The Ottawa Senators made forward depth a priority in the offseason, and just over a month into the season, some under-the-radar additions are already paying off.
In his first game with the team, Phil Tomasino picked up his first point of the season with an assist on Saturday in San Jose. The next day, he picked up his first goal of the season when Thomas Chabot’s shot redirected off his hand and into the back of the net in Anaheim.
Already down William Eklund, the Senators lost forwards Warren Foegele and Andre Burakovsky to injury on their current five-game road-trip. Both are expected to miss three to four weeks with injuries, so having depth in Belleville like Tomasino is proving important for the Senators.
On Monday, the Sens also recalled Sammy Blais from the AHL, another forward with over 200 games of NHL experience.
“There’s a lot of good players, that’s why you have an AHL team. Some guys can still play in the NHL, and it’s a good opportunity for us, and I’m going to try to make the best of it,” said Blais after his first practice with the team on Tuesday in Buffalo.
“Just [looking to] play my game, I have a lot of experience in the NHL, so for me, just do what I’m good at in keeping things simple and playing with details, and I think if I do that I’ll be fine.”
Blais, who scored over a point per game with the Laval Rocket last season (posting a statline of 14-24-38 in 35 games) had three goals and seven points with the B-Sens before the call-up.
“It’s been going pretty well,” said Blais. “I think our team down there is doing a good job, some ups and downs a little bit, but I think playing the right way and playing with details, so it’s been fun, and for sure happy to be here.”
Blais skated on the fourth line at practice alongside Stephen Halliday and Hayden Hodgson, as the Senators prepared for the final game of their road trip on Wednesday against the Sabres.
Tomasino, meanwhile, remained on the second line with Shane Pinto and Drake Batherson. Ridly Greig and Tyler Kleven did not skate with the team, absences that Travis Green called maintenance days.
“Both guys have played a lot of NHL games, so we’re quite comfortable with them being in the lineup,” said Green.
“We’ll see where we’re at tomorrow, but I thought [Tomasino]’s given us a few good games, and real confident that Blais can as well.”
