Silver Nuggets: Jason Spezza with yet another fast start

I am sure we are all excited about yet another incredible last minute win. We have now won a game in the last five seconds twice in a five day span. Simply unreal. Jason Spezza wasn't dominant last night, but he did pick up his 8th assist, which leave him fourth in the NHL in assists. His 13 points are also good for third in the NHL. What might surprise you is that Spezza has always had fast starts as Brent Wallace mentioned yesterday.

After the last couple of seasons, there has been a perception that Spezza has struggled in the early part of the season before finishing strong. While that is true for the first half as a whole, in the first ten games, Spezza has been dominant in every season since the lockout.

Here are Spezza's totals in his first 10 games:

• 18 points in 2005-2006
• 13 points in 2006-2007
• 13 points in 2007-2008
• 12 points in 2008-2009
• 8 points in 2009-2010 (however, he had 3 points in game #11)
• 12 points in 2010-2011
• 13 points in 2011-2012

In the first ten games Spezza has played over the last seven seasons, Spezza has an incredible 89 points. What's remarkable is how consistent he has been, being in the 12-13 points range in five of those seven seasons. Injuries among other things have slowed Spezza down over the latter part of the first half at times, but he has undoubtedly been fast out of the gate. I hope this puts to bed the theory that he only racks up the points when the games don't matter. What this also says though, is that Spezza has started like this before and not been able to keep it up. For some reason though, this season seems different to me. He won't hit the 107 points he's on pace for, but I think an 85 point season is doable if he can stay healthy.

Also, yet another plug for our game night against the Panthers on 22 December. We're up to 10-15 people now, so it should be a decent group! If you want in, read this post and email me at the address on my profile.

Links after the jump.

Last game

• Game recap. (Silver Seven, Senators Extra, Ottawa Sun)
• Stats from NHL.com [Boxscore] [Game summary] [Face-offs] [Play by play] [Ice time]
• Advanced stats from TimeOnIce.com. Once again, the Rundblad/Phillips pairing was out for four defensive zone face-offs, while Gonchar/Cowen was out for only the one. However, the Senators outshot the Panthers 14-2 on even strength when Gonchar was on the ice. Everyone had a non-negative Corsi rating tonight except Phillips, but he was alright too. [Corsi Ratings] [Head-to-head ice time] [Zone starts]
• Here is Craig Anderson's post-game video reaction. Someone who can't be bothered to pay attention though? Don Brennan. Constantly looking down at his phone the entire time. (Ottawa Senators)

General Sens News

• The way David Rundblad has been playing, Paul MacLean doesn't feel the need to send him to Binghamton any more. That's going to make for quite a logjam once Matt Carkner returns. Also, Magic Number Seven misses Mika Zibanejad. Aww! Rundblad also reveals Erik Karlsson and the future Mrs. Karlsson were the ones who picked Rundblad and Zibanejad's Halloween costumes. (Ottawa Sun)
• Rundblad isn't the only person who misses Mika Zibanejad. Stéphane Da Costa is also missing his good friend. I am going to go ahead and say it. Mika is not a bad guy like those jerks Mike Fisher and Chris Kelly, right Eugene? (Ottawa Citizen)
• While Da Costa is the only viable option for the second line centre currently in the Senators organisation, there's one name that keeps floating around. Kyle Turris. I literally know nothing about him except he has had pretty good AHL stats and was drafted third overall in 2007. Nichols is pretty big on him and our own Mark Parisi is also very fond of him. However, the Coyotes have said they will not trade his rights under any circumstance. (The 6th Sens)
• The Senators will be holding their skills competition on my birthday! (Ottawa Senators)
• There were no changes in practice today. Keep in mind, tomorrow is an afternoon game at 3:00 p.m. so all of you game day thread people, don't forget to show up! (Bruce Garrioch)
• With Erik Karlsson deleting his account, and Mika Zibanejad being sent back to Sweden, there were no current Ottawa Senators players with twitter. However, Erik Condra and Jesse Winchester have now joined! (Ottawa Senators)
• Binghamton coach Kurt Kleinendorst speaks about Nikita Filatov among other things. He says that Filatov could score ten goals in the next two games, but still might not get called up. He adds that Filatov is down there to work on his game without the puck and be more consistent. I still don't feel Filatov has been given a fair shot yet by the club, but it's good to know he is getting along with Kleinendorst. (Press & Sun-Bulletin)

General Hockey News

• PuckBuddys is a site for gay hockey fans. One of their bloggers, Andrew from Toronto, went to the Ottawa/Columbus game and booed Daniel Alfredsson, but he's still funny. (PuckBuddys)
• Andrew also wrote a piece for the Globe and Mail on bullying and the struggle for acceptance by gay athletes. (Globe and Mail)
• As you may know, the Flyers lost 9-8 to the Jets last night! Ilya Bryzgalov's post-game comments were almost as amusing. Quotes include: "When you have terrible goalies, it's no surprise there are so many goals". Also, "I have zero confidence in myself right now. If you throw a ball instead of a puck, I'm not going to stop it." (Yahoo!)
• Meanwhile Tomas Plekanec scored on his own net on a face-off win. (Yahoo!)

How many points will Jason Spezza get this season?