It was bound to happen eventually, and personally, I was hoping they would make it to the twenty game mark, but alas the streak is over! Overshadowing their comeback win against the mighty Bruins last night was the fact that the Ottawa Senators had more power plays than their opponent for the first time this season, a mere 19 games (or 23% of the season) in to the 2013-2014 schedule.
This landmark accomplishment was in doubt, even late in the 3rd period. With just over 3-minutes to play, and the power plays notched at one a piece, Dennis Seidenberg knocked Bobby Ryan out of the game with an elbow to the face. With the stance set by the league on headshots, especially illegal ones involving an extended elbow with the head as the principle point of contact, the debate amongst most fans would be whether Seidenberg would receive a 5 minute major and a match penalty, just a 5 minute major, or maybe a more lenient double minor or minor penalty. Those who have watched all 19 Senators games this season would have correctly predicted the actual outcome: No penalty.Following the precedent set by this non-call, Jarome Iginla then decided to make a similar hit on the very next play, throwing his shoulder into the head of Cory Conacher. Iginla was justified in questioning the call, given that it was much less dangerous than that of Seidenberg, but you could give the benefit of the doubt to the officials in recognizing that they missed the first one, and tried to make it up with this one.
So the Senators have a 100% winning record in games where they receive an advantage in powerplays. If that trend holds, that is 4 wins over the course of the season. Cue the Woo Hoo music!
UPDATE: I made light of the Seidenberg elbow because it seemed like a given that a suspension was inevitable. After waiting all day, it is now confirmed that despite it being: 1) An illegal hit using an elbow 2) A hit that targeted the head, 3) The head of the opponent was the principle point of contact, and 4) an injury resulted from the hit; Dennis Seidenberg will face absolutely no disciplinary action. I was puzzled by the decision to suspend Eric Gryba in last year's playoffs, but I thought it would at least clear up what was suspendable in the future. I am now really starting wonder which Ottawa Senator slept with Gary Bettman's wife.
