Three Thoughts: Joseph continues to tally points as Reinhardt debuts
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Despite the loss, Mathieu Joseph kept his hot streak going while there was another NHL debut in the form of Cole Reinhardt, as Three Thoughts examines.
Jo keeps scoring
So far in April, there's not a hotter play in the NHL than Mathieu Joseph.
The 25-year-old scored his fourth goal as a Senator in the second period and over his last four contests, all of which have come in April, he has four goals and 10 points.
"He got comfortable pretty fast," Michael Del Zotto said. "His speed is elite and he's done a great job and worked his way up to playing on the first line now. He's been fun to watch and has a lot of enthusiasm in the locker room."
Furthermore, his +9 rating also leads the NHL this month and is followed by teammate Nick Holden (+6) in that category. Nine of his 10 points have come at even strength, also the most in the NHL while his other point came shorthanded.
"These guys are so good," Joseph said of his linemates Josh Norris and Brady Tkachuk. "Brady is an elite passer, Norris is an elite goalscorer. With my speed I can disrupt a lot of things and with these guys' skills take over.
"I'm trying to move my feet as much as possible and they're finding me, I'm finding them, and they're two guys that work extremely hard as well."
Since he was acquired from Tampa Bay March 20, Joseph has been lights out for the Sens. In eight games, he has 11 points (four goals). In 58 games with the Lightning this year, the Laval, QC., native had 18 points.
During his recent streak, Joseph scored his first NHL hat-trick on April 1 against Detroit and that same night, had a career high four points. He also had seven shots that night, the most he's tallied in an NHL game.
Reinhardt makes NHL debut
A couple of illnesses within the Sens camp opened the door for a Cole Reinhardt NHL debut Friday night.
With Drake Batherson and Dylan Gambrell unavailable due to a non-Covid 19 illness, the 21-year-old was recalled on an emergency basis, alongside Mark Kastelic, and immediately stepped into the lineup.
"At the end of the day, it's a process, it's his first NHL game, he's worked down there [in Belleville]," Smith said.
Reinhardt played 8:35 and tallied one shot and two hits. In 60 games with Belleville this year, the Irricana, AB., native has 11 goals and 26 points to rank sixth in team scoring. His 11 goals are tied for fourth alongside Kastelic, Roby Jarventie and Logan Shaw.
He becomes the fifth player this season to make their NHL debut with the Sens alongside Kastelic, Mads Sogaard, Egor Sokolov and Lassi Thomson.
He is the first Brandon Wheat King alumni to make his NHL debut for the Sens since Mark Stone in 2011-12. Reinhardt's junior teammate Ridly Greig is poised to join that group in the near future.
Reinhardt was re-assigned to Belleville Friday morning.
Saros shuns Sens again
The Sens sure are sick of Juuse Saros.
In two games over the span of 10 days, Saros stopped 63 of 66 shots he faced as he backstopped the Preds to a 4-1 win in Nashville on March 29 before Thursday's 3-2 victory in Ottawa.
"We had breakaways, great looks, Saros was the difference tonight," Smith said.
In fact, in six career appearances against the Senators, the Finnish goaltender is 3-0-3. But despite being shunned twice this year, the Sens felt they deserved better.
"Both games against Nashville, I thought we were the better team, we just weren't able to capitalize on our chances," Del Zotto said.
More recently, the Sens have been getting chances. Over their last 12 games, the team has registered more than 30 shots nine times and have averaged 32.1 shots per game over that time span, nearly two more than their season average.
"We have to keep grinding every single night," Del Zotto said. "We've put a real focus on checking and not giving up too much and then we have to be opportunistic."
