Tip of the Hat / Wag of the Finger

I think I could drink a whole pit of coffee and not think of a single especially interesting storyline for tonight's game against the Boston Bruins, when compared to the Ottawa Senators' last game against the Nashville Predators. That game is still stuck in my mind. Too bad they lost.

And it's hard to say that results are not mixed when your team climbs back into a game that they were down 3-0, and manage to lose 6-5.

Tip of the Hat:

Philchenkov:
Each of them scores about three goals a year, and it's safe to say that Chris Phillips and Anton Volchenkov have never scored a goal in the same period. They were +4 and +3 respectively on the game as a whole. That's to say nothing of their defensive contribution so far this year, which has been outstanding.

Jason Spezza:
With three assists against the Predators, Spezza effectively shut up Nick Kypreos and everyone else that was questioning his offensive contribution. (C'mon people, he always has twice as many assists as goals by the end of the season.) The media hoard has moved onto Jonathan Cheechoo now--I'm sure they're just checking names off the roster.

Nick Foligno:
He certainly had his most visible game of the season against the Predators, being both offensive threat and effective pugilist. His penalty trouble came at the worst time in the game, but that can be forgiven if he maintains this pace.

Wag of the Finger:

Matt Carkner:
He made Bryan Murray look like an ass by coming up with his worst performance of the year immediately after signing that nice new contract. He was ineffective as an aggressive hockey player and slow on defence. Sorry Matt - better is expected of full-time NHL defencemen. PS: He was a game-worst -4 vs the Preds (Hat Tip to Anonymous commentor in last blog).

Pascal Leclaire:
I'm as big a PL fan as anyone on earth (planned tattoo: "PL 4 Life or 'till 2012! woo!") but allowing three goals in the first period is unacceptable. I know, I know: the Sens were playing like total crap, but that doesn't excuse a goalie letting six goals get past him. I fully expect him to be back on track tonight against the Bruins (edit: Apparently Elliott gets the start in net tonight. Thanks commentor!), but if he lets in three during the first period, no amount of magic-goal-light-on-ice will save the Sens.

Jonathan Cheechoo:
Just score one goal. Please.

If you're a Twitterer, send me your thoughts during tonight's game @sensarmyblog

Welcome, Zdeno Jr.

Will there be any forwards on the Ottawa Senators come 2011-12? Not if Bryan Murray's ingenious drafting comes to fruition.

Naw, I'm just yanking BM's chain. The Sens continued their recent trend of using their first-round pick on blue-chip defenders by taking 6' 5" Jared Cowen with the ninth overall pick in this year's draft.

It seems that Murray's trying to cover all the bases on the blueline now, with an ample amount of puck-moving defencemen (cue eye roll) he's gone after the big-body presence that has been missing since... well... that other tall guy left for greener pastures. (I hate Redden so much!)

But just because Cowen's a big player doesn't necessarily mean he'll be hitting people all over the ice. Sens fans are all too familiar with big bodies who couldn't hurt a fly. For instance, Filip Kuba (6' 4" and 226 pounds) is roughly the same size as Cowen, but wouldn't hit an opposing player to save his overrated life.

The Senators', however, do need somebody to log major minutes in upcoming seasons. With Chris Phillips (31) getting older and Anton Volchenkov (27) becoming a free agent after the 2009-10 season, somebody's going to have to be on the ice while Brian Lee, Chris Campoli, Erik Karlsson, et al. save up all their talent juice on the bench.

Late last night, the Ottawa Citizen reported (overheard, I suppose) that Murray and Leafs' GM Brian Burke had a quick conversation on the draft floor (anybody else see this article?). Murray stated that he intended to draft Nazem Kadri with the ninth pick, and asked Burke if that was who the Leafs would select with pick #7. Burke said 'yes'. Murray replied, 'okay,' and walked away.

So I suppose this defensive drafting philosophy is more a product of circumstance than design after all.

...and whatever happened to Mike Comrie?

General Lee break down

I had a good feeling about this game for some reason. I think it had something to do with the fact that the Sens hadn't played the Sharks in a long time, and that since everyone now presumes they will lose every game, the team has nothing to lose--every two points are an unexpected bonus.

Of course, they did lose 2-1 to the Sharks, but I'm going to be optimistic about the game. A 2-1 loss to the top team in the western conference isn't that bad, is it?

Recently, it seems that momentary mental lapses have kept the Sens from winning the game. In past games, it's been the first 20 minutes of the game (see: game vs Vancouver), and this time it was a second period penalty kill. Brian Lee, you sloppy rookie. We expect this sort of thing from Jason Spezza, but not from The General!

Speaking of Jason 'deke through everyone, get to the front the net and then pass off to someone 25 feet away from the crease instead of taking a shot that might very well go in in tonight's game vs the shark' Spezza. TAKE THE FREAKING SHOT!!

Overall, the Sens seemed to have have a structured offence and defence this game. Clouston's system seems to be a system worth following. Still, Chris Phillips makes me nervous whenever he's supposed to be covering someone in front of the net. Auld looked good and the coach should stick with him while he's hot. What have the Sens got to lose? (As I already established, nothing. Nothing but John Tavares).

Turning point: Lee double-minor

Tomorrow's Ottawa Sun headline: SHARK ATTACK!!!!111ONEONEeleven

Harsh reminder of poor decisions: The team that Sharks wanted to trade Marleau to a couple years ago: The Sens. The player they wanted in return: Wade Redden. sigh.

If I should fall behind: Habs 5, Sens 3

The Senators had every reason to come out strong on Saturday afternoon. Ever-decreasing opportunities to make up ground in a playoff race. A chance to make up two points on a team that the Senators' would likely have to bypass. Their captain, Daniel Alfredsson, making a heroic return from a broken jaw. But it was all for nothing, and the Canadiens' Alex Kovalev--also returning to the lineup, but for an altogether different reason than Alfie--took over the game in the first, getting three points on four goals in the game's first 27 minutes.

The Habs came out strong in the first, and it didn't help that the Sens gave them three powerplay opportunities in that period--and Montreal capitalized on two of 'em, with goals from Tomas Plekanec and Mathieu Schneider. Their even-strength goal came from Kovalev, off a turnover from Chris Kelly, weak coverage by Chris Phillips, and poor positioning on the part of Brian Elliott. Ells was pulled after the third goal in favour of Alex Auld.

Shean Donovan tried to get his team going with a fight early in the second, but it didn't quite have the desired effect. On their fourth powerplay, Patrice Brisebois scored to put the Habs up 4-0. It would turn out to be the game-winning goal.

Jarkko Ruutu scored a minute after Brisebois, and a couple minutes after that Dany Heatley scored his first of the game--it looked like the Senators may have been on their way back into the game. But Mathieu Dandenault scored off a juicy Auld rebound late in the second, and not even another Heatley goal in the third could get the Sens back into it.

Special teams were the story. Montreal's powerplay went 3-for-4, and their penalty kill was 6-for-7. That, in the end, did the Senators in on the night. Ottawa outshot the Canadiens 47-32, including a game-high seven from Heatley as well as five from each of Filip Kuba and the recently-reacquired Mike Comrie, but Jaroslav Halak was up to the task for the Canadiens. As good as Kovalev was, Halak was the Habs' best player on the night.

Another disturbing stat? Ottawa had 16 giveaways (Jason Smith had a team-high four of them), and only five takeaways. Tough to balance those numbers.

The good news for the Senators is that both Comrie and Chris Campoli played very well in their debuts. Campoli, obviously, had the more notable first game with a couple of assists, and he was one of only four Senators on the plus side of the ledger (only Heatley, Alfredsson, and Jason Spezza were also pluses). But Comrie played with plenty of intensity and made some chances, and looked pretty good as well.

Ottawa's got two more shots at the Canadiens this season. Although the nails are about as close to hammered into Ottawa's coffin as they can be right now, it would be nice to play spoiler a little bit more.

No Surrender: Sens 5, Wild 3

(That sure would have been a nice game to have on TV; thanks a lot, CBC. You're real champs. One of these days, I ought to check one of the the live streams available for untelevised games, such as those regularly on The Senate Committee. Oh well, not many games this season have been worth it. Live and learn.)

Does everyone else remember this team? You know, the one from late 2006-07 that was exciting to watch, and--even after going down 3-0 to a defensive juggernaut like the Minnesota Wild--didn't stop pushing and used their offensive firepower to bully their way back into the game and win it? I remember this team now, although I'd almost forgotten it. I remember how much fun it is to follow.

On Saturday, the Sens went down 3-0 in the first period as Brian Elliott allowed all three goals on 12 shots, and was yanked in favour of Alex Auld. The first goal was a bit weak, the second was likely stoppable, but the third was a complete defensive breakdown and Elliott had little to no chance. Still, he was yanked--probably to wake up the team as much as in reflection of his play--and Auld was solid stopping all 17 shots he faced for the rest of the night.

On the offensive side: Five different goal scorers; Hello, secondary scoring. Two goals from defencemen; Hello, offence from the defence. Brian Lee started the comeback with a wrister from the point, Antoine Vermette brought the Sens within one thanks to a pass from Chris Kelly, and Chris Phillips scored the nicest goal of his freakin' career on a short-handed two-on-one rush. Streaking down the left side with Daniel Alfredsson carrying the puck on his right, Phillips received the pass around the hash marks, cut in front of Niklas Backstrom, and tucked a backhander between Backstrom's legs. I'm pretty sure Backstrom thought he was going to shoot all the way, just like everyone else did--but Phillips surprised us all and, according to post-game interviews, surprised himself too.

It was a tie game going into the third, and Jarkko Ruutu took an early interference penalty to give Minnesota a chance to go ahead. Instead, Ottawa parlayed another short-handed two-on-one with Alfredsson and Mike Fisher coming onto Backstrom, and this time the captain elected to shoot and, although Backstrom got a piece of the shot, it trickled in anyway. Dany Heatley got his thrid goal in two games into an empty net.

We've also got Vermette on a run right now, with 5 points (3G, 2A) in that last four games, for nine goals on the season. It's nowhere near the 20+ goals and 50+ points that was expected of him, but it's a needed and appreciated approvement from the point of view of Sens fans.

Anyway, wow. I saw the Sens were down 3-0 early on a scoreboard ticker, and I figured that the Cory Clouston bubble had burst; it was fun, but not going to last. Then the team had their most impressive comeback of the season, and ended up winning their fourth in a row, the first time they've strung together such a streak in over a year. It sure is nice to look forward to reflecting on a game, rather than dreading it.

On a completely unrelated note, has anyone ever watched Hockey Night in Canada in Punjabi on Rogers 401? What a fun thing to do. I recommend it to anyone who has the opportunity next time it's available, even (especially?) if you don't understand Punjabi.

(EDIT: Oh yeah, and anyone who's keeping track of the Bruce Springsteen song-title contest between this blog and Black Aces, you've now seen the following: No Surrender, Workin' on a Dream, and Prove it all Night here with Jeremy countering with Hungry Heart, Glory Days, and Radio Nowhere. Good times. Any song requests? I hope Springsteen writes a song called 'Sens win the Stanley Cup' soon so we can both use it.)

Reasons to be optimistic

Against the Bruins last night, the Senators showed some life. It could be the fact that Cory Clouston has implemented a more forechecking-focused style, or it could be the fact that the Sens now seemingly have nothing to lose anymore. In any case, there was reason to be optimistic following the 4-3 shootout loss to the Boston Bruins.

First of all, the Bruins are by far the best team in the Eastern conference, and the Sens gave them a run for their money. Between Pierre McGuire incessant audible droolings over Zdeno Chara and his evoking of the constant (boring, repetitive) irony that he used to play for Ottawa, Jason Spezza and Nick Foligno did some of that... what do you call it.... goal-scoring?

Brian Elliot was stellar for most of the game. If not for Chris Phillips and Anton Volchenkov forgetting to be anywhere near Boston forwards in front of the Sens' net, Elliot would have been the hero of the match. Could he really be the future of the franchise? (Let's wait and see if they buy him out after leading us to the Stanley Cup Finals first...)

Spezza seemed incredibly happy and relieved after he scored in the third period last night. He's not typically the guy to shout and raise his fists in the air and shake them vigorously. It seemed like that goal meant something to him.

One more thing: THREE TIME?! YOU SHOOT LOW GLOVE-HAND THREE MOTHAFLIPPIN' TIMES?! I don't know what the scouting report said on Tim Thomas, but after getting stopped twice on low, glove-side shots, I think you should try a freaking deke for God's sake. That was the point in the game that I was most disappointed in the team. The Sens goal-scorers left their rookie goalie out to dry, giving the Bruins chance after chance to end the game.

Heroic (though not particularly pretty) penalty-killing in overtime helped the Sens get to the shootout, so that's a plus. And of course, a couple of incredibly stupid penalties allowed the Bruins to tie the game. But's let's not overshadow a little bit of optimism.

The Sens take on Buffalo on Saturday night. Let's hope the positives keep up, and Phillips rediscovers how to lift a stick in front of the net.

Schubert and Smith scratched against New Jersey

According to the Ottawa Sun, both Jason Smith and Christoph Schubert are going to sit out tonight's game in favour of younger, more offensively-minded teammates. With tonight's game coming against the young and speedy New Jersey Devils, it looks like coach Craig Hartsburg is trying to fight fire with fire.

Although Schubert is probably used to the whole benching thing, Smith was visibly disappointed, the story said:

"Obviously surprised and disappointed," said Smith, who was clearly frustrated after today's morning skate. "You become a player in this game to play games and to help a team have success."

With Android Volchenkov returning to the lineup, Smith was benched in favour of (relative) youngsters Alex Picard, Brian Lee, and Brendan Bell, all of whom have significantly more offensive upside than the wily veteran. Hartsburg's mentality, the story said, was that the d-corps needed to balance the defensive defencemen (Chris Phillips, Volchenkov, and to an extent Filip Kuba) with the more offensive ones. (Can I take a moment to gloat about predicting there could be a reasonable chance Smith would sit out yesterday? Kthanx.)

Although Smith is justified in his frustration, at least he knows he won't be missing too much time. At $2.6M, he's making too much money to sit on the sidelines for an extended period, and the Senators will have to decide soon which of Bell or Lee will be sent back down to Binghamton. The B-Sens need as much defensive help as they can get to keep their playoff hopes in good standing. (In other news, Martin Gerber will be assigned to Binghamton to [hopefully] help out their goaltending situation. Good luck to him; honestly, I wish him the best.)

Schubert, on the other hand, has little reassurance. The Senators went out of their way to re-call Peter Regin from Binghamton today, which is why Schubert is sitting. He is, once again, left to wonder not only about his place on this team, but his place in the league in general. Schubert definitely has a lot to think about in this off-season, and a lot to discuss with GM Bryan Murray (if he's not talking to him already). (I'll also note that I correctly predicted Schubert would be the odd man out with Regin called up, thank you very much.)

Here's my next prediction: Regin won't be up here for too long unless the Sens make a trade (involving a forward) soon, and one of Lee or Bell (likely Bell, as unfair as it may be) will be assigned to Binghamton after tonight's game/test or within the week.

Volchenkov's back, and the defence shuffle

Reports abound that Android Volchenkov's shoulder malfunction has been resolved, so he should be back in the Sens lineup on Tuesday against the Devils after missing Ottawa's last eight games.

As a result, there's a bit of a log jam at defence: You can be sure that Volchenkov won't be a healthy scratch, and Chris Phillips and Filip Kuba will both definitely be in the lineup. As Shean Donovan's skills competition-induced injury will likely keep him out for the whole week, Christoph Schubert is expected to suit up as a forward, meaning that one of Brian Lee, Alex Picard, Jason Smith, or Brendan Bell will be a healthy scratch for the game.

It seems doubtful that Lee will be, as he was practicing today in his regular pairing with Phillips, and the two have been playing well together. A good point was raised by Jason York on the Team 1200 this afternoon: Since the quality of Lee's competition has gone up, so has his play and his consistency. With him playing so well, and such high expectations for his development, it would likely be a step backward to bench him or send him to Binghamton right now.

The most likely candidate to be scratched, at first glance, is Bell. He's been scratched a few times recently, including three of the last four games. However, Bell scored the game-winning goal against Washington a week ago, and has three goals in his last five games played (two on the powerplay). With the Senators looking for mobility and offence from the back end, Bell could continue to be a pretty good second-powerplay-unit defenceman.

Then there's Picard. He's had an up-and-down season, but he's still leading Senators defencemen in goals scored with five. He hasn't scored a goal in 11 games, though, and doesn't even have a point in nine. All despite an average ice time of around 17-19 minutes played, usually including some powerplay time. It's an easy time to send a message to Picard that more is expected of him, but benching him is not a long-term solution: He's on a one-way contract, unlike Lee or Bell.

Finally, the possibility exists of Smith riding the press-box-pine for a night. Although it's pretty bad that he's only got one point (albeit a game-winning goal) on the year, that's not the chief reason he could be benched, and it's not why he was signed. Scratching Smith would be a tactical decision based on the speed of the Senators' opponents Tuesday, the Devils, and Smith's difficulty in keeping up with smaller, speedier players. Again, Smith wasn't signed to his contract to blow anyone out of the water; all he's got to do is play smart, positional hockey, lay a hit when it's available, kill a penalty when it's necessary, and speak up to or for his teammates. Scratching him wouldn't be a long-term solution, because a dog as old as Smith won't likely learn new tricks.

Ideally, I think that Picard could use a rest in the press box for one night or so, until the Sens decide whether to send Bell or Lee down to Binghamton. In the end, though, one of those two guys on two-way contracts will be don in Binghamton relatively soon. The Senators' don't need to be spending more money than they need to be spending at this point in the season.

Bizarro Senators: Sens 5, 'Canes 1

It's funny, almost a year ago to the day from today's 5-1 victory over Carolina, I described an uncannily unusual win by the Ottawa Senators as reminiscent of the Bizarro World in Superman. When I saw Chris Neil control the puck to make a play to Antoine Vermette, who actually scored a goal, while Dany Heatley was wreaking havoc in front of the Hurricanes net, I thought: Who are these people, what have they done with the Senators, and how can I get them to stick around for the second half of the season?

So we saw Heatley score his first goal in nine games (bizarre), we saw Dean McAmmond score his first goal in 22 games which was only his second of the season (bizarrer), we saw Vermette score his second goal and third and fourth points in the last three games (bizarrer-er, considering his season so far), we saw Mike Fisher score his first goal in 20 games and fourth of the season after not panicking with an empty net in front of him (bizarrer-er-er), and then we saw Chris Phillips score his fourth goal in the last ten games (bizarrest). But I'm not complaining.

We also saw some of the most promising reasoned, on-the-fly coaching from Craig Hartsburg going into and during the game. Upon noticing the unsuccessful perimeter play when the CASH Line is together on the powerplay, he bumped Heatley down to the second unit and shifted Fisher to forward on the first unit. For the first unit, it meant that Fisher trashed it up in front of the net while Jason Spezza and Daniel Alfredsson set up plays with the defencemen. For the second unit, it meant Heatley was put in a position of leadership and trusted to be a powerplay quarterback, something he did very well. I'm thinking of one moment in particular, after Brian Lee rushed a shot from the point, Heatley went back and let him know that he can settle it down a bit before firing the puck on net. Although the Sens weren't credited with a powerplay goal, Vermette and Fisher's goals were both shortly after and a direct result of solid powerplay work. The Sens had 14 powerplay shots-on-goal in the end, and had control of the puck in the offensive zone for most of their powerplay time.

The other demonstration of good coaching came on the penalty kill. After Fisher lost his coverage of Joe Corvo--the 'Canes most lethal offensive weapon on the powerplay when left unchecked--on Carolina's second powerplay, they adapted: On the next Sens' penalty kill, McAmmond covered Corvo like RDS would cover Vincent Lecavalier buying a house in Montréal. For the rest of the game, Corvo was covered similarly, and that--combined with, no doubt, the boos raining down on him hurting his feelings--turned him into a non-threat for the rest of the game. (Although he did provide a great screen of 'Canes netminder Cam Ward on Phillips' goal.)

In nets, Brian Elliott sealed the fate of Martin Gerber. He only faced 24 shots, but he did have to make some terrific saves, and the one goal Ells allowed would have went in on just about any goaltender in the NHL. He outplayed one-time Conn Smythe winner Ward, and might just do well with another 41 games in the NHL this season (plus playoffs)--as long as the team in front of him keeps up their effort level.

The Senators, however, weren't perfect. Spezza had two giveaways, and Heatley had one, too, although he didn't get tabbed for it on the scoresheet, and as a team Ottawa had 10 giveaways to Carolina's four. The difference tonight, though, was that the team used hard work to make up for mistakes they made. Good players have always and will always make mistakes; they are acceptable when those same players use hard work and good backchecking to make sure that the opposition doesn't capitalize on their mistakes. Spezza's M.O. is blind passes, which work sometimes and don't work other times; as long as he gets back to help out, though, the successful ones will seem to outnumber the unsuccessful ones.

All in all, a really great game for the Senators; one of, if not the best game of the season so far. All four lines saw plenty of ice time (Shean Donovan had the least at 8:51, the only skater under 10 minutes, largely because he doesn't see special-teams time), all but two of Ottawa's skaters were on the plus side of the +/- ledger (Jason Smith and Nick Foligno were both even), the CASH Line had four points while secondary scorers combined for the other eight, and the big three also had 18 shots as the Sens heavily outshot their opponents 40-24 and outscored them by a much more impressive margin. With the second half of the season set to start on Saturday against the Montréal Canadiens Wednesday against the Atlanta Thrashers, we've been reminded of what this team can do when they're playing with the right attitude. Although it's not likely at all, it sure would be nice to see the Senators finish out the season with some great effort towards making a push for the playoffs, even if it means we miss out on the John Tavares/Victor Hedman sweepstakes.

Bizarro Superman

Do what must be done. Part 1

Lose, but don't cry.

From its origin, the Ottawa Senators organization was built on losing. Not 'built on losing' in the way that the Maple Leafs have built a legacy of missing the playoffs, but rather using draft picks smartly and making conservative progress.

The losses from 1992-96 brought the Senators a slew of draft picks, including current Senators Daniel Alfredsson and Chris Phillips. Even Alexei Yashin proved valuable for a few seasons before being sent to the Islanders in exchange for Jason Spezza and Zdeno Chara. The ensuing seasons were prosperous, with the Senators collecting divisional and conference titles, and the President's trophy in 2003.

It appears that the prosperity bubble burst after the Senators went to the Stanley Cup finals in 2007. In 2008, the Sens were handily beaten by the Pittsburgh Penguins in the first round. This season, the Senators are languishing the NHL sub-basement. What happened?

Nothing lasts forever anymore (great song by Sloan, btw)

The Sens stopped losing. The draft picks stopped raining down upon Ottawa like the winter snow. Instead of supremely talented prospects like Marian Hossa, Martin Havlat or Jason Spezza impatiently waiting in the AHL for their shot at the big leagues, it's moderate prospects gathering on the baby Sens roster. No offence to Nick Foligno, but it's unlikely he'll score 40 goals in any season of his NHL career.

The NHL salary cap has brought some parity to the NHL. Did we not expect that there would be losers, as well as winners? While the Red Wings have remained at the top of the NHL, they are certainly the exception. The so-called "NHL hangover" is simply the dramatic headline for the phenomena we should come to expect. After good teams are built, they are dismantled by rising contract demands and free agency. No more dynasties. Not even in Detroit.

Stop screaming at ice cream

The demands from media and fans to force a bad team to be good are futile. It's like screaming at melting ice cream, hoping that your breath can stop time or suddenly change room temperature. The result is a team like the Toronto Maple Leafs. They constantly traded draft picks for veterans who were supposed to transplant some success into a lifeless team, but it never came. Only this season have Leafers come to realize that you have to put the ice cream back in the fucking fridge before it will congeal. Great examples currently include Chicago and Pittsburgh, who accumulated great draft picks, and voi-la, an incredibly talented team sprung from the ground.

The Senators time is up for now. They must go 30-12 in their remaining 42 regular-seaon to have a chance at making the playoffs. Who wants to trade away Jason Spezza, get some temporary relief for this season and land the #12 draft pick instead of #1 or #2? So let's lose, for the moment, and have faith that eventually our team will resurrect itself in time. We'll have reason enough to cheer next season while we wait for our beloved draft pick to take the ice.

Necessary win: Sens 2, Lightning 0

One thing is for sure: I shouldn't be this relieved after a 2-0 win over the Tampa Bay Lightning. At least I don't think I should have, but it seems like this team may not be as good as I--and so many other fans--like to believe they are.

I'll use one sentence to describe Martin Gerber in the game, and you can extrapolate that to represent the way the whole team played: It wasn't pretty, but it worked. Gerber may not have been as deserving as Alex Auld for the team's first shutout of the season (Auld should have had it in game two), but he earned it on the night in stopping all 24 shots from the Tampa Bay Lightning.

I've got a very strange feeling after this game. I'm not sure who was the best Ottawa Senators player on the night. Daniel Alfredsson had a great game (he scored the empty-netter), but it wasn't anything we haven't come to expect from him. Chris Phillips and Filip Kuba both played well on defence, and Jason Smith was solid in clearing the front of the net. I guess I'll follow CBC's lead, though, and give the first star to Gerber.

Dany Heatley definitely did not have his best game, or anywhere near it. I don't usually rag on stars because it's so cliché, but he looked bad. A lot of it likely has to do with his style, and it's inability to blend with the style this lesser-skilled Senators squad has to play: Heatley can't play a puck-retrieval game. It doesn't help that he's rarely skating full-out and always seems to have his stick 18 inches off the ice, cocked and ready to go, but some nights he forechecks hard and steals pucks. Tonight wasn't one of those nights.

Good on the second power-play unit scoring the eventual game-winner, with some nice passing from Antoine Vermette to Nick Foligno to Ilya Zubov to Brendan Bell to Alex Picard to mesh. It was like high school gym class or intramurals, where everyone had to touch the puck before you could take a shot on net. Great shot by Picard, that likely deflected off a Lightning defender, and was Zubov's first NHL point. (Although it meant Cody Bass was pulled out of the lineup, it was nice to see Zubov and it sounds like he's going to get a few games to showcase his skills.) It's too bad the first powerplay unit barely got a sniff offensively, though, because going 1-for-8 against Tampa Bay on the powerplay--no matter how well Bolts' tender Mike Smith plays--is not good enough.

And, part of the powerplay problems, Jason Spezza has to start shooting the puck, he looks afraid to at times. There was one time when he was in past the defenders (just barely, granted, but still), and he held up to wait for someone to pass to. Just because playmaking is his specialty doesn't mean it's got exclusivity on everytime he touches the puck. He finished the night with a single shot on net.

Zubov had a solid game on the whole, and Brian Lee played... well enough. It looked like he'd rediscovered that poise he had at the end of last year early on in the game, but a few defensive gaffes in the third period didn't make his case. He might stick around anyway, but I think he's more likely to head back to Bingo once Anton Volchenkov is ready to go. He wasn't a liability, but he certainly didn't outplay any of the Sens' other five defenders.

What does Craig Hartsburg do with goaltending for next game, on Tuesday against Atlanta? I think Auld has played well enough to keep the starter's reins, for now, and Hartsburg has handled the goaltending situation much better than John Paddock did last season. With two solid games in a row, though, Gerber is making himself a case if Auld falters. But please, don't falter, Auld. We all know what The Gerber Effect does to Darth once he's given something to lose.

Final note: Good to hear that Martin St-Louis only had eight stitches after the linesman's skate clipped him in the face. It looked like it might have caught him in the eye, but apparently it went along the bridge of his nose or something. Maybe he should think about wearing a visor, no matter what Don Cherry might say about him.

I should be on the jumbotron at Scotiabank Place

The Sens are in tough tonight against the Washington Capitals, who are flying high after beating the Eastern conference-leading Boston Bruins on Wednesday.

There are a few thing that need to be done in order for the Senators to win, in a segment I like to call "Not Gord Wilson's keys to victory".

1. Solid defence for once. Chris Phillips and Anton Volchenkov already know who they'll be keeping an eye on all night: Alexander Ovechkin. But Washington is not short on offensive talent by any stretch. Rising star Alexander Semin will test the defensive skills of Filip Kuba (who currently leads the team in average time on ice) and Alexandre Picard. Not to overstate the obvious, but the Senators are not getting the quality defending that fans have come to expect from Phillips-Volchenkov or any other pairing (though the other pairings are all new). Not to mention that the Caps may have both Sergei Fedorov (remember him? Man, the 90s were great...) and Mike Green returning from injury. Yikes.
   
2. I'm not going to make any apologies for it: The Senators need Heatley, Spezza and Alfredsson to combine for at least two goals if they want to win this game. The Antoine Vermette trade clock is tick-tocking towards its inevitable conclusion, and it would be nice if the guy would raise his value a bit by chipping in a goal every 10 games or so (did I mention he's on pace for 15 points this season?). A big game from Nick Foligno or Shean Donovan is needed in order for the Sens to have any chance of collecting two points.
3. Jarkko Ruutu needs to be an asshole. After helping the Senators win a couple games last month by pissing off the opposition and drawing penalties, Ruutu has been a non-factor for the past few games. He needs to get in the face and into the minds of the Capitals if the Sens are going to pull off a win. Where have you been recently Jarkko? We have enough underachieving forwards on this team. Be the asshole that the Sens need to win.

Hmmm... offence, check. Defence, check. Anything else wrong with the Sens? Oh yes, start Alex Auld in net and don't make us sweat all night. I know Martin Gerber had a good outing against the Blackhawks, but it didn't result in a win.

Lineup change: Christoph Schubert will be back in the lineup following two games of healthy-scratchiness, replacing the strangely competent Brendan Bell on defence.

Bonus! Check out a Northeastern division summary from illegalcurve.com - how's our division doing so far? Well Boston is kicking ass, and we're not as good as the Leafs. This doesn't bode well for our Sens.

Game day: Sens v Isles

The Senators hope to rebound from their... umm... un-pretty loss to the Montreal Canadiens tonight when they begin a home-and-home series at Scotiabank Place against the Islanders. It's on Sportsnet locally, and the TEAM 1200.

The only roster change is Ryan Shannon joining the big team after Jarkko Ruutu was suspended, and reports are that Shannon will play alongside Jason Spezza and Dany Heatley on the top line (was I the first to predict this?). I think it's a good move; you've got to put players, especially younger ones, in situations where they will fit and where they can excel, and Shannon is definitely a scorer. It also means the line of Daniel Alfredsson, Jesse Winchester, and Mike Fisher, which has been playing well, is preserved. That leaves, in all likelihood, Chris Kelly centring Antoine Vermette and Nick Foligno on the third line, which has the potential to be dynamic and defensively responsible, and a fourth line of Dean McAmmond and Shean Donovan with Chris Neil (although Foligno and Neil might be swapped).

Alex Auld is in nets, as it should be. Martin Gerber will get his chances later on, but there's no sense screwing with goaltending when there are other problems which are more pressing.

Keep an eye on the powerplay tonight. I have a feeling that Shannon will be on the second unit, at least, but there are more problems with that line--and especially with the defensive pairing of Chris Phillips and Christoph Schubert, who don't look at all comfortable together on the point. With a much weaker penalty-killing unit on Long Island, though, the Sens might have a bit more luck. Just watch out for Dick Park, who is awesome.

It should be interesting to watch the game tonight. Hard work wasn't the issue against Montreal, the players just weren't on the same page. With a bit more intensity (the kind we heard about in practice yesterday) as well as some more systemic play and solid defence, there's no reason Ottawa can't manhandle New York (who are the worst team in team in the league, statistically speaking, even if they're only four points behind Ottawa).

And, just to update any interested parties on Binghamton, captain Denis Hamel and enforcer Jeremy Yablonski should return to the lineup, according to Bingo blogger Michael Sharp. So, although they'll miss Shannon's offence, they'll get a boost from a couple of veterans.

Money well spent?

The Senators are cheapskates. Rarely have they fished into the often-outrageous waters of free agency to fill a roster spot, no where is this more evident than on the Sens defence.

Looking at the numbers, it becomes clear that Ottawa is getting good value for their money overall.

Spending on defenders:

Ottawa - $14.175 million
Montreal - $ 19.9 million
Toronto - $21.66 million
Boston - $18.55 million
Buffalo - $14.6 million

Detroit - $22.85 million

It's hard to argue that Detroit's investment in its defence. They've had to pay Nicklas Lidstrom $7.45 million per season, but they've been competing for the Stanley Cup every season for a decade. Does Ottawa have such a leader in their corps? Are the Senators simply missing that key piece in their own defensive puzzle?

Buffalo seems like a comparable team. They too have spread their money around evenly, with their top four defencemen being paid between $2.5 and $3.5 million. The Sabres have very quietly collected a record of 8-2-2 so far this season.

It's also worth noting that the Senators have only Chris Phillips signed past the 2009-10 season. Ottawa has a lot of mobility, should it choose to remake its team in the coming years. Prospects like Brian Lee will undoutedly play a large part in Ottawa's future D-line. Alexandre Picard has become the Senators #4 defender this season after coming to the Sens from Tampa Bay in the Andre Meszaros deal. How he will fit into the lineup in the future will depend largely on how he fares this season and next. He's not a prospect anymore.

There's much talk about the Senators acquiring a puck-moving defender, and the numbers say that GM Bryan Murray can afford him. As Detroit has shown, an investment in a #1 defender is an investment in the long-term success of the team.

A few people are missing from this scoreboard... hmm....

It appears that the 'split up everyone' tactic has failed. When the Senators loss to the Leafs 3-2 (especially in the regular season) something has gone very wrong. The Sens are getting that secondary scoring in the form of Dean McAmmond and Shean Donovan, but there's another thing you need to win games... what's it called again? PRIMARY SCORING!

Coach, put the big three back together and let's end this losing streak. A win once in a while would do wonders for the team (not to mention my enthusiasm for blogging).

It also appears that Alex Auld cannot single handedly win a game for the Sens. I mean, he did okay, and no one is blaming him for the loss - and that's more than we have come to expect from Gerber this year.

I also want to add that tossing Chris Neil to the ice, then taking five fists in the face does not give you the victory in an NHL fight, Luke Schenn.

Filip Kuba continues to rack up the assists while his +/- remains stagnant. Despite his team-leading 11 points, he's a mere +1. Chris Phillips and Anton Volchenkov have looked slow and pourous, allowing wingers to blow past them wide (especially Big Rig), they're a combined -11.

After a couple games with five or more days before their next match, the Sens are now in the midst of three games in four days, with their next coming Monday night against the Sabres. How many more games before our faith will be restored?

Theory proven: There's no 'D' in 'Senators'

After Friday's game, I wrote on the blog that a similarly poor defensive effort wouldn't be enough to defeat a good team, or even the Boston Bruins. I must be some kind of sorcerer, because the Sens put in the same kind of lame effort against Boston and they lost 4-2.

The strange tandem of Jason Smith and Filip Kuba again hit the ice and surrendered the first goal of the game. Those two should find new partners immediately. On the other side of the defensive coin, I found that Brian Lee and Alex Picard rarely screwed the pooch.

Chris Phillips and Anton Volchenkov have not been their normal dependable selves so far this season. I've seen Phillips struggle to keep up with opposing forwards on a couple of occasions this year. He's got a -3 rating this season and Volchenkov is a team-worst -4. Not a good sign. (Who leads the team in that category, you ask? None other than #37, M-C-Ammer at +3.)

The defenders regularly stranded Martin Gerber and did not do a good job of sweeping rebounds of of harm's way (and that's a huge part of playing D in front of Gerber!).

Nick Foligno continues to impress this season with a fantastic goal to tie the game at 1 against the Bruins. If he continues to improve, I see him adding some grit to the Senators top line in a year or two.

Five games in the season now, we've seen a totally new style Senators team when compared to late last season. However, it remains to be seen whether this will result in a better record.

3 of 4 points in Stockholm: Sens 3 Pens 1

A great all-around effort for the Sens made it a positive weekend, and the 3-1 win over Pittsburgh gave Ottawa a very respectable 3 out of 4 possible points in Swedish premiere.

To a man, the Senators had a very good game. It was an effective shut-down system, and I have to agree with Jeremy of Black Aces in saying Craig Hartsburg deserves a lot of credit for the Sens' solid all-around good game. The way the Sens were able to shut down the Penguins, especially the powerplay, brought me back to the 2007 Stanley Cup playoffs, when Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin were so frustrated at their inability to generate chances. It's still very early, but there are good signs, and it's a good feeling.

First off, Alex Auld played incredibly well. He was about one second away from a shutout, and anyone who comes that close to shutting out Crosby and the gang is in pretty good shape. Ben and I were watching the game together, and beforehand he mentioned that with the Sens' goaltending luck, Auld would play the best game of his career. I'm not sure if it was his best-ever, but it definitely throws a wrench in the plans for Martin Gerber to take the starting role and run with it. But this controversy is much cleaner than last year's, because Auld has earned another opportunity to start, whereas last season Ray Emery didn't even earn a shot. Gerber may not like it, but he's made his bed. Hopefully Hartsburg can manage this situation a little better than John Paddock did last season.

Apparently giving Dany Heatley the 'A' was a tremendously good investment for Hartsburg and Co. He played out of his mind today, and not just because he scored two powerplay goals (giving him three on the season). He was hitting, blocking shots (including a really solid block at the end of the second), and just playing a good all-around game. His rounded game might be rubbing off on Jason Spezza, too, as Spezza seemed to have learned from his mistake yesterday (please, God, let him retain this lesson) and made the smart plays when they were called for. One thing that Hartsburg will have to watch out for, though, is not wearing out the big guns too early in the season. Each of Heatley, Spezza, and Daniel Alfredsson played over 21 minutes on the game, while Shean Donovan played an effective game once again, his second in a row, but was given less than three minutes of ice time. Donovan was one of the Sens' best players in the playoffs last year, and certainly has a role to play. Jesse Winchester has a solid game considering it was his third in the NHL, and made some really smart plays. I'm very excited to see what he'll be able to do once he really gels with whatever linemates he plays with--especially if that is Chris Kelly and Antoine Vermette, who might end up being the best two-way line in the league.

Defence is obviously a key part of Hartsburg's plan, and the defenders didn't disappoint. To a man they played well, and combined to block nine shots on the night. Auld looked better positionally than Gerber, and his big size means that a lot of his saves are lining up so the puck hits him (rather than acrobatics); with the defence able to clear rebounds and forwards collapsing down low, this system plays right into Auld's style. Filip Kuba got another assist (three on the year) and three blocked shots in just under 25 minutes, and looked very comfortable alongside Jason Smith (who also had a solid game). Toughness is a huge part of the Sens' d-corps this year, with all players over 200 lbs and 6', and Chris Phillips demonstrated it--along with a newfound team pride--when he ran over Maxime Talbot after Talbot ran Alfredsson. Brian Lee and Alex Picard both showed some great poise in the game, particularly when Lee deked around Crosby on the powerplay to get a shot on net.

One concern has to be the number of penalties the Senators took. Although the penalty kill was very effective, the team can't afford to take as many penalties--15 short-handed situations over the course of the weekend--and expect to continue to stay in games as well as they are. As it is, though, killing off 14 of 15 (93%) and offsetting that one blemish with one shorthanded goal is a pretty good way to start the season. And 27% on the powerplay (3-for-11) would have led the NHL last season, even if the sample size is pretty small.

So the Sens have to be very happy with three of a possible four points, even though it was very realistic to have gotten four. They fly back to Ottawa tonight, presumably to readjust to the time difference as soon as possible, and will be playing the home opener Saturday against the Detroit Red Wings. As I said earlier, it's very early, but it's good to see some solid, unified, team play.

Preview: Sens @ Rangers

Finally, the Senators will get the opportunity to play against Wade Redden. It will be interesting to see how some of his former teammates respond, and how some of the newcomers--signings, trades, and up-and-coming rookies--treat the player who, until Monday night, will never have played an NHL game in any other jersey. And, of course, how Redden responds.

The game will also be Alex Auld's first test in a Sens jersey, so keep an eye out for what he's got to show. Jeff Glass is scheduled to take over for the third period.

Only one cut has been made since Saturday night, with Jim O'Brien being sent back to the Seattle Thunderbirds of the WHL. I was hoping that after his showing in the rookie camp O'Brien would be playing in Binghamton, but he'll certainly get plenty of ice time in the WHL.

In other news, Alexandre Picard was complaining about soreness in his groin (what's going on here? First Daniel Alfredsson, now Picard?), so Chris Phillips will take his place in the lineup. According to the Ottawa Sun, Alfredsson might be playing against Philadelphia on Tuesday (EDIT: the game against Philly is on Wednesday, not Tuesday).

No word on what the line combinations are, but the Sens official site has said that the lineup will include Chris Kelly, Dean McAmmond, Shean Donovan, Anton Volchenkov, Cody Bass, Nick Foligno, Ryan Shannon, Brendan Bell, and Luke Richardson.

EDIT: Nothing on local TV, but it's on MSG so you should be able to see the game on NHL Centre Ice. The game is, of course, on TEAM 1200.

Are the Sens that bad? Part two: Defence

The Sens had a few problems--to put it nicely--last season, and defence was a huge one. Not just the team's defencemen, although many of them had their problems, but also a team-defence philosophy that would allow defencemen to have mistakes mitigated by backchecking forwards.

This year, with the acquisitions and hirings, should be different.

DEFENCE

Defensively, the Sens' defence will definitely be better. Offensively, it might be a different story. The Sens' d-corps has changed significantly since last season, and only two players who started the year--Anton Volchenkov and Chris Phillips--remain from that top-six. And they remain for good reason; defensive responsibility. The newly-signed Jason Smith is in the same mould, and should fit into a defensive system very well. And, although one knock on Filip Kuba is that he can commit defensive gaffes, he led the Lightning with 131 blocked shots last year. Combining the shot-blocking abilities of those four, you've got to wonder if the goaltenders will see any rubber by year's end.

When looking for production for the defence, though, the Sens might have to look pretty far. A lot of hopes are going to be placed on Kuba to lead the Sens' offensive rush, at least on the powerplay. Rookie Brian Lee will also be given a lot of rope, and the hopes will be that he can lead the Sens' second powerplay unit and play as well as he did at the end of last season. In the sixth spot will be one of Christoph Schubert (a natural defenceman who's been playing forward [quite effectively] against his wishes for the last two seasons), Alex Picard (a relatively unseasoned defenceman with some offensive potential), or Brendan Bell (a successful AHLer who's had limited NHL success).

It may turn out that the biggest acquisition for the defence was actually behind the bench rather than on it. Craig Hartsburg had a ten-year career as a defenceman for the Minnesota North Stars, and the belief is that he will be preaching a defence-first system, and demanding (here's that all-important idea in Senators' circles again) accountability and responsibility from his players. It might mean a few less creative offensive plays, and hopefully it means Jason Spezza won't be among the league-leaders in giveaways, but it will certainly mean a bigger emphasis on team defence for 2008-09.

The Rumour Mill: The most pressing need?

Rumours abound in the blogosphere, but they remain rumours. Typically, they include the much-reported requirements for the 2008-09 Sens team to fill itself out; a top-six forward, and a top-four defenceman. But which one does the team need more?

Top-six forward

The Sens have needed another top-six forward for the last two seasons. The firepower of Daniel Alfredsson, Jason Spezza, and Dany Heatley is nothing to scoff at, but if a team is able to shut that line down--as has happened (most notably in the the 2007 Stanly Cup Final against Anaheim), there is no fall back plan. Mike Fisher is intense, but he can't be counted on for offensive production. Antoine Vermette has gotten his opportunities, but failed to make them count. After them, there's really no option, unless prospects like Jesse Winchester, Ilya Zubov, or Alexander Nikulin surprise a lot of people. The Sens have acquired the likes of Mike Comrie and Cory Stillman to try and fill the void, but for various reasons they didn't work out as long-term solutions.

If the Sens fail to acquire more scoring depth, the onus once again falls entirely on Spezzalfredheat. And the team, more likely than not, remains as vulnerable to a good shut-down defensive tandem as they have been in past years. We'd heard that Jason Williams was (apparently) close to becoming a Senator, but that proved incorrect. There aren't many offensive forwards remaining on the free agent market, so the only avenue the Sens really have is through a trade, and, with 13 NHL-calibre forwards plus several potential prospects, there are tradeable assets on the team right now.

Top-four defenceman

In the past three seasons, the Sens have lost Zdeno Chara, Wade Redden, Joe Corvo, Tom Preissing, Brian Pothier, and Mike Commodore, and the only new faces are Lawrence Nycholat, Brian Lee, and Jason Smith (and possibly Mattias Karlsson). There is an obvious problem with this picture. As good as Chris Phillips and Anton Volchenkov are, they can't do everything. Andrej Meszaros isn't even signed yet, but if he is signed most don't think he's ready to be the Sens go-to guy on the powerplay. The Sens desperately need some help on the blue line.

All sorts of names have been mentioned. The Sens were apparently in the Dan Boyle and Brian Campbell sweepstakes, but couldn't match market offers. Trade rumours have included the likes of Jay Bouwmeester (fat chance) and Cam Barker, but those are just rumours and are probably built on blind hope. Ottawa's goaltending tandem of Martin Gerber and Alex Auld makes the defensive needs more evident; although both are capable NHL goaltenders, neither is good enough to regularly steal games.

Verdict

Man, this is a tough choice. Both are pressing needs, but if I had to choose one or another, I'd say that a top-four defenceman is more important at this point. What do you think?