Greig's invaluable "nailgun" game

Zero points, one shot and one hit in 17 minutes and seven seconds of ice time.

It is the kind of stat line on a game’s event sheet that does not automatically draw the eye.

On the ice, however, everything that Ridly Greig did drew attention. That was exactly how he wanted it.

“Yeah, I feel these are the games you live for,” Greig said yesterday morning, describing how he gets amped up for emotionally charged games. “They are a lot of fun to play in with high emotions and high energy in the game. Yeah, that's what makes hockey so fun.”

Hockey is fun when you are a teammate of Greig. If you are Sam Bennett or the Florida Panthers, there is nothing fun about playing hockey against Ridly Greig.

When asked whether these types of games bring out the best in him, Greig wasted no time answering.

“I want to say yes,” he said through a smile. “That's when I'm most competitive, and at my best. Whenever I'm highly competitive and have high energy, that's when I'm playing my best. So hopefully I can bring that tonight.”

When Greig is at his best, he is masterfully walking that fine line. It is not an easy role to handle knowing that everyone on the opposition is hunting you down to hurt. Against a physical lineup that likes to impose itself on the opposition, it can be even more challenging.

His head has to be on a swivel.

Greig was never concerned about the Panthers’ reputation, however.

“We don’t need to worry about them,” he explained. If we play our game and do what we do, we’ll be fine. We've had a good start here, and we don’t need to change much.”

And the agitating pest was at his absolute best last night, getting under the skin of the Panthers. Playing on a shutdown line with Shane Pinto and Michael Amadio, the trio was matched against the Tkachuk brothers and Sam Bennett. The Panthers’ top line was held to three shots on goal and were outscored 1-0 by the Senators at five-on-five.

It is a rare occasion to out-pest Matthew Tkachuk, but that is what Ridly Greig did the entire night. He was physical, he was chippy, and he played no favourites. Whether it was taking liberties with a former teammate in Brady, or delivering a solid hit early in the third period to Dmitry Kulikov that prompted Sam Bennett to avenge his teammate, Greig’s presence was felt all over the ice.

According to Natural Stat Trick’s game log, Greig drew four penalties. Not only did that represent a career-high for him. It was tied for the top mark in the league this season.

His efforts earned the praise of his teammates in their postgame comments.

“You see guys stepping up to each other,” Tim Stützle said while describing his team’s buy-in. “We had a lot of nail guns out there tonight. They were great. (Ridly) was unbelievable and (Nick Cousins) probably played his best game of the year.”

Jake Sanderson echoed those comments.

“A lot of guys did a great job staying positive,” Sanderson stated. “Ridley just had an unbelievable game and a huge fight. Even Hodgson too, just getting it started. When you see that from the bench, it fires you up for sure.”

Travis Green expanded on Greig’s night in his own media availability.

“He was awesome,” the coach praised. “He really was. In certain games from the outside, (Ridly) you know, he looks like an average player, but when the temperature gets turned up, and the heat's on, it's a hard game to play. There aren't many guys you want on your side more than Ridley Greig, because he can play it any way you want.”