2023-09-28 11:15:00
MONTREAL – Mathieu Joseph played a great match Wednesday night at the Bell Center.
With his two goals, one at the expense of Jake Allen, the other once morest Cayden Primeau who came in relief in the second half of the game, the eight shots he fired towards the Habs cage, the differential of plus- 2 that he maintained even if he spent nearly 22 minutes on the ice as leader of the American League club that the management of the “Sens” offered to the fans gathered at the Bell Center, Joseph was the best player from both camps.
And by far.
Mixed with a thousand and one transaction rumors chasing him out of Ottawa to allow the signing of Shane Pinto and that of Josh Bailey who received a professional tryout, did Joseph offer such a performance to demonstrate that he is to stay with the Senators and that he can help them or rather to convince another organization that he can strengthen their alignment?
The 26-year-old forward who is under contract for the next three seasons at an average salary of $2.95 million didn’t like the question.
“I have no control over what happens, but I have control over how I play. I’m a fast guy. I am always willing to give everything for the sweater I wear. I always stay positive around my teammates,” which Joseph paraded as quickly as he skates on the ice.
“I understand the situation. Pierre – general manager Pierre Dorion – and I talk to each other. I like Ottawa, I like the team, because this club is fast, it plays a style that goes well with mine. I like where we’re going, but I can’t say anything more,” Joseph said.
Acquired from the Tampa Bay Lightning with a fourth-round pick in next summer’s draft, Joseph scored three goals and had 18 points in 56 games last year.
On Wednesday, he scored twice with quality shots. The Chambly striker didn’t want to hear any of the compliments associated with his goals.
“Those two goals don’t count because I missed the target on a much better chance later in the match on a play that hurt us a lot. Instead of giving my team a two-goal lead (4-2), I allowed the Canadian to level the odds a few minutes later. This missed goal hurt us,” Joseph fumed.
The Senators head coach was much more lenient towards Joseph. “Mathew only knows one way to play hockey and he demonstrated it once more tonight. He gave us a very strong match with Bailey (Josh) and Kubalik (Dominik). It was not easy, because the high number of penalties broke the rhythm of the match, but this trio was very solid,” mentioned DJ Smith who also passed the sponge on some generous goals allowed by Joonas Korpisalo.
“We had a very young team in front of him. Especially at the blue line. We left him to his own devices far too often. With a tougher lineup in front of him, it’s clear that we won’t be allowing as many high-quality scoring chances as we did tonight. »
The Senators returned to the federal capital by train immediately following the meeting. They will host the Canadian on October 7 as part of the last preparatory match for the two teams.
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