Same old Ottawa Senators

Inability to score at crucial times and inconsistent goaltending?! No, you must be speaking of some other team.

As I watched the Senators take on the New York Rangers yesterday, that shootout seemed to encapsulate the whole game--a simple inability to win the game. Thanks to some steady goaltending from Brian Elliott, the Senators had no less than three opportunities to win the game.

Nick Folgino, Mike Fisher (otherwise great game, btw), and Jarkko Ruutu each could have won the game if they scored on their shootout opportunity.

That's three opportunities to get an extra point, and three opportunities to push the team a little further toward a playoff spot. It's something of a cliché, but it must be said that these games are just as important as the ones in April. When the Sens are desperate for points in the spring, I'll be recalling this game in my mind.

The inconsistent goaltending, of course, is not the fault of Elliott. That's the fault to Pascal Leclaire, who has single-handedly led us to question his abilities. I will play the part of optimist here and note the following:

• He's played 13 games and is above .500. That's far from terrible.
• Leclaire missed a whole year and could still be reconstructing his game and getting back into the groove on a regular NHL schedule.
• The Sens offence hasn't been too helpful recently. Few powerplays and fewer crucial goals.
• In his last 6 games, he's only allowed more than 3 goals once. Do not panic.

AK27 made for mis-fires

Who saw this recent wave of Alex Kovelav criticism coming from a mile away? Everyone! Every NHL pundit on the planet knew that Kovalev would be streaky. And now, while it's happening it's supposed to be surprising? No, sorry. We'll see what his stats are at season's end... Then I'll be pissed.

Tuesday versus Leafs good measuring stick

Next game is against the Leafs on Tuesday evening. I hope to see Leclaire return to the net, and put any potential controversies to rest.

Playing the Leafs is always fun because they set the bar for terrible teams in the NHL. If you can beat them, you're fine. If not, well, I might have to pick up some more of that 7.0% beer.

Stats you didn't want to hear (courtesy yahoo.com)

The Senators are 1-2 in shootouts this season and remain the worst team in the tie-breaking procedure with a 12-25 record since its inception. (Ben's note: The Sens were 1 for 1 after beating the Leafs in the first ever NHL shootout! woo!)

The Senators won 53 percent of faceoffs, but only because C Jason Spezza was 17-10 in the circles. Every other Senator had a losing record on faceoffs against a Rangers team that was without the injured Chris Drury and Brandon Dubinsky—two of its top three drawmen.

Win over Habs most important yet

Saturday night's 3-1 victory over the Montreal Canadiens was undoubtedly the Ottawa Senators' most important win of the season so far.

Put all the 'Alex Kovalev returns to Montreal' storylines to the side for one moment (they never mattered much anyway) and let's look at the stats and players behind the victory.

This was the Senators first win over a team that qualified for the playoffs last season. Losses to Pittsburgh and New York kept the Sens out of the playoff picture for the moment, but this win will boost the expectations of players and observers slightly. Where do the Sens fit into the Eastern Conference rankings now? Let's wait and see if they can beat New Jersey or Philadelphia in early November.

The Senators swept the game's three stars, and with good cause. The first star was Pascal Leclaire. In the first intermission, Daniel Alfredsson commented to CBC that there was a large shift in team mentality with Chuck in net, and this game was a perfect example. When the Sens were holding on to a 2-1 lead through most of the second and third periods, Leclaire was never panicked and extremely consistent.

(FACT: Pascal Leclaire only wears goalie equipment because he would get too many shutouts if he played naked. He doesn't want to make other players look silly.)

The Senators' third and fourth lines are playing waaaaaay above expectations. This used to be a one-line team. Now we're got four. That's quite a turn-around. Credit to Cory Clouston and Bryan Murray (You gotta give it when it's due).

Did I mention Alfredsson? Of course I did. He leads the team with nine points in seven games. He doesn't get older, he just gets better. (Guess who's second and third in team scoring? Mike Fisher and Jarkko Ruutu!)

Of course, those points from Kovalev didn't hurt at all. That's what he was brought in to do. Put the Sens over the top in games that could have gone either way. That added offensive talent, combined with solid goaltending from Chuck, is all the Sens need to win these middling games on most nights.

Audio:

Cory Clouston's thoughts on the game.

Alfredsson's post-game comments.

Kovalev's post-game comments.

(Courtesy whatever wonderful human being updates the Senators Twitter account.)

The forward lineup (subject to change)

This is half wishful thinking and half what-I-heard-in-the-paper (and half exercise in futility). Depth has been the buzz word recently Senators land, and I think this illustrates it quite well.

After all, offensive depth is exactly what the Sens were seeking before Dany Heatley left. It's too bad they had to trade in the best goal-scorer in franchise history to get it.

Lines will undoubtedly change before the season starts, and there are many more problems with this lineup. For instance, Alex Kovalev plays right wing, not left, and I didn't even put Shean Donovan on here... mostly because I'm really excited about a line consisting of Ruutu-Bass-Neil. Any team in the league would be afraid of that line. (PS: Extremely excited to have Bass back from last season's severe injury.)

It also doesn't account for any rookies other than bass making the team at the forward positions. Ilya Zubov has been dieing to make the team for years, I bet he'll be trade bait soon unless someone gets injured and he can play his way onto the team.

So have at 'er! Is this lineup any stronger than the one the Senators fielded last year?

Sens are a tougher team

I'll make this short and sweet...

Chris Neil was a commodity (and an oddity) on the Sens when they were known as a push-over team. Bryan Murray, apparently at the expense of wins, acquired a few players over the past couple of years that were meant to fill in the toughness gap. Namely: Jason Smith and Jarkko Ruutu.

Doesn't that make Neil expendable?

Ironically, the Senators will face the Leafs tonight; the team that was always seen as ruthless during the Jacques Martin years. It's hard to say if the Sens enforcers will be a factor in this battle for the basement of the Eastern Conference.

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.)

Prove it all night: Sens 3, Sabres 1

Despite the best efforts of referees Chris Ciamaga and Kerry Fraser, and the somewhat less-than-best efforts of the Buffalo Sabres, the Senators walked into Buffalo feeling pretty good and walked out feeling even better, and two points richer. The game was a necessary sixty-minute effort, and almost to a man the Senators brought their best.

Alright, let's start with special teams. Penalty-killing. Although several of the penalty calls were on the chintzy side, most of them were justifiable. One that wasn't, though, was the triple-minor assessed to Jason Smith, which Fraser complemented with a ten-minute misconduct after Smith told him how he felt about it. For those of you who didnt' see the incident, it began when Patrick Kaleta took a run at captain Daniel Alfredsson. Then Smith stepped up to run Kaleta through the boards, but held back when he saw Kaleta was in a vulnerable position. So he held back, told Kaleta to watch his ass, and the Kaleta challenged Smith and they went at it. Out of it all, Smith got three roughing penalties, and Kaleta got nothing. It boggles the mind, but I guess Fraser thought he'd seen something that wasn't there. Anyway, the Sens penalty killing--even without Smith for almost half the game--was impeccable, killing 17 of 18 short-handed situations, and only allowing the one powerplay goal on a 5-on-3. It was an impressive showing, particularly for Antoine Vermette, Chris Kelly, and Anton Volchenkov (but also for the rest of the PK team, including Alfredsson, Mike Fisher, Dean McAmmond, Jarkko Ruutu, Chris Phillips, Filip Kuba, and even Brian Lee once in a while).

On the powerplay, Ottawa was a very impressive 2-for-6, and I'll give a lot of credit for that to Brendan Bell. Although he can be a liability at even-strength, Bell's ability to control the puck at the point and thread passes through openings directly resulted in the first goal, which banked off Jason Spezza's skate, and Bell got another assist on Alfredsson's powerplay goal, as well. He's earned his spot on the Sens' third d-pairing, even if that means Alex Picard sits out a few more games.

Speaking of Spezza, he had a great game. He was competing and skating hard, and driving to the net--as evidenced by the Sens' first goal. He had four shots, second on the team only to Alfredsson (who had five) and one takeaway. His pressure, though, undoubtedly helped cause several other Buffalo giveaways, as did the Senators' aggressive forecheck all night. Spezza looks like he really appreciates the system that new coach Cory Clouston is trying to implement, and it sure is impressive to see.

A lot of credit for tonight has to go to Ruutu, who--on top of his disciplined and effective penalty-killing--was at his most super-pestiest tonight. He, Alfredsson, and Nick Foligno each bowled over Ryan Miller at some point, and Ruutu's screen was quintessential in giving Shean Donovan something to shoot at for Ottawa's second goal of the game. He was jawing at the Buffalo bench all night, and that might have had something to do with their apparent disinterest in competing in the game.

On the Dany Heatley front, I don't want to overstate anything, but he only had 12:44 in ice time, by far a season-low. It certainly had something to do with all the penalty-killing time, but both Spezza and Foligno had negligible PK time but more ice time than Heatley. More concerning was that in his 12 minutes of ice time, Heatley had zero shots--a huge faux-pas for a shooter who is expected to lead the second powerplay unit. He and his coach can say they're on the same page, but Heatley's going to have to show it on the ice if we're going to believe it.

I've also got to give Lee credit for his work short-handed. He had 5:17 in PK time on the night, and twice drew Buffalo penalties to negate their powerplays. He kind of looks like Bambi on ice when he's out there, wide-eyed and light on his feet, but his play is effective and he makes it obvious when an opposition player gives him a shot in the back in front of the net.

Most of all, though, Brian Elliott. A huge part of any penalty kill is going to be your goaltending, and--despite what analyst Pierre McGuire thinks--Elliott was terrific in stopping initial shots and limiting his rebounds to a minimum. He ended up stopping 31 of 32 shots in all, and his play at the start of the game likely frustrated the Sabres until they lost interest. And when Buffalo regained interest in the third period, Elliott was solid. I don't want to jinx anything, but he is--amazingly--perfect on the road, and has four of Ottawa's seven road wins this year. Very strange, but also awesome.

Prove it all night. There's nothing else we can do.

Regin re-recalled from Bingo

After a good showing in his NHL debut, the Senators have brought Danish phenom (can we call him that yet?) Peter Regin back from Binghamton.

It seems like a bit of an unusual move, considering two players (Chris Neil and Android Volchenkov) will both be returning fro minjury tonight, but Bryan Murray has said that he's interested in finding out what, exactly, his minor-league prospects have to offer in the big leagues.

With Regin drawing in, there will be a scratch on forward. It might be Christoph Schubert, who wants to play defence anyway, so he seems somewhat likely. Regin might also look good alondside Dean McAmmond and Jarkko Ruutu on an exciting and speedy fourth line. Or maybe there's been an injury that I haven't heard about yet.

We will see soon enough. It's nice to see Regin getting rewarded with another shot in the bigs, though.

Two in a row: Sens 3, Thrashers 2

Here is a bullet listing of positive signs from tonight's game:

• Ottawa gave up the first goal, but still won in regulation (second time of the year).
• Ottawa came back from 1-0 and 2-1 deficits and won in regulation.
• Christoph Schubert hit the net three times, including some solid shots, and (according to the score sheet) had no shots blocked.
• Daniel Alfredsson massacred a net with his sickening shot, after a terrific pass from checker-cum-playmaker Mike Fisher (who got the puck from playmaker-cum-checker Jason Spezza).
• The Senators were outshot 32-31, but still won the game.
• Spezza also scored a goal (two-point night) and is now 23rd in the league in goals with 18.
• Ottawa was 2-for-5 on the powerplay.
• Filip Kuba got his second assist in as many games since returning from injury, and looked darn good.
• Dean McAmmond scored his second goal in as many games, and led the team (tied with Fisher) with four shots in just 10:53 of ice time.
• Jarkko Ruutu had his first point (an assist) in 8 games, and first since returning from serving his suspension for biting someone.
• No Senator had less than 10:08 in ice time (Ruutu).
  
• A goaltender, Brian Elliott, actually made some big saves, including game-savers late in the game (although he was shaky at times, including Atlanta's second goal).

That is all. Lazy, I know.

Ruutu gets two for teething, Carkner recalled

Sens' superpest Jarkko Ruutu was suspended two games by the NHL for biting the finger of Sabres enforcer Andrew Peters on Tuesday night. Apparently if someone sticks a finger in your mouth, you've just got to take it? I don't really see why people are so outraged about this thing. Sure, it's a weird-ass thing to do, but let's get serious here: Far worse infractions have gone unpunished.

Anyway, as a result, the Sens have recalled Matt Carkner from Binghamton. Although Carkner has been playing defence for the B-Sens, I'd guess that he'll be playing wing on the fourth line when he's in Ottawa. He played forward in training camp, serving as an enforcer. On the plus side, Carkner is a point-per-game player in the NHL (one regular season game, one assist).

Spezza only scores two goals, costs Ottawa another game; trade imminent

Sigh... for the 25th time this season, perennial disappointment Jason Spezza has cost the Ottawa Senators a game. His lackadaisical approach and lack of any work ethic meant that Ottawa wasn't able to win the game, once again. All other players are absolved of any responsibility, because Spezza committed two giveaways on the night. In the end, the Buffalo Sabres won the game 4-2, and it had nothing to do with their play and everything to do with Spezza playing poorly.

Spezza did score two goals on the night, 32 seconds apart, and was one of only three Ottawa players on the plus-side of the +/- ledger. But both of those goals were obviously pure luck, and had nothing to do with Spezza's skill and tenacity. I would say he bites, but Jarkko Ruutu has (allegedly) taken that schtick and run with it.

Seriously, though, Spezza only has 17 goals on the year right now, which isn't nearly good enough. It's barely more than Sidney Crosby, barely more than Vincent Lecavalier, barely more than Evgeni Malkin, and barely more than Martin St. Louis. One thing seems completely obvious: Spezza is the biggest problem on the Senators roster, and he needs to be traded immediately.

Ruutu "just a rat running around": Ovechkin

I was just looking at some archived headlines I'd bookmarked, and came across a guest column from Tarik El-Bashir's Washington Post blog featuring an interview with Alex Ovechkin. It was the infamous column where Ovechkin described his pillow fights with teammate Alex Semin, but the newest incarnation of Alex the Great also had some... unkind things to say about Sens pest Jarkko Ruutu. He said Ruutu is the "most unpleasant" player he's ever played against:

"Probably (the ex-Penguin, now a Senator) Jarkko Ruutu. He is the dirtiest player and does everything in an underhanded way. Just a rat running around..."

That's just prime. I guess he's doing his job. But really, he is the least pleasant to play against? I didn't think he was the league's elite pest, but if the league's best player thinks he's the league biggest pest, I guess that says a lot.

Not working: Devils 5, Sens 1

It didn't work. Juggling the lines, keeping them that way, playing the guys with a relatively equitable distribution of ice time, playing Alex Auld, reintroducing Anton Volchenkov, benching Jason Spezza, whatever. Nothing.

Earlier in the year, we could at least say we'd solved our defence problems, even if we weren't scoring. Right now, neither are going right. Nine goals against in two games, two goals for. Ottawa went 0-fer again on the powerplay, and New Jersey was 3-for-4 (even if the Sens did score an SHG; good on Jarkko Ruutu for scoring a short-handed goal, off a nice pass from Chris Kelly).

Let's forget about this game. Bring on the Dallas Stars, maybe while they're in town Bryan Murray can lay the groundwork for a deal once the roster freeze is... thawed?

Fight card: Sens v. Thrashers, Dec. 16, 2008

Jarkko Ruutu v. Jim Slater, 18:37 second period:



Verdict: Ruutu. Unanimous, even on HockeyFights. Ruutu kicked it off with an uppercut, then a hard right, then another uppercut, and even made sure to keep Slater on his feet at one point to continue feeding him knuckle sandwiches.

Puck + net = happy fans: Thrashers 4, Sens 1

What... is... going... on? How can this team be so different from night to night? I've almost come to accept that the Senators aren't as good as I hoped they would be. But how can they beat the Atlanta Thrashers 5-1 one week, and then lose to them 4-1 the next week? It doesn't make any sense to me.

I guess 4-1 score aside, though, the game was actually pretty close. A powerplay goal by Vyacheslav Kozlov on an iffy delay-of-game penalty (the play-by-play folks though it hit the glass and then went out) was all that separated the Sens from the Thrashers until the start of the third period. Then all hell broke lose, as Dany Heatley took a lazy hooking and Colby Armstrong scored on the powerplay, and then Armstrong scored again 31 seconds later. Chris Kelly--after hitting the cross bar earlier in the third--scored off a sweet pass from Chris Phillips with Nick Foligno screening Atlanta goaltender Ondrej Pavelec. But then Todd White scored an empty-netter one the powerplay and the game was over for realsies.

Special teams was the difference. Atlanta went 3-for-6 on the powerplay, and Ottawa was 0-for-4. Same old story for Ottawa: Their only goals at the start of the year came on the powerplay, but it's cooled off to absolute zero and the team is now 19th in the league with a 16.7 per cent efficiency rating.

The onus lies on the CASH Line to get their play going for the team's powerplay--and overall success--to improve. Daniel Alfredsson needs to realize that, as valuable as he is in the defensive zone, he's more valuable in the offensive zone; I love to see a player backcheck, but it's not unusual to see Alfie behind the defensive goal line--causing turnovers and taking control of the puck, granted, but his true value lies in creating turnovers in the offensive zone. Heatley is obviously showing his frustration, but he needs to channel it into positively creating chances and maybe skating a bit more quickly into the offensive zone. And Jason Spezza needs to keep playing with the hustle he is playing with, but start taking his own shots on net and stop cutting back to look out for the Heatley pass. Score a goal, no matter how it happens or who gets credit.

On defence, I've got to give loads of credit to Alex Picard. He played over 20 minutes, and he looked to have the poise combined with physicality that Bryan Murray expected when the deal was made. If his play continues this way, the deal could be a steal for Ottawa, because on this night Picard looked better than Andrej Meszaros did on many nights last season. And Brian Lee, who scored an assist, played with the confidence he was lacking earlier in the season.

Kudos also goes to Ottawa's pests, Chris Neil and Jarkko Ruutu. Although I still believe that Neil has been improperly slotted into a third-line role, he did a number on Atlanta's Bryan Little in--make no mistake--a completely clean open-ice hit, and Little (after being shaken up) appeared to get out of it without an injury. His hit did what Neil has to do: Use his physicality to turn the tide, and get the Sens going. And Ruutu, the shift after Neil's hit, stood up to the Thrashers' Jim Slater and really took it to him. It looked their actions had changed the momentum, but the Sens couldn't cash in on it in time.

I hate to say it, but Shean Donovan is going to take the fall for the Thrashers' first goal. It was his first--and may be his last--penalty killing shift in quite a while, and he was over-committal and too aggressive. In the end, when Ron Hainsey had the puck at the point on Donovan's side, Shean Don was in front of the net, checking no one, screening Martin Gerber. Donovan was great with Foligno and Ruutu on the fourth line, but he needs to settle down on the PK.

And that brings me to Gerber. He was screened on the first goal, the second was a wrap-around that squeaked in, and the third was after Heatley lost his check and then the puck hit Armstrong, dropped right down and towards the open net. Darth Gerber only stopped 21 of 24, but the fault on the goals shouldn't lie on his shoulders. Still, go back to Alex Auld next game, because he's earned the start.

Sigh... callers on the Senators' post game show are proposing the Sens acquire players like Sean Avery and Alexei Yashin in order to help add some scoring depth. The only thing more disturbing than that fact is that--because they won't likely cost much in a trade or signing--I almost think there's some merit to the ideas.

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?

Sens speak on Avery, Shannon back to Bingo

First off, the Ottawa Sun had asked a couple Senators what they thought about Sean Avery's comments (which I'm sure you know about by now), and they weren't surprised. Jarkko Ruutu, a charter member and Pestmaster General of the NHL Pest Association, suggested that Avery went against the "code" or pestmanship. From the Sun:

"It wasn't a surprise," said Senators winger Jarkko Ruutu. "If you want people to respect you off the ice, you better behave off the ice. Stuff that happens on the ice, stays on the ice. I think that's been the code forever. You've got to be smart with what you say. No one can dispute (he crossed the line)."

Daniel Alfredsson also commented on the off-colour remarks, saying that it was "immature". I've got to agree with both Senators, and suggest that it wasn't just immature--it was plain stupid. He's said stupid things before, including unproven remarks to Georges Laraque, but an off-the-ice comment denigrating someone who's not even a hockey player is beyond unacceptable.

Really interesting to see what Dallas coach Dave Tippet said about Avery, that basically suggested he's not welcome back on the team. It's got a lot to do with Avery's behaviour with his teammates prior to this event, but his recent comments were the straw that broke the camel's back. Kudos to Mike Modano for calling it all the way.

Onto a small roster note (well, small for Ottawa, but huge for Binghamton): Ryan Shannon has been reassigned to Binghamton. Because, according to Sportsnet, Chris Neil expects to play on Saturday against the Penguins. Not sure if Dean McAmmond will be ready to return, I expect that will be announced sometime in the next 24-48 hours.

Return of Redden

The Senators are up 1-0 after one period against the New York Rangers. The main component of the Sens' game so far has been smart plays -- in other words, a lack of the mistakes that put them behind early in games past. Case-in-point: No shots against through the first 13 minutes of the period.

Jarkko Ruutu really is an ass. His smartest play of the first period was sucking Paul Mara into the roughing penalty that resulted in Spezza's goal. His most stupid play was hitting a Rangers player on an icing call. Even the refs took that opportunity to rough him up after that stupid decision.

I haven't watched Brendan Bell too closely in games past, but he looks extremely comfortable, smart, and mobile on the blueline for the Senators' first period powerplays.

What a tip from Foligno on the disallowed goal. He took that puck from flying two feet above the net to through ankles of Valiquette.

In the second period now, the Rangers are looking panicked on defence. At the Sens' end, Auld isn't looking too comfortable in his crease. Granted, he hasn't allowed a goal, but I can't help but feel he'll cough up the puck and cost the Sens a goal in the third (you know - pull a 'Gerber').

As I type this, Jesse Winchester has just scored his second career goal with a great individual effort. Fighting off a defender, J-Win (that name won't stick) backhands it through Valiquette's legs.

Ruutu should get an assist on Alfie's goal late in the second period. Gary Galley admits it was goaltender interference, but haven't the Sens had enough goal disallowed in the past couple games? Finally, karma bounces back.

The CBC gang is warning Ruutu to tone down hijinx, especially if the Sens manage to score another couple goals and put this game out of the Rangers' reach. After having another look at the replay when he touched the NY goalie resulting in the Alfredsson goal, it appears that he tripped over the back of the net (at least a little). Anyone else see this? Or do I just have Jarko-coloured glasses on right now?

Okay, Auld let one in, but he didn't cough up the puck, it just went right through him. On second thought, maybe that's pulling a 'Gerber' too.

Foligno deserved that goal, he's played a tough game on the third line with a couple rookies. Kudos to the refs for not eating up 15 minutes and reviewing that goal.

Other than the Senators' improved effort and newly discovered ability to... you know... score goals, the story of the game has been the absense of the Rangers' big guns. Did we even hear the name Drury in this game? What about Naslund? It's like we've passed on the scoring curse to the

Colton Orr says 'fuck it' and jumps Ruutu, whether Jarkko wants to fight or not. He gets sent to the penalty box for the final minutes of the game. Wow, anti-climactic. Yup, Ruutu's an asshole, and he's damn good at it.

Spezza shows he can go a whole game without a no-look drop-pass! I guess we don't have to trade him after all. (Seriously though, never trade him.)

4-1 win breaks the six game losing streak. Are the Senators back on track? Let 'er rip in the comments.

Check out the Senators players thoughts on the new black jersey. Summary: They like the colour black.

McAmmond gets the call

An article in the Ottawa Citizen spoke about the Sens' injury situation, with Mike Fisher and Chris Neil both out for a couple of weeks (at least), and the need for the team's depth players--notably Dean McAmmond--to step up. The article also mentions Shean Donovan needing to step up, but there's an interview with McAmmond, and D-Mac says all the right things:

"That's what we're here for, that's what I've been here for three years for," said McAmmond, who has one goal and two assists this season. "Play solid, somebody goes down, go in, play hard, patch a hole, whatever. I'm capable of it. Everybody always wants to play as much as they can. I think in this situation here, it's not necessarily that I was aching for more ice time and it's not a matter of me looking for my shot. I mean, I've got 15 years in (the NHL), it's not about 'giving the kid a shot.'

"It's like, they know. There are no secrets about what I'm about, and I think I'm in a situation here where I'm going to do exactly what I was brought here to do. Play and fill holes, and be counted on to do just that."

With the injuries, McAmmond and Donovan are going to be the new third line, along with Jarkko Ruutu, while recent callups Ilya Zubov and Cody Bass make a fourth line with Nick Foligno. Given how well D-Mac, Shean Don, and Ruu have played--together and individually--it is a deserved promotion, and they've earned the ice time they'll get. Although they can be counted on for reliable defensive play and gritty (yet responsible) forechecking, a few goals tonight would be an added bonus.

Ruutu is awesome

There aren't many bright spots for the Senators right now. A lot of the off-season signings that Bryan Murray has made are being questioned, but one player is making Murray look pretty good: Jarkko Ruutu. He's come in doing exactly what was advertised (getting under the opponent's skin), but he's much smarter about it than some of the league's other superpests. And his intelligence has given coach Craig Hartsburg the freedom to use Ruutu on the penalty kill, a role he's filled effectively.

And, although Ruutu didn't score last night in the shootout, he's far and away the Senators' most effective shooter-outer, with a 50 per cent success rate this season and in his career.

Speaking of last night's shootout, Ruutu is such a pest that he can piss off his opponents without even breaking any rules. After losing control of the puck in the shootout, it drifted towards the corner; but, as Bob McKenzie described for TSN, Ruutu got to it before the play was dead, and still took a shot despite everyone--especially the Rangers--thinking he was out of order. In McKenzie's words:

It was interesting to see the New York Rangers get all bent out of shape when Ottawa Senator Jarkko Ruutu fired the puck at goalie Henrik Lundqvist from a bad angle after initially losing control of it on a shootout attempt last night.

[...]

According to NHL rule 25.2 on penalty shots, or shootouts if you will, that was still a live puck and Ruutu was within his rights to shoot it at Lundqvist.

"The original loss of the puck was not on a shot,” NHL director of officiating Stephen Walkon told TSN. "Therefore, the puck is live until it comes to a complete stop or the puck completely crosses the goal line."