Wow, what an exciting game that was to watch. One of the best regular-season games I've watched in a while... just awesome, this matchup between the best did not disappoint (except maybe some Wings fans).
Just about every Sens player was on his game Saturday against Detroit. Head and shoulders above everyone else, though, was Daniel Alfredsson. He played like a man possessed, and he earned his two goals through his hard work. I'm proud to say that I started an "AL-FIE" chant after he'd scored what turned out to be the game-winning goal. He finished -1 on the night, but it's one of the times where the +/- stat is nowhere near indicative of the value a player had; the two power-play goals he scored don't count in calculating +/-.
Mike Fisher also had an incredible game last night for the Sens. He blew by Chris Chelios to give the Sens their 2-0 lead in the second, and he was pivotal for the Sens. Over the night, he played over 22 minutes, had the goal, and assist on the game-winner, five shots, three hits, and blocked a shot to boot.
The entire d-corps played well, especially Chris Phillips and Anton Volchenkov (although that mustn't be a surprise at this point). Luke Richardson had limited ice time, and Christoph Schubert played a lot of defence when the Sens were on the PK, making only one bad decision I can think of (going for a big hit instead of covering his man, costing a scoring chance). Joe Corvo was visibly angry during the game, but it didn't negatively affect his game and he got four shots through and the other assist on Alfie's game-winner.
Almost a third of Chris Kelly's ice time and over a quarter of Antoine Vermette's was on the penalty kill, and it's great to see this pair really get back to their solid play defensively. Kelly was playing with an edge all game, and gave Dallas Drake a solid shot, but he didn't cross the line and cost the Sens with a penalty. It was his best game in a little while, likely because he kept things simple.
Ray Emery played a solid game. The Sens did a good job defensively to keep his way clear, but Rayzor was there when he needed to be in the first and second periods, and neither of the goals can be said to be his fault.
Dany Heatley left in the third with a shoulder injury, and I haven't seen anything saying he won't be playing tonight against the Islanders. While I want to see him, I hope there's no rush in case a mild injury gets worse.
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