Coming off an impressive victory against the Detroit Red Wings on Tuesday night, the Senators continued their homestand as they hosted the Minnesota Wild. While both teams have had a good start to the season, the Wild came into Ottawa without one of their best offensive players, Zach Parise. 

The Senators played well on both sides of the puck, and took full advantage of the Wild playing shorthanded. The Senators exploited Minnesota in the second period as they went on to score two goals jumping to a 2-0 lead.  The Senators opened the scoring up midway through the second period as a great forecheck from the MacArthur-Turris-Ryan line caused a beautiful passing play from Karlsson, Ryan, and ultimately MacArthur who hammered it home. A few minutes later, the impressive 'rookie' line showed their worth as Mike Hoffman scored on a savable wristshot that Wild goaltender Niklas Backstrom had trouble with. 

While the Senators have had trouble in the past holding leads, the third period just served to be a continuation of the second period. The Senators tallied another goal coming off the stick of Mike Hoffman once again, and that served to be the dagger as the Senators went on to defeat the Wild 3-0. 

Game Thoughts:

- Craig Anderson was sensational in net tonight. Anderson has looked solid in net the past two games, and has alienated himself a bit from backup, Robin Lehner. For the time being, at least. 

- Clarke MacArthur is on a hot streak for the Senators tallying five goals in the past five games. MacArthur has really looked great in his stay with Ottawa, and has been the anchor of the MacArthur-Turris-Ryan line.

- The Wild were on the penalty kill far too often in this game. While, Ottawa only cashed in once on the night, putting yourself at a disadvantage that often is never a good sign. 

- The Senators were outshot tonight 35-17. They have been outshot just about every game this season, and while the team earned the win, you have to wonder how much more the Senators goalies can endure. They are human, after all. 

- The Hoffman-Lazar-Stone line has been everything the Senators could've asked for and more. These young players who are spending their first actual season in the NHL have found chemistry with each other developed in Binghamton and produced for Ottawa. Lazar, who had just been told he would stay with the team past his ten-day rookie window, has been the catalyst on that line, and there has been little error on his side. Lazar has been a blessing for the Senators. 

- While Jared Cowen is far from what Ottawa envisioned when they signed him to an extension two summers ago, Cowen has made strides to improve in his recent games, and while they aren't big strides, they're steps in the right direction to say the least. 

- Erik Karlsson has really embraced his role as Captain through the team's first 12 games. The team has shown fight, and the team is off to a great start at 7-3-2. 

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The Senators will continue their homestand as they host the Winnipeg Jets on Saturday night as the Wild continue their road trip on Saturday as they take on the Montreal Canadiens.