Thursday night's shootout victory over the Toronto Maple Leafs very much encapsulated the Senators season so far. There was a lack of offence, solid goaltending from Alex Auld, and the sudden realization that WE'RE AS BAD AT THE LEAFS!!Scraping for wins against the Toronto Marlies (and Vesa Toskala) is not a good indicator, but the bottom line is that the good guys won. Daniel Alfredsson and Jason Spezza both went high over the glove of Toskala (scouting report anyone?) to win the game.
Watching the game at a friend's place, I made the comment "Auld is..." then the Leafs take three more shots on net with 25 seconds left in regulation "...cool as a cucumber". The Sens then created their final scoring chance of the game, but still couldn't bury the puck. This team is so dependent on Auld right now, Gerber may only play one or two games before the New Year.
On the other side of the rink, Toskala kept the Leafs in the game whenever the Sens offence flared up like an unexpected-yet-pleasant rash. Still, the impotent effort from the Big 3 show that if the Sens had faced any other team last night, they would have lost - let's not forget that fact.
Coming up, a chance at redemption, as the Sens face the no-longer-last place NY Islanders. The Isles currently sit 11th, the Sens are a mighty 10th place in the East.
Bonus thought: Is anyone missing Chris Neil? Though he is injured, Neil has seemed like a fish out of water in his recent game, unsure if he should be fighting, scoring or shouting at the other team.
Bonus thought #2: Doesn't that guy in the Leafs cap at the bottom of the photo seem extremely uncomfortable with having his photo taken?
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