When pretty much all of the Senators’ best players succumbed to injury, the natural reaction for many was to write off this shortened 2013 season and hop aboard the tank. And really, who could blame us?

We expected the team to have a difficult time scoring without the likes of Milan Michalek, Jason Spezza and Erik Karlsson - and they have dutifully lived up that astute assumption (1.77 GF/G the last nine games). But I'm not sure anyone expected the team defense to hold the fort as well as they have.

Bishop and the Lehner have stepped in seamlessly to replicate Craig Anderson’s gaudy first half numbers.The defencemen and forwards have done an admirable job clearing pucks, and keeping shots on the outside. Also Eric Gryba is routinely playing 20+ minutes and yet the Sens have continued to bank points, somehow.

For a team that spent the past two seasons sporting the 24th highest goals against per game rate (GA/G) in the NHL (2.99 in 2010/11 and 2.88 in 2011/12), coming into this afternoon’s game against the Islanders, Ottawa has allowed 1.81 GA/G; good enough for the league’s second best mark.

The style responsible for their recent success is a definite contrast to the exciting run and gun 11/12 Senators - fronted by the league's fourth-best offence. The team at present is essentially Nashville but less talented. They're staying in games with stingy defensive hockey that hasn’t been seen around the nation’s capital since the days of Jacques Martin behind the bench staring up at the clock. (though I'm sure Jacques could do without some of the shots against totals of late)

After a morning hearing, Brendan Shanahan, the NHL's Director of Player Safety suspended Harry Zolnierczyk four games for his hit on Mike Lundin.

Shanny's explanation:

"As the video shows, as Lundin carries the puck through the neutral zone, Zolnierczyk comes onto the ice for a line change. As Lundin enters the offensive zone, he cuts to the middle and dishes the puck to his wing. Zolnierczyk, who has Lundin lined up, moves in for the hit. However, instead of delivering a hard, legal check, he launches prior to the check, making significant contact to Lundin’s head; this is charging.

In all areas of the ice, players still have the responsibility to keep their head up and expect to be checked. But, what no player should expect is that his opponent will launch upward, off the ice and into his head.

 It is important to note that although Lundin is bracing for the hit and trying to minimize its force by stopping. It does not significantly change his position prior to this illegal check. What’s more, while we often see players lift up off of the ice after delivering a check as a result of the impact, this is not one of those cases. Zolnierczyk launches before contact is made.”

It's a tough break for Lundin, who has clearly struggled to find a place in the lineup, and then gets knocked out after 53s of TOI in his return after a few successive healthy scratches. Hope his whiplash isn't too major.

With 7:31 left in the third period, the 40-year old Daniel Alfredsson was ejected from a National Hockey League game for the first time in his NHL career.

The event occurred when Chris Phillips skated back to the redline to collect a puck that the Flyers had chipped out of the defensive zone. After retrieving the puck in the area between the bench but inside the redline, Phillips dumped the puck back into the Flyers’ zone before absorbing a hit from the side by Zac Rinaldo, a player best known for his using a mirror to take pictures of himself.

Phillips was not hurt on the play, but Alfie, as any good captain should, took issue with the hit on a vulnerable player. A crosscheck upside Rinaldo’s cranium later, Alfie accumulated 15 minutes in penalties; establishing a new career high and registering his first match penalty.

Alfie has had misconducts before: 

- In Game Two of the 1998 Eastern Conference Semifinals versus Washington, Alfie received a holding the stick penalty with his team down 5-1 with 8 minutes left in the third period and a 10-minute misconduct for arguing the call with the referee.

- He also received a 10-minute misconduct during the December 23^rd game versus the New York Rangers when teammate Martin Havlat was slapped with a two-minute holding penalty.

But never a game misconduct. 1152 games, 420 goals and 1093 points into a NHL career, it's hard to believe that there are benchmarks left for Alfredsson to accomplish during the regular season, but yesterday was a first for his storied career. 

The only Senators prospect left in Europe (Прости, Никита) has turned a few heads this year. With a solid World Juniors and an exceptional first half of the year with SEL-2 team Mora, the Swede quickly started to look like something way better than a 7th rounder.

So much so that some hardware is coming his way. The 'Best National Team Player in HockeyAllsvenskan' award, that is handed out on very vague grounds to anyone in the league that has represented his nation in any way, shape or form. At least the jury provided an explanation.

"Mikael Wikstrand provided a splendid performance at the World Junior Championship in Russia and was named the best defenceman by the Swedish coaches. Mikael had the best +/- rating on the team and was a contributing factor to the Junior Crowns making it to the final. He is very valuable to his team with his maturity and decisiveness."

A somewhat more prestigious award was handed out tonight, local time, when the annual 'Golden Cage' award is presented to the best junior player in the league. Wikstrand was a finalist for that award as well, but fell short to Capitals prospect and recent first-rounder Filip Forsberg.

Wikstrand has put up 23 (11+12) points in 42 games this year, but only 3 of them in his last 22 games.

With the Senators winning five in a row and going 5-1-0 since Erik Karlsson's injury, it was only a matter of time before Senators GM Bryan Murray made an appearance on the FAN590. 

I've transcribed the eleven minute interview below, but for those who would prefer to listen to it, you can listen to it here, or by streaming the embedded audio below.

As always, my thoughts are in bold. 

This afternoon @mixmastermatt unearthed a video filmed in 2010 that features members of the Cornell men's basketball and hockey teams dancing to Beyonce's "Single Ladies".

The video was done to create awareness for Cornell's Duff Ball - a fundraising event that directs all proceeds to the United Way. 

Jeff Foote, Ryan Wittman and Louis Dale represented Cornell basketball while Brendon Nash, Joe Scali and the Ottawa Senators' own Colin Greening were the hockey players who participated in the video. 

And now we get a little insight into how Greening almost had a 4.0 GPA. If he put this much effort into learning the choreography, it's pretty easy envisioning him burning the midnight oil in in the library. 

I hope Greening starts doing this every time he walks into a room.