Jacques Martin returned to the team he called his own for nine years on Thursday night, as the Florida Panthers pulled into the Corel Centre for their first game in Ottawa with Martin behind the bench.
As the puck dropped the Senators put up a short note on the video screen at the Corel Centre which said; "Thanks for nine great seasons, Jacques." A sentiment that was echoed by the 18,650 at the Corel Centre with a loud and heartfelt ovation.
And then the family reunion ended and the Sens went to work. Perhaps it was all that good karma in the building, as the Panthers more than held their own for the first two periods of the game. But in the end, the new era for Jacques as a visitor in Ottawa, would be watching the new look Senators do what they have done most of this season, score goals and score quickly.
Ottawa exploded for four third period goals as they defeated Martin's panthers 4-1, Sens Captain Daniel Alfredsson claimed a new record for himself on Thursday, that of scoring the two quickest goals in a Senators uniform. Alfredsson scored his 17th and 18th of the season midway through the third period, the two goals came 20 seconds apart, eclipsing the record held by Mark Lamb by 11 seconds, a record that held since 1993.
With that it was farewell to Jacques, his new team losing yet another game, their tenth in a row. While his old one heads in a different direction, continuing on a roll that's making believers out of the fans in Ottawa and around the NHL.
No comments:
Post a Comment