The SBP Archives - Your less than frequent dose of SBP!

Losing Jason Spezza has been a blessing in disguise.

Even when the Sens struggled earlier in the season, Murray never considered separating Spezza and Dany Heatley. Through thick and thin, every player on the roster would not be considered inseparable from any one teammate, but no. 15 & 19 would always be kept intact.

Spezza got injured, and they needed to adjust. Chris Kelly was a 4th line centre last season and this year was moved to the wing to give Heatley and Spezza the defensive "responsibility" that was lacking (and to cover up for Spezza's turnovers, althought he doesn't do that as much as before...). So Murray decided to challenge Kelly and give him the #1 centreman role, and to give him even more support, Daniel Alfredsson was put back on the top line and they were counted on to provide the offence.

They answered the call.

The knock on the Sens has been they can't win close games and they can't come back when they are trailing behind. But the way they have played in their last 7 or 8 games have shown a new side to them. A good summation of their recent play would be their victory over the Maple Leafs last Saturday. It looked like it was over when Toronto got the 2-1 lead with 6 minutes left in the third. Lo and behold, Kelly drives to the net with 2 minutes left and ties it up. Overtime comes, and Heatley finds a charging Chris Phillips and they take the win OT. Kelly had 1 goal and 2 assists that night and probably played his best game as a Senator.

Heatley has averaged about 1.5 points since Spezza left. He can sometimes be accused of floating a little, depending on Spezza to pick up the puck and set him up for the goal. But I'm sure Murray has told Heater he'll need to drive to the net and work harder for puck possession in his absence. Heatley was named 2nd star of the week today as a result of his improved play.

So when Spezza returns, along with Mike Fisher and Antoine Vermette, Murray can experiment with the lines a little. Maybe Spezza can find chemistry with Schaefer or Comrie and make another line a legitimate scoring threat. In any case, because the injuries have forced a stronger work ethic in Ottawa, we are seeing a far better hockey club than the one we witnessed just before. They had the talent already, but the determination inside them has been tapped into.