Fight card: Sens v. Panthers, Dec. 8, 2008

Chris Neil v. Tanner Glass, 3:53 second period:



Verdict: I'll give it to Neil. It was a decent bout, but Neil didn't even lose his helmet, and he tore Glass' right off. Neil threw more punches and landed more punches.

It wasn't the first fight between Neil and Glass, either. Here's their first meeting, January 22, 2008:



Verdict: Neil smoked Glass in this fight. Case closed.

Win for the refs: Panthers 4, Sens 3 (OT)

Alright, Sens fans. I don't usually like doing this. It's not usually justified, and when I'm blogging I try to be as non-Homer-ish as possible. When I'm in the stands it's a different story, but I try to at least be reasonable when I'm writing. So I say this without hesitation: The Senators would have won Monday night's game if the referees were better. And I don't mean if the referees were better for Ottawa; if they were remotely equitable, Ottawa would have won the game in regulation.

For instance: One bogus hooking call on Anton Volchenkov. It was a weak call, and you could see the refs discussing it afterwards. But hey, sometimes mistakes happen, and you've just got to make up for it by calling one the other way. But instead of 'evening it up', the refs handed Volchenkov another chintzy call --this one for boarding. And then when Volchenkov steps out of the box Gregory Campbell hooks and trips him on his way to a 3-on-2, giving the refs an easy-peasy even-up call, and they decide not to call it. Nor do they call a trip on Jason Spezza later, nor did they call a slash on Daniel Alfredsson that knocked the stick right out of his hands. I'm not just a bitter fan. Yes, Ottawa had a 5-on-3 for 90 seconds, but those were easy calls, and the way the Sens play on 5-on-3s you'd almost rather have them not call the second penalty. It was a terribly-refereed game.

With that said, though, the Sens weren't their best on the night. Far from it. They started the game ridiculously slow, and were being worked in the defensive end most of the night. The Panthers were missing nine regulars from the lineup, and aren't a great team to begin with. Although Chris Kelly scored what the referee proclaimed a "good hockey goal" to get the Sens the lead, they blew it. Dany Heatley scored an unassisted goal (although Filip Kuba made it happen), restoring the Sens' lead, but they blew it again. So Jason Spezza scored a pretty goal (five in three games now) to make the score 3-2 for the Sens, but--thanks in some part to a weak hooking call on Alex Picard--Jay Bouwmeester scored a powerplay goal to tie the game. The game-winner was a result of a neutral-zone turnover that somehow ended up on Stephen Weiss' stick, and then in the Sens' net. It was a boring first period, but the teams started exchanging chances in the second and third.

Overtime was all Ottawa, but there was no beating Florida 'keeper Craig Anderson. Highlight of the period was a sick cross-ice pass from Alfredsson to Mike Fisher, but the pass--and Fisher's shot--were outshined only by Anderson's post-to-post save.

I was impressed with Volchenkov on the night. He took two penalties, but--as I said--I question the validity of the calls. Oddly enough, as solid as his defensive play was, I actually thought he had a really good game offensively. I never really thought I'd say that about Volchenkov, but I've noticed this year he's joined (occassionally led) the offensive rush, and he's not afraid to take a shot from the point. All without getting caught out of position. Plus he threw an awesome bodycheck on Radek Dvorak.

Although Alex Auld didn't have his best game, he didn't play poorly. He made some great saves, and starting eating rebounds when it became apparent that the Sens' defence couldn't clear the puck to save their lives. And in the end, he stopped a respectable 36 of 40 shots he faced.

Ice-time disparity watch: It was actually pretty equitable. Although the bench was short in the third period, the ice time was somewhat well spread out. Despite that, Alfredsson played 24:29, but he earned every second, and Cody Bass only played 6:22. But the fourth line had a rough game on the night. I think, on a night like tonight with a team as fast as the Panthers were, that line really missed Dean McAmmond. Sure, Jarkko Ruutu is fast and has some skill, but he can't do anything with Chris Neil and Bass along with him.

Strange note: With three unassisted goals in total tonight, there were only 13 of a possible 21 points scored by players. I don't know what that means, but I think it's a little weird.

Sigh. Well, another game lost to a team that Ottawa has the ability to outplay. And they're back at it on Wednesday against the Chicago Blackhawks, a game which--for some reason, despite being the only meeting between two skilled teams--is only televised on TSN2. I don't even know if I get that channel. Anyone know if it's available on Rogers Digital Cable basic package something-something?

Weak: Sens 1, Panthers 3

That was a frustrating game. It's no longer inconsistency between games for the Senators; it's now inconsistency within one game. You've got to wonder how a team can come within a couple shots of a franchise worst shots-for (3 shots, with the record being 1) in the first period (especially after being reamed by their head coach), and then set a franchise best in shots (26) in the third period, a stat the guys on TEAM 1200 mentioned. It really makes you wonder.

I'm not going to try to defend Martin Gerber tonight. Contrary to his effort against Detroit, he didn't do anything to keep his team in the game tonight. The first goal was bad luck, and he had two or three players sitting almost on top of him, but it was stoppable. The second goal was inexcusable; it was a rocket by Nathan Horton, granted, but all Gerber had to do was stand up and play positionally and it would have bounced harmlessly to the corner. The third goal was certainly stoppable, too, even if Cory Stillman was allowed to walk out of the corner right on Gerber. It's going to be hard to win any game with that kind of goaltending.

Beyond goaltending, though, there are problems with this team. One is the work ethic, with different players showing up to play on different nights, resulting in a dysfunctional game. Craig Hartsburg is trying desperately to change this, but this team will be in trouble if his 'accountability' tactics don't work.

A bigger in-game problem, however, is the defenceman: The corps as a whole has become much slower than in recent years, and is rarely able to get pucks cleanly up to forwards. The finesse players on our team are effective when they have the puck, but if every pass is rimmed around the boards, it's pretty easy for opposition players to read and react to that. Bringing Luke Richardson in tonight didn't help mobility, speed, or offensive abilities; questionable move, to be certain. Still, despite Filip Kuba's ongoing assist-streak (six games now!), and Alexandre Picard's potential (potential some people might wonder about after his giveaway tonight), this group definitely needs some help. Big time. I'm not sure how soon Bryan Murray might be able to work out a trade to acquire a player of this calibre, because they're hardly dime-a-dozen, but the sooner the better for this team.

Back to this game in particular: Some individuals looked pretty good. Obviously, good on Kuba to continue his point streak. Antoine Vermette responded to some recent criticism (at least within the blogosphere) by playing a solid game, and leading the Sens with seven shots on net. Although Picard had that one very, very terrible gaffe, he played pretty well on the powerplay and was tied for second on the team in shots (5). Daniel Alfredsson was his standard Alfie, and also had five shots on net.

The line of Jesse Winchester, Nick Foligno, and Jason Spezza looked like it might have something if Hartsburg's willing to give them some more time. Winchester's puck control and ability to work along the boards will have to pay off sooner or later. Foligno took two penalties, both as a result of his high-level of intensity in the game--there aren't penalties you like, but those are penalties you can live with. I was especially impressed with Spezza, who demonstrated some good physicality, a willingness to battle, and he had a few takeaways (although only given credit for one). He responded, and hopefully he keeps it up. Counter that with Dany Heatley, though, who was lacking a certain panache tonight. If they could both get going, and both their lines could get going, then this team would be in a much better situation.

How aggravating is it to see Stillman, who the Sens had every chance to re-sign (I think), score a goal and an assist for the Panthers tonight? At about $3.5M per year, he's really not that expensive, either. Might have been tough to swallow the three-year length, but it sure would have been nice on a night like tonight.

I don't know what to think. Maybe after seeing Alex Auld on Friday I'll have a better idea; I wonder if Gerber is running out of chances with Hartsburg. He's already run out of chances with most Sens fans. I'm hoping Shean Donovan draws back in, because it must be frustrating for Dean McAmmond playing on a line with two brick houses in Chris Neil and Christoph Schubert. Plus he's actually playign the kind of game Hartsburg is asking people to play, so benching him kind of sends the wrong message.

Sens beat Panthers, Leafs in rookie tournament

Anyone who hasn't seen can check out highlights of the Sens' rookie camp victories on TSN.ca, 4-2 over the Florida Panthers rookies and 7-5 against the Toronto Maple Leafs rookies. (Despite finishing so much worse than Ottawa so many years, the Leafs are apparently still unable to assemble any young talent.) The Panthers highlights are up now, and I'm sure the Leafs ones will be up soon.

Against Florida, undrafted rookie tryout candidate Mick Lawrence (who?) scored two goals and an assist, while Shawn Weller added a goal and two assists and Ilya Zubov scored the Sens' other goal. Since the Senators' official press release is seriously lacking, and I can't find a stats sheet anywhere, I turned to the Ottawa Sun, who filled out a bit more scoring details: Jesse Winchester also added two assists, and Bruce Garrioch said he looked "strong". About Lawrence, he seems to have found his game at the University of Nebraska-Omaha in his final year, scoring NCAA career-highs in goals (21), assists (19), and points (it's basic math, come on; 21+19=40 points). If the highlights on TSN were typical, then Winchester, Zubov, and Lawrence were on a line together. Brian Elliott was tending nets for the Sens.

Against Toronto, all I know now is what the Sens' press release says. Forwards Winchester (2G), Zubov (1G, 1A), Alexander Nikulin (2A), and Peter Regin (2A), as well as defenceman Mattias Karlsson (1G, 1A), each had two points. The Leafs were up 2-0 at one point, but the Sens rallied and eventually took the lead. Two goals on three shots in the first period; Leafs goaltending prospect Michael Ouzas must have had a rough game. Jim O'Brien, Benoit Doucet, and Zach Smith also scored for the Senators, while Mitch O'Keefe played in goal.

The Sens' final round-robin game of the tournament is tomorrow at 2 p.m. I wish it was on TV... and that I didn't have to work so I could watch it live.

(P.S. If you're wondering what my player-name tagging technique is, I've only tagged the names of players who are on contracts with the Sens. That's why someone like Mitch O'Keefe is tagged, while Mick Lawrence isn't. Not that anyone cares at all.)

Zednik gets Malarchukked

I guess this is why kids playing hockey have to wear neck guards. Olli Jokinen's skate pops up after he lays a hit, and slices Richard Zednik's neck. This video isn't too bloody, but you can see it looks like it'd be pretty bad.



My title is not an intention to downplay the seriousness of the situation. According to NHL.com, Zednik is in stable condition after having surgery.

Whatever can go wrong...

There is a lot going wrong in Sens land these days. Not to overstate the drama, but with the sub-par play in the last 30 games there are issues that have to be addressed. Although the Sens lost 5-3 to the Florida Panthers on Tuesday, it actually looked like some things were on the turnaround. Maybe it's my eternal optimism, but I saw some good things in the game.

First of all, the secondary scoring. The line of Mike Fisher, Dean McAmmond, and Chris Neil looked pretty solid, and the three each scored a goal. Fisher also took seven shots, and McAmmond fired five. Hopefully that lines sticks together for a while, because they were effective tonight. If Jason Spezza, Daniel Alfredsson, and Randy Robitaille--who has been playing better of late--were able to get their offensive act together, the Sens could have put enough goals past Tomas Vokoun to win the game.

Most damaging to Ottawa in this lost, however, was defensive play. Forwards weren't in position to offer defencemen puck support, and defencemen like Chris Phillips and Andrej Meszaros made uncharacteristically poor decisions to cost Ottawa. When Phillips loses his check as badly as he did on Florida's fifth goal, then a lot is going wrong for this team.

No questions were answered in goal. While Ray Emery made some big saves at times, he also let in some very stoppable shots, and can't allow five goals even if he does face 40 shots. It's unknown which goalie is going to start against Tampa Bay on Thursday, but precedent will suggest it will be Martin Gerber. John Paddock didn't do the goaltenders any favours pulling The Gerber against Philadelphia, and probably should have let him finish the game.

Ice time was pretty equally distributed in the game, which is something I love to see. That's what Bryan Murray did last year, and it allows all players on the team to collectively fight through their slump, instead of 12 guys sitting back as the first-liners are continually thrown out their as the only possible solution to the problems; in the long run, it will benefit the team. Kudos to Paddock for realizing that.

The biggest problem appeared to be the Sens' hesitancy. There were pucks in open spaces, and Sens players looked hesitant to go for it and would choose to try and play defence while the Panthers would skate around them. If the Sens are more deliberate in their actions--easier said than done--a lot of the pieces will begin to fall into place.

I figure I'll mention one final thing. Although Wade Redden finished -3 on the night, I though he had a decent game, and I thought he was alright on Sunday against Philly, too. One thing that has been lost in his defensively questionable season is that Redden is fifth in team scoring, and is on pace for a career-high 47 points this season. Joe Corvo, seventh in team scoring, is also on pace to set a career-high with 41 points. If the Sens' play, and especially the powerplay, picks up in the coming games, these two will be a key part of it. Just something to keep in mind.

Finally! That elusive 17th win

Well, it took seven losses, but the Sens have finally won their seventeenth game. It's about time... I was getting pretty sick of this whole losing thing. It had better not resume again on Friday against the Stars.

The final was 5-4 over the Florida Panthers. Fans everywhere were once again nervous when the Sens surrendered more leads: Up 2-0 (YES!) until Florida tied it 2-2 (shit... ); Then it was 4-2 (alright!), and then 4-3 (AHHHHHHH!), then 5-3 (phew... ), then 5-4 (AHHHHHH!), then over (thank God).

Ray Emery got the win. He looked alright, but not stupendous. He played better than Gerber has in recent games, so he deserves the start on Friday. Strange note: Despite the fact that Emery has helped the Sens earn three of a possible four points in the past two games, his goals-against average has gone up and his save percentage has gone down. But what really matters are the points in the standings, so whatever.

I don't think I've praised Daniel Alfredsson enough of late. Heroic, as Ben stated, on Tuesday against Tampa Bay, and similarly heroic against the Panthers with two assists and making his line with Mike Fisher and Nick Foligno look like a pretty good line.

Speaking of Foligno, he played his best game yet. He looked comfortable, and could have had a couple more points if things had gone the Sens' way.

Randy Robitaille finally did something. He actually played alright, but he still lost at least as many battles as he won, and he's got some work to do to get back in my good books. I still don't think he's earned a spot on the top-line. He's on the right track, though.

Memo to Chris Kelly: Take it easy. Loosen your grip on the stick. Just play typical Kelly style, and things will turn around over time. For a little while, focus on making smart, defensive plays, and when that's going right again, try a little flair offensively.

That ought to tide us over for a week...

Solid game for the Senators against the Panthers on Saturday. It was great to see that neither the previous layoff nor the upcoming layoff were so distracting as to lead to a shoddy effort. The team, although they started a little slow in the first, didn't let their upcoming trip to the Muskokas (the second one in two weeks) become a distraction.

A few notable season-firsts in this game: First goal for Shean Donovan, first points for both Brian McGrattan and Randy Robitaille, first point and then first goal for Christoph Schubert, and, of course, first win for Ray Emery.

Patrick Eaves had an outstanding game. He seems to realize that there is some serious competition, not only for ice time, but even for a roster spot. If he wants to stick around on this team, he'll have to continue this type of play to prove he's a second- or third-line player. He generated quite a few chances, played with an aggressive forecheck, and offered a dandy screen on Schubert's goal. He's also a class act; remember how he was the one Ottawa player standing guard around Dean McAmmond when Deaner was injured? Well, today, he was standing right by David Booth when he injured his neck, talking respectably to Olli Jokinen--probably about how he was reading to sick kids or old people in the hospital last night, or something.

Another player who impressed me was McGrattan. While he certainly looked a little tired in the third period--although he only played 5:16--he made stuff happen. He and his linemates, at the time Schubert and Donovan, had a great shift which ended up drawing a penalty on Ruslan Salei. A few minutes later, McGrattan sped down the wing like I've never seen him skate before, and got a decent shot on net. He threw a solid hit on Ville Peltonen, which also knocked the (terrible, terrible) referee over, which was a bonus. The best play, though, was when Grats entered the zone, dropped the puck for Schubert, and it eventually led to Donovan's goal. Great play; McGrattan obviously realizes he's got to add something to his game, and he's apparently been working on it. He wants that roster spot. I was disappointed he got little ice time in the third; does anyone else believe he might deserve more opportunities?

According to an NHL.com article I've heard about, McGrattan is trying to emulate Chris Neil in a transition from enforcer to power-forward. Well, Neiler had a strong game, too. He made all sorts of plays, including one Savardian spin-o-rama to get around the defence. I just wish he didn't have cement hands so he could score on a few of those. In 14:05 of ice time, he got 3 shots and 3 hits, to go along with an assist on Mike Fisher's goal (which opened the scoring).

As mentioned, Booth injured his neck when he was hit awkwardly by Anton Volchenkov. Although Volchie was assessed a 5-minute major and a game misconduct, I think it was merely bad luck. Booth was trying to cut in on Volchenkov, and the Soviet Hammer couldn't stop himself mid-check. I don't foresee any further discipline; Booth is apparently alright, Volchenkov has no priors, and he's known as a clean physical player. A note on Volchenkov's performance, it was very strong, as he'd recorded one hit, two blocked shots, an assist, and was +2 in only 9:22 before being ejected.

Nick Foligno was also hit into the boards awkwardly, and hurt his neck. He left on his own steam, but didn't come back into the game. The Team 1200 said he'll be fine, which is great news. I just don't understand why there was no penalty on Branislav Mezei for his hit on Foligno, while Volchenkov got 15 minutes for his hit. They looked eerily similar. For the record, it was and obvious accident, and Mezei was out of position seeing if Foligno was okay when Fisher scored only seconds after the hit.

Funny (although extremely stressful at the time) mistake by John Paddock after the Volchenkov penalty was over; because no one was serving the 5 minutes in the box, Paddock must not have noticed the penalty was over, and the Sens ended up playing short-handed for an extra 53 seconds. It was absurd... I tried getting a 'One More Player' chant going, but no one joined me. And for all my voice could muster (seriously, I've lost my voice), Paddock couldn't hear me. Finally, Daniel Alfredsson flipped the puck into the Florida bench to get a whistle, and get things organized.

Speaking of Alfredsson, he was amazing--once again. He scored the butter goal, making it 4-1. I won't write too much, because I'll be writing an entry sometime this week about Alfie. I've got to find something to write about in the week off.

Best player for Florida, aside from Tomas Vokoun: Jay Bouwmeester. He played pretty well, much better than I'd expected. I'll revoke my harsh criticism of Bouwmeester, for now, although I stand by my statement that The Hockey News' rankings were terrible.

And, in case you're wondering, Rayzor played well. When Ottawa started slow in the first, he kept them in the game; they were outshot 7-2 at one point, before pouring it on big time. He also made a solid glove-save, proving his wrist is in good shape. If not for Vokoun's 43 saves, though, this game would have been more of a blowout.

Florida Panthers now extinct

Senators 4 - 2 Panthers

The sens got contributions from all sorts of players, first liners (Spezza and Heatley), 3rd liners (McAmmond) and pine-riders (Eaves), to defeat the Florida Panthers tonight. This means that the Ottawa Senators did not lose a game to the Panthers this year.

Ray Emery was both good and lucky - a potent combination.

With Partick Eaves getting a goal in this game and playing pretty solid overall, I wouldn't expect to see Saprykin any time soon. Why did they acquire that guy?!

Who thinks Dany Heatley will get to 50 this season? I was having my doubts earlier, but sometimes I think he can just score at will (and not just with the ladies). Heater needs 8 goals in 8 games - a reachable goal for a man who recently got something like 21 points in 16 games. In the tradition of Stephen Colbert naming segments that really don't need naming, I will call it: The Drive for Five-ty.

I'm going skiing for a few days, so I'll try to post something from La Belle Province this weekend - if not, I'm sure my fellow bloggers can hold down the fort. I'm looking at you, Scarlett Ice.