Tuesday, February 5, 2013
Da Costa's opportunity
By Victoria Matiash
The injury to Jason Spezza (back surgery) is throwing the door wide open for several young members of the Ottawa Senators to make an impact. But while Mika Zibanejad and Jakob Silfverberg are being asked to contribute more on offense, 23-year-old Stephane Da Costa may stand to benefit the most. Called up from Binghamton in light of Spezza's injury, Da Costa has the ripe opportunity to cement his position with the NHL club. As suggested by Bruce Garrioch of the Ottawa Sun, if Da Costa can score, he would likely stick around a while.
"He's been playing. He's created offence for (the AHL Senators). He's a player, especially on the powerplay, that can be creative and make some plays," said Sens coach Paul MacLean. "We have an opportunity here to see if he can help us ... He's stronger (than last year), his fitness level is better than it was and his competition has been good. He's been very diligent about taking care of his (game) away from the puck. Those are the things we expect here as well."
Da Costa notched five points in 22 games for the Senators last season.
