A split-squad Saturday
The Ottawa Senators iced two lineups on Saturday, September 26, and both had something to show for it. The team's 'A' squad won 4-3 at home against Montreal, while the 'B' squad kept things close on the road in a 4-2 loss to the Canadiens.
In the home game, Drake Batherson put Ottawa ahead 2-1 with a power-play one-timer from the left circle at 10:31 of the second period. Montreal's William Eklund answered in the third, breaking a tie midway through the period on the power play to hand the Canadiens the win in that contest. In the road game, Chris Kreider scored his first goal with Montreal in the Canadiens' 4-2 win over Ottawa's B squad.
Stanley making his case
One of the clearer storylines from camp is 21-year-old defenceman Hoyt Stanley, the Senators' 108th overall pick, who is heading into his first full season of professional hockey. Stanley finished with one block and a minus-2 rating in 13:48 of ice time on Saturday.
Senators coach Travis Green singled him out afterward, saying "(there's) a couple young players that have kind of gotten better as camp's gone on and he's one of them." "To see him through training camp step up and get the job done like that, I mean, all the credit to him," Chabot said.
Yakemchuk's goal
Defence prospect Carter Yakemchuk also had a moment worth watching. On a power play, he accepted a centring pass from Andre Burakovsky, shimmied slightly to the middle of the ice for a better angle, then ripped a wrist shot blocker-side past Montreal goaltender Jakub Dobes.
Other camp battles
Forward Philip Tomasino continued to push for a roster spot, finishing with four shots and drawing a hooking penalty in the game. Defenceman Ben Hutton, in camp on a professional tryout, is also among the veterans looking to earn a contract.
Not everyone suited up Saturday. Shane Pinto, Artem Zub and Warren Foegele were held out of both games, while Jake Sanderson and Andre Burakovsky left the Saturday game partway through.
What led here
Saturday's split-squad games came days after the Senators reshuffled their goaltending depth. The team traded for goaltender Jonas Johansson on Friday, hours after waiving Leevi Merilainen, who was placed on waivers Thursday following a rough outing against Toronto. Tomasino's push for a roster spot also follows a strong showing earlier in camp, where he skated alongside Shane Pinto and Nick Cousins.
With the regular season opener against Toronto set for October 3, camp battles like Stanley's and Tomasino's are likely to keep sorting themselves out over the next week.
Sources: Ottawa Citizen (via Yahoo News Canada), NHL.com
