Travis Green has found Stützle a winger

Cozens as a winger

Last night in San Jose, it was Cozen’s first night starting as a winger on Zetterlund and Stützle’s line, and it didn’t take long for the success to show. Midway through the opening frame, Stützle set up Cozens for his fourth goal of the season. The former Buffalo Sabre had an irregularly slow start to the season with just three assists in his first eleven games but has been red hot with seven points in his last four games. Interestingly enough, Stützle and Cozens were on the scoresheet together for four of those points. 

In last night’s game, the trio took to the ice for 9:28 at 5v5. In that time, they mustered up 10 shots and a remarkable 78.93% expected goals for percentage. According to Money Puck, their first game together has them ranked as one of the top forward lines across the league with 5.53 expected goals per 60 minutes. Throughout the entire game, Cozens and Stützle accounted for a total of two goals, two assists, 12 shots and four hits. I don’t think you could have asked for a better start for this line. 

Tonight, the Senators will face a rested Anaheim Ducks squad in the latter half of their fourth (yes, FOURTH) back-to-back series so far this season. With a commanding 5-1 win over the San Jose Sharks last night, Green most likely won’t shuffle this line as it proved to be the Senators’ top and most consistent combination throughout the game.  

If Cozens and Stützle can continue to produce offensively as line mates, hopefully they can also unlock Zetterlund’s full potential. Despite Zetterlund having some grade-A chances, the former San Jose Shark can’t seem to consistently find the back of the net. With just one goal and five assists throughout the club’s first fifteen games, the hope is that if this line can continue to heat up, Zetterlund will have no choice but to heat up on the burner as well.