on five, Michael Amadio has played nine more minutes than Tim Stutzla, who is second, and he has played 14 more minutes than Shane Pinto, who is third. All right. I mean, yeah, shout out Michael. So, I would like to use that to confirm my thoughts about Travis Green saying Michael Matt’s his favorite player on the team. Like, obviously Tim Stola and Brady Kachchuck, guys, we didn’t mention when we threw Sanderson’s name in there. You’re very happy to have those players, but there is I would imagine there is no more lowmaintenance player on the team than Michael Amadio. Well, and when you’re watching film, all because the things that we don’t see on this on the stat sheet or maybe we gloss over, you don’t get to watch the highlights the next day. That’s what the coaching staff is looking at being like, “Another board battle one, another puck battle one, another great job getting that out of the zone by Amario.” Like, those guys are just loving watching film of him the next day. So, you’re saying just hypothetically if there happened to be a losing streak and the boys were blowing off steam on the road and there happened to be a camera running in an Uber and guys were complaining about this and that that they might say as the coach effing rights ammo. Yeah. Yeah. Effing rights ammo. Well, I don’t I don’t know if Ammo would find himself in a situation where No, Melo wasn’t in the Uber. He wasn’t in the Uber, right? Because all the guys they’re saying like oh and in the meeting room it’s just like effing rights mellow like hey right they they always use Dylan Dlo as the example of how to play well defensively. So freaking rights ammo let’s go. Yeah he’s probably getting a lot of those then. Yeah. So we covered the fact that the Ottawa Senators third and I always feel like I have to do the air quotes with third because calling them that feels disrespectful for the impact that they’ve had. But that’s the best line in hockey at a 69.4 expected goals percentage. Well, in a much smaller sample size, I will be the first to admit that the Ottawa Senators top three lines in expected goals percentage were the top three lines in last night’s game. And of course, especially in a small sample size, when you play that well against the Habs, it’s going to impact that. So, this is just something to put on everyone’s radar. I’m not saying that these are the top three lines for the rest of the season. No changes, but right now it’s working because the Zetterland Stuts Kachchuck combination was elite last night. And then you threw that familiar line from the stretch run last season of Cousins, prompson together and they were solid uh in terms of offenses own possession. So yeah, if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. and the Ottawa Senators have found a top nine that has tilted the ice in their favor. Yeah. I mean, ultimately, this is ha how this roster should shake out. I I believe I’d have to fact check, but I think when we did our projected rosters, this is how I set things up uh when the season was about to begin. Um almost you would have had Ridley Greg somewhere in that top nine. I think he’s kind of the odd man out right now trying to find where I might have had Greg and Pon switched where he fits in. Yeah. But anyways, that talk like the way Hey, we’re never wrong on this show, Phil. Yeah. Yeah. If if anything, uh I like to be wrong once in a while, though, Ross. And if I’m wrong and it causes good things for the sends, that’s fine. I’ll eat it. Um I think this lineup works really well this way. And it was different when Fabian Zetherland was not producing, but now that he’s earned his spot on that top line, I love having him there. It’s so great to see the joy that scoring brings to Fabian Zetterland. It’s one thing to Sy after a seventh goal and a 7-2 win. 7-1 at that point he made it, but you understood the weight on his shoulders after signing that contract and not being able to produce any sort of offense. but he just needed to go back to his old stomping grounds cuz ever since that San Jose game, he has been a finisher and a much needed one at that. I thought he was playing bully hockey in the offensive zone, too. Kind of fitting in with that mentality of the Senators. And it it doesn’t kind of look that way on paper when you see if you’re on the outside looking at a line with Stutsla and Zetterland on it. But those are two competitive physical players that play harder than I think some fans in the NHL, not Sen’s fans, but other fans would give them credit for. So to have Brady on that line, it kind of puts a magnifying glass on what the forche looks like and that second and third layer behind Brady being the F1 on most situations. And I thought that Zetterland and Timmy were very very effective in that game. So, I really want to see more of this. And it looks like they’re just having so much fun playing together. And yeah, you can you can look at this if you’re a Habs fan. And I watched all their postgame uh media availability. They were disgusted by the effort. They were questioning their effort. And if you can’t get up after losing 72 on the road and you get to play at the Bell Center, which will will never take away is is the church of hockey, like that place is is always uh bumping pills. Don’t don’t don’t. Overrated. I know. But don’t do it because I just I see a world where somehow we get offered to go there again and you’re literally going to say, “No, I’m good. I can’t go.” Yeah, I won’t. I’ve I will not go. Where are you most likely to go see a game? more likely Chicago or Montreal. Oh no, you have to go to one of these two barns. Honestly, Chicago. Really? Okay. Yeah. I’m going to keep that in mind. If they play Montreal in the playoffs, we have to go to the Bell Center. No, I won’t do that. Okay. I won’t I’m doing that as a service to the Ottawa Centers community. I’ve only been twice and it’s been terrible. So, look, Montreal, you brought Simone to one of them. That’s a rude move. Yeah, it was it was tough. I mean, it was a birthday present to me and it ended up being uh being a loss. Montreal, great city. Hit hit me up with some good poutine. Uh some good bars and nightife. Schwarzes. Schwarzes. Oh my god, I love it. Little fall walk up Mount Royal. Nothing wrong with that. Also very nice. Yeah, I nothing against the city. Uh, and like I said to Stewie on the postcast, whenever I’m there, Habs fans are always, it’s good fun chirping back and forth. I’ve never been like, “Oh my god, I hate these guys.” It’s Habs fans online that drive me absolutely insane. But in person, they’re great. I love good back and forth banter. Nothing personal, not crossing the line. That’s awesome. Um, but yeah, uh, I will not be going back to the Bell Center uh, for a game with the Ottawa Senators and Montreal Canadians. I won’t. Do you think that you’d feel the same way about the Montreal Canadians if the Ottawa Senators weren’t 113 and one against them in the last 15 games? Yeah. Yeah. Okay. Just wondering. I hate them just as much as I do regardless of the the record. I love that. I love that. Okay. So, the Suns are coming home. Three-game home stand. The CTC. Now, there’s a good barn, Ross. The best barn in the league. and 7 o’clock tomorrow night, the new New York Rangers will be coming to town. Saturday, it’s the St. Louis Blues. And Tuesday, the New Jersey Devils. What are you hoping to see as the Senators come back home? Well, this game up against the Rangers is an interesting one. I won’t say a measuring stick game, Ross, because I think the Ottawa Senators should feel like they’re ahead of the Rangers now. And especially with that Adam Fox injury, that’s a big loss for the New York Rangers. But this is a chance come home, really reset after that long road trip. However, and we’ll get into this more in the game preview, but the Rangers are garbage at home, but very good on the road. 114 and one on the road. So, that’s a team where you got to find a way to stop them and start off your road trip or home stand well. And I don’t see any reason why the Ottawa Centers can’t have success. No. and we’ll wait for updates on the status of Thomas Shabbat in particular tomorrow. I would imagine now at their home there’ll be more media and there’ll be questions about what Thomas Shabbat’s status is cuz it just looked like he reagravated something but I think that’s speculation and there hasn’t been much clarity there. But the SS are going to have to keep it rolling on the back end they have now and big building step and just the confidence that it gives that that group on the back end. Jake Sanderson called it their best toptobottom game as a decor uh of the season and Havands are calling it the worst loss of the season. So I’d say that’s a pretty successful end of the road trip. The Senators have now played four extra road games than home. Of course, that’ll just be down to one after this home stand, but Ottawa just needs to take care of business at home and they should be in a pretty pretty good spot heading into the holidays that are coming up quick, man. like what’s there 12 games left before the Christmas break. It’s going to be kind of a sprint here for the Senators and we’ll see how they can do. It looks like yeah, just about 10 or 11 games left. So, hey, this is going to be quite the the time to move in the standings. It’s so tight right now. Six Metropolitan teams have more points than the third place team in the Atlantic, which is really scary in a sense because you’re just looking at your own division right now. But if you fall out of the top three in your own division, now all of a sudden you’re looking up at everybody. So times are very tight in the National Hockey League right now. And we’ll be with you every step of the way here. The highs, the lows, and perfect way to end the road trip with a 43 and 0 record. You you end it over 500 and and now it’s it’s what can you do in front of the home crowd? Absolutely. Yep. And uh speaking of home crowd, Ross, for my final thoughts, the Belleville Senators are they’re at CIA Arena for a long time here. Already played two games up against the Providence Bruins. Didn’t go well for them, but they got six more games coming up in Belleville, including tonight, a big one up against the Toronto Marlies. Yeah, and the Suns are uh three 0 and one against the Marlies this season. So, they’re looking to bounce back. Tough tough three games in a row where they’ve dropped all three. one in Manitoba, then both to the Providence Bruins, and that was their kind of return home from a road trip. So, I’m looking for Belleville to bounce back. And I’m looking at Carter Yakimchuk, obviously, to see what he can do. And I know plus minus isn’t everything. He’s in all situations. He’s young, but you don’t want to be in the dash double digits. So, let’s uh let’s clean that up a touch and keep producing on the power play and maybe some even strength as well. And we’ll also keep an eye on Arthur Calv. I mean, the guy leads the league in power play goals, shots on goal, he’s number one, and I believe he’s fourth or fifth in points. So, he could be itching to get a call up if and when the Ottawa Senators need it because the sends did send down Hayden Hodgson yesterday. So, we’d expect him to be in Belleville’s lineup. Quick thought on what you saw from Hayden Hodgson in I would say a longer sample size than maybe the sends had expected to give him, but played eight games and was noticeable at times. I like Hodgson. He play he plays his role well. He bangs bodies out there. Uh he’s aggressive on loose pucks and in the forche. No, no problem having him come up for a couple games here and there. Yeah, good luck for Hayden Hodson at the NHL level. Good luck for the Ottawa Senators beating the Montreal Canadians 5-2 but 5 nothing at even strength. We didn’t really mention the penalty kill. It still needs work. There’s your penalty kill strategy update for Brandon Pillar. I’m Ross Levitan. Thank you for liking, watching, listening, and engaging with the show. We’ll be back for a full game day preview tomorrow. This has been another edition of the Locked On Senators podcast. Your team every day.

The Ottawa Senators finish off their road trip with a huge victory!Brandon Piller and Ross Levitan recap the Sens 5-2 win over the Canadiens in Montreal. Brady Tkachuk iced the game with an emphatic goal and the defence as a group were outstanding! We look at an unsung hero in Michael Amadio and how he is so efficient in all the little things. We wrap up with looking ahead to the Sens 3 game home stand.

00:00:00 – Sens Dominate the Habs & Brady Tkachuk’s Impact
00:07:00 – Offense from the Blue Line & Zub’s Highlight Goal
00:15:00 – Michael Amadio: The Secret Weapon & Third Line Chemistry
00:22:00 – Line Combinations & The Top Nine’s Success
00:36:00 – Homestand Preview & Final Thoughts

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