On Sunday, November 7 Bobby Butler scored his first professional hat trick. Jim O'Brien scored two goals and the team was pulling for him to get the hat trick too but to no avail. Like I mentioned in another thread, Robin Lehner got his first pro shut-out with a 5-0 win against Syracuse. The top two lines of
Colin Greening-Corey Locke-Bobby Butler and
Roman Wick-Jim O'Brien-Erik Condra
have been on fire lately. Jim O'Brien was hardly noticable last season. Ottawa told him what to work on over the summer and apparently he did just what they said because he sure looks like a different player this season so far anyway. Corey Locke, the leader in points on the B-Sens and second in the entire AHL, said since they put Colin Greening with him and Butler, the chemistry seems to really be working. Greening is pretty good on the forecheck and is able to turn a lot of pucks over with Butler and Locke just waiting for it.
My over all opinion after just a month of the season gone by is that this is a young team but they are working hard and are starting to gel. If they can keep this pace up and the goalies keep helping like they have, they may just be a team to watch this season.
Mike Brodeur came back from a weekend in Elmira, where he only played a partial game and allowed 4 goals on 16 shots, with a set back from the concussion he received on opening day. No telling when he will be back in goal but Barry Brust is more then capable of keeping up with the pace with Lehner thrown in there for good measure.
Next game is tomorrow night (Wednesday). Here's hoping for another win.
