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.

I've met a few Habs fans who were alright

In response to Blood Red Army

You might not believe me, but there are actually some Habs fans who aren't so bad. Most of them seem to be a bit crazy, though, and are absurdly defensive of the Euro-Habs' honour. And maybe a few of them are crazy enough to set police cars on fire when they win a single playoff series. But I've actually got a few friends who are Habs fans, a couple of whom actually appreciate the comedy behind the No Habs No! campaign.

Really, though, I've got to give kudos to the ongoing hilarity at Four Habs Fans, a fan blog regarding--you guessed it--the Canadiens. The most hilarious have been their series of "guest blogs" from baby Jaro, Jaroslav Halak. Here's part of his most recent post, a game review of the 5-4 shootout win against Ottawa that doubles as a movie review of E.T. (apparently Brian Elliott's last name as well as Ottawa playing like aliens reminded Jaro of the "big guy with long neck"):

"Thees jast great game for me but teem pley like crep. But all hole game I look at Otawa and they make me sad in my heart. Like if my heart have litel eyes and litel heart teers come out of eyes in my heart and I cry inside. Otawa you so diferent now! Before, last yeer, I go to Otawa and have very soft poo in my ass becase so nervous otawa so good! Otawa you before like King Kong of hackey and stupide teem like Mentreal like Empire Building and you climb all on us teem I cry on bus every time to Otawa becase I know Otawa you Kong and me litel great Jaro like butterfly with eating deesorder.

"But Otawa, you change! You no Kong! You like alien, like agly alien in the space outside from the planet of erth! Hahahahahaha! Otawa so like alien."

Awesome. Maybe Greg Wyshynski is right, and a lot of their other content is "vulgar, nasty, and tasteless", but the Great Jaro posts were so amazing that I've looked past the poor taste and installed Four Habs Fans on the Sens Army Blog blogroll--the first, and perhaps only, Habs blog to get that honour.

Damn: Habs 5, Sens 4 (SO)

It was an exciting game, at any rate, and the Sens did end up coming out of it with one point. That, however, is small consolation when I've had my hopes so high for so long.

I guess that's my own fault, though.

Still, through it all (if you watched the whole thing), the Senators kept us entertained. The Sens came out pretty strong in the first, but ran into penalty troubles early. It was a combination of the team playing precariously on the edge, and some weak calls. I don't like to blame refereeing, and I won't, but some weak calls--particularly Jason Spezza's second consecutive penalty, a slash on Andrei Kostitsyn mere seconds after A-Kost had blatantly tripped Dany Heatley, which was followed just eight seconds later with another weak penalty (to Daniel Alfredsson, no less) that set the Sens on the wrong side of a 5-on-3 that the Habs capitalized on--really set the Sens back. Ottawa had six penalties, and Montréal only had two; that wasn't the true case, if you measured actual infractions in the game.

Nonetheless, it happened, and the Sens were on their heels for a time. But a little more than four minutes after Alex Kovalev scored the first goal of the game, Chris Kelly replied to tie the game, and keep Sens fans in the game for the moment. The goal was resultant from some very solid board work on the part of Jesse Winchester (whose strength is in the trenches, and could stand to get back to it more often) and a nice pass from Jarkko Ruutu.

A-Kost scored a semi-weak dribbler a couple of minutes after Kelly, and late in the second Matt D'Agostini scored thanks to some weak coverage, and the Sens were down 3-1 and it looked all but over. The Sens got something they haven't gotten a lot of this season, though: A good break. A failed Habs pinch brought about a a 3-on-1 for the Sens, and Heatley "looked away" Jaroslav Halak while breaking down on his off-wing, and just snapped a wrister far side.

Then the Senators had to deal with something they've seen all too much of this season: A weak goal against. Tom Kostopolous fired a snapshot that Brian Elliott got a piece of, but not enough, and the Sens were back down two goals. After that, though, instead of feeling sorry for themselves, the Sens' big guns went out and took charge. Heatley scored his second of the game with assists from Spezza and Daniel Alfredsson, and later on Mike Fisher fired one hell of a slap shot (I knew it would be lethal if he would just hit the net) thanks to another oh-so-unexpected pass from Chris Neil (two sick set-ups in two games? Where is this from, Neiler? Keep it up, though). We were off to overtime, and then a shootout, and the Senators' continued their shootout struggles.

I'm not going to rag on Elliott. In fact, I think I'm going to give him a pass all season. It's not just because he has Casey Jones painted on his helmet (but how freakin' awesome is that), I just think the kid's been thrown into a circus, and he's already done better than either of the other two goalies have done. He allowed two weak-ish goals, sure, but he also made two sick breakaway saves to keep the game from getting out of hand really quickly. Judging by body language, those saves were more inspiring than the weak goals were deflating. It seemed, at times, that the team was actually playing for one another; the skaters knew that Elliott deserved better than an uninspired loss, so they picked it up and salvaged something from the game, at the very least.

It wasn't a win, and it's all the more disappointing that it wasn't a win because it was against Montréal. Still, it had some good signs, and it's five of a possible six points in the last three games. At least there's that. Bring on Washington on Tuesday.

Preview, fo' realz: Sens v. Habs, Jan. 17, 2009

Ottawa hasn't won three games in a row all season.

Montréal is 8-2 in their last ten games.

Ottawa has a relatively full lineup, with the exception of Anton Volchenkov.

Much of Montréal's recent tear has been without Saku Koivu, Alex Tanguay, Chris Higgins, or Carey Price.

Ottawa is 13th in the Eastern Conference, with a record of 13-21-6, for 36 points.

Montréal is 4th in the Eastern Conference, with a record of 26-11-6, for 58 points.

But still, Brian Elliott is playing! And Ottawa has looked alright in the last two games, both wins with Elliott playing pretty well, and primary and secondary scoring contributing.

A friend of mine, Wassim, who happens to be a Habs fan (hey, nobody's perfect... ), is so confident that Montréal will win the game tonight that he's offered to personally send $1 Canadian to each and every Ottawa Senators player who scores tonight if the Sens win.

I hope Ottawa wins 1,000,000-0 tonight. Take that, Wassim!

Sens lose, despite moustaches: Habs 3, Sens 2 (SO)

Taken in isolation, this was a great game for the Senators, and an exciting game overall. As the most recent loss in a six-game losing streak it's disappointing, especially given Ottawa's continued impotence in the shootout, but there were a lot of positive things that will come out of the game. Ottawa played hard for sixty-five minutes, controlling a lot of the play and really deserving a better fate. Dem's da breaks, though; at least they're playing well defensively these days. And Alex Auld is likely playing the best hockey of his career.

The shootout; the bane of my existence (and that of most Sens fans). I don't know why the Sens can't win in the shootout, but they've apparently been working on it in practice and will need to continue doing so if they're going to get a few bonus points and improve the 7-20 all-time shootout record. A good start, though, would be benching Antoine Vermette in the shootout. I don't know if they keep track of whether or not a player gets a shot in the shootout, but I know that Vermette has a hard enough time getting a shot away, let alone scoring a goal, even if he is among the team's leaders. Jason Spezza made it look easy, and Jarkko Ruutu's shot would have gone in on most goaltenders not named Carey Price, but Vermette looked like he deked himself out. The puck may have been rolling, but it's just another piece of evidence filed under the shootout category. I don't know if Dany Heatley would be better, as Black Aces suggests, but anyone who gets a shot away has a better chance than Vermette at this point.

Anyway, back to the game; let's talk desperation. Let's talk Nick Foligno's goal tonight. The kid's been suffering through a terrible drought, and not just bad luck, but he hasn't even really been making the opportunities to score, and his ice time had diminished as a result. He was still getting an opportunity one the powerplay, though, and when he saw that free puck lying beside Price, he--literally--jumped at it. And I'm pretty sure I've seen Foligno dive for a loose puck stick-first earlier in the season.

Thanks, in part, to Foligno's intensity tonight, but in larger part to Cody Bass' intensity tonight, and in some part to Ilya Zubov's puck control, the Bingo line was likely Ottawa's most effective line on the night. Anyone watching knew when that line was on the ice, but for positive reasons, like a hard forecheck and an effective cycle. I was disappointed to see them get such little ice time in the third period after such a good first two, especially with Bass only playing 5:34 overall. It was a close race, however, as the third line of Dean McAmmond, Shean Donovan, and Ruutu generated plenty of energy for the team as well. D-Mac was, once again, very solid defensively, but I lost count of the number of times Donovan was breaking into the Montreal zone leading the rush. He may only have finished with two shots on net, but he certainly looked like he had more.

The defence, pretty much to a man, was very strong. They were usually able to keep the Habs to the perimeter, and cleared many dangerous pucks the odd time Auld didn't swallow the rebound. Of particular note was Alex Picard, who played what was probably his best game in a Sens uniform and earned two assists for his effort. The whole corps deserves credit, though, and Brendan Bell definitely looks like he fits on that second powerplay unit and that third d-pairing.

The least effective line was probably the CASH Line, but that's not to say they weren't working hard. Dany Heatley was backchecking (!) hard and laid a few solid hits, Daniel Alfredsson never seems to take a night off (and tonight was no exception), and Spezza seemed--at times--to have the puck on a string, their passes just weren't connecting. It looks like the line, and especially Spezza, are trying to make the perfect play, but often times the ones that go in aren't perfect, and tonight's two Sens goals are proof of that. Sometimes you've just got to get ugly, and they need only look to Jason Smith's fu manchu to see that fact.

Foligno's goal notwithstanding, the Senators powerplay was terrible on the whole. It might have had something to do with Price's ability to handle the puck and the Canadiens effective penalty kill, but it had a lot more to do with an inability to win faceoffs and poor--and poorly thought-out--passes.

What is wrong with Vermette? How many chances does this guy need? GAH! Sorry. I'm sure Vermette is even more frustrated than I or any other fans are, but it's so hard to watch. He failed on two glorious scoring chances, the first set up by Zubov on the powerplay after Vermette deked out Price but shot the puck behind Price across the front of the open net, and the second after Jesse Winchester passed to Chris Kelly, who passed to Vermette as he cut in front of Price--but Price stretched his legs out and Vermette couldn't get the puck up and over. The second one was an amazing save, but this guy's got to get it going.

From someone who can't finish to someone who's a bit premature: The refs need to get the rules straight. Or at least watch the play more closely, because Anton Volchenkov goal did not--absolutely not--see any possession by a Montreal player, and so the play should not have been whistled down on the delayed Alex Kovalev tripping penalty. It was a blown call by Don VanMassenhoven, and it cost the Senators the go-ahead goal at a pivotal point in the game. And even just for sentimental purposes, Frankenstein doesn't get that many goals in a given season; give him a break, will ya? And an interesting point was apparently made by the crew at RDS: Why didn't Craig Hartsburg absolutely lose it on the refs? It wouldn't have changed the call, granted, but it could have made the refs a little more sympathetic to the Sens later on, and it definitely would have charged up his players--all of whom are being asked to play with emotion. Lose it, Hartsburg. Just rip into the refs next time. Throw a bench or a stick or wave a towel or something.

Let's hope this is one of those games that sometimes happen when you're coming off a losing streak; you lose games that you should have won. Because then it means this losing streak might be over, and soon.

And holy shit, Smith's fu manchu looks amazing. In a ridiculously self-acknowledged ugliness sort of way.

Will Ruutu get suspended? UPDATE: Yes, he will

Should Jarkko Ruutu get suspended for elbowing Habs' pest Maxim Lapierre to the head? Anyone who hasn't seen the hit, here it is:



I don't know what will happen. I have a feeling that given the league's emphasis on eliminating hits to the head Ruutu might get some sort of punishment, but I haven't heard any word yet.

Further on Ruutu, should he get any trouble for mocking the Canadiens faithful last night? Some people were disgusted by his antics, Glen Kulka on the TEAM 1200 being one notable name. I think it was hilarious. Waving to the fans as they booed him off the ice; what did they expect?

UPDATE: According to TSN, Ruutu was suspended for two games without pay. No word on who the Sens will be recalling from Binghamton yet, if anyone. I hope it's Ilya Zubov, give him some ice time with Jason Spezza and Dany Heatley.

Terrible: Habs 4 Sens 0

No sense pulling any punches: The Sens got pwned by the Canadiens Tuesday night. Although a few Senators had a good game, the team as a unit was bad. There was no semblance of cohesion or structure, and if history serves, Craig Hartsburg will be calling out a few more players after this game.

Story of the game was Montreal's penalty killing, or possibly Ottawa's inept powerplay (especially that second unit). Carey Price was great in their net, too, but more than that was the short-handed goal for Chris Higgins (one of his three goals on the night) and consistent offensive pressure while killing penalties for the Habs. It turned the momentum around big time.

I don't know how the Sens can fix their second powerplay unit, but you can't throw Mike Fisher, Antoine Vermette, Nick Foligno, Chris Phillips, and Christoph Schubert on the ice and expect much in the way of offensive pressure. Vermette is everywhere, but nowhere when you need him, Foligno looks lost (probably because he's trying to do too much), Fisher is just running guys over but can't get the puck to anyone, Schubert will either miss the net or have his shot blocked and turned into a rush the other way, and it's sad to say that Phillips kind of looks like he fits there the most. Jesse Winchester got some PP time later in the game, but he's not likely the solution, either. I don't know what is, but there's got to be something better.

I don't want to pick on Schubert, but I think he might have had his worst game tonight. He was caught high on the first goal against, and lost the puck on the second one. His defensive responsibility is not sold on me, and I can't say I know why Brian Lee isn't up here playing as the sixth defenceman instead of Schubert. Stats say he had four shots on net, which is more than I'd thought, but he also had three shots blocked and two missed shots. He wasn't impressive tonight.

It was a tough game for Foligno, as well. It's never easy for a young player to be demoted from second- to third- to fourth-line minutes, but Foligno is just trying to do to much. And it's costing him, as he was -3 on the night, -10 on the season, and his production has seriously tailed off. My diagnosis is for him to simplify his game; play positionally, forecheck, and throw the puck on net. His line has a very simple prerogative, so he's just got to keep it that way, too.

Biggest jackass on the night was Jarkko Ruutu, and I am glad he's on the Sens. It's a lot more fun when that guy's throwing elbows at your opponents rather than your favourite players. And it's hilarious watching him skating off the ice, waving to the opposing fans sarcastically. Hilarious. Hilarious because no one got injured, that is.

Jason Spezza responded tonight. I'd argue that he wasn't what was wrong with that line in the past few games, either, but he definitely wasn't the problem on this night. He looked pissed, and that's how he should play. He had gusto, tried a hit, crashed the net, led the team with four shots, and still found time to make some pretty passes without any giveaways--unfortunately his linemates, Dany Heatley and Antoine Vermette, couldn't back him up.

The best line was, once again, Fisher-Winchester-Daniel Alfredsson. They didn't get anything done goal-wise, but they combined for seven shots on net and were effective when they were on the ice. At times, Fisher was just ploughing through Habs defenders, and it was some incredible strength.

The best player for the Sens, however, was Alex Auld. He kept the Sens in the game in the first period, when they were outshot 11-3 and had no business being in it. His stats will take a hit after letting in four goals, but this loss was far from his fault--and it could (and perhaps should) have been a lot worse.

It looked like the Sens had turned a corner, but then they turned right back around in tonight's game. Montreal is one of, if not the, best team in the Eastern Conference, but that doesn't excuse the sloppiness with which the Senators played tonight. Should the team get back to that system Hartsburg has in place, they'd be much more competitive with the best teams in the league.

U-G-L-Y, Sens ain't got no alibi

Wow. I'm kind of glad I didn't have to see that. A 5-0 loss to the Canadiens, with a bunch of their best players out of the lineup? While the Sens had 13 skaters expected to make the lineup, including Jason Spezza and Dany Heatley. Sounds pretty bad, although I didn't witness it first-hand.

Some statistical info about the game, that might help paint the picture: The Sens were outshot 30-21 in the game. Three of Montreal's goals were on the powerplay, and the Sens had 34 minutes in penalties. The Kostitsyns (Sergei and Andrei) combined for five points, while Andrei Markov had three. The only thing I'm a little disappointed to have missed are the four fights, including Cody Bass v. Tom Kostopolous, Chris Neil v. Alex Henry, Zach Smith v. P.K. Subban, and Brad Isbister v. Henry again.

Hopefully some of that emotion carries over into the game tonight, as the Sens host the Canadiens. The game is on TSN tonight, and on TEAM1200. Cuts may be coming tonight, so I'll try and update if they've happened.

Pre-season game 4: Sens @ Habs

No local TV coverage for tonight's meaningless pre-season game? Terrible. Not even RDS is broadcasting tonight's game against the Canadiens, as far as I know.

Mike Fisher, Alexandre Picard, Shean Donovan, and Daniel Alfredsson are all out of the lineup for the Sens tonight. One or both of Fisher and Picard may be ready to go on Saturday night. No cuts have been made since the Philly game on Wednesday, so the roster is still pretty oversized. Expect cuts within the next couple of days, because the Sens will have the roster trimmed to 24 before their flight to Sweden on Sunday.

Alex Auld is scheduled to play the whole game, and according to the Ottawa Sun the lines are scheduled to be as follows:

Dany Heatley-Jason Spezza-Jesse Winchester
Antoine Vermette-Chris Kelly-_____
Jarkko Ruutu-Cody Bass-Chris Neil
Zack Smith-Dean McAmmond-Peter Regin

Not really sure what the D pairings will be, once again. I'll update once I find out.

EDIT: A commenter suggested the defence pairings could be:

___-Brendan Bell
Filip Kuba-___
Christoph Schubert-Brian Lee

So Christoph Schubert gets another shot at defence. I'm still very curious what will happen to him this season.

EDIT AGAIN: According to the Sens' official site, "Chris Phillips, Shean Donovan, Daniel Alfredsson, Jason Smith and Nick Foligno are all being given tonight off." So I'm not sure who rounds out the lines. This pre-season roster juggling makes it pretty hard to keep track. I assume Luke Richardson and Anton Volchenkov will play D, and Matt Carkner might be filling the last forward spot.

WE'RE IN THE PLAYOFFS!

That is definitely not something I thought would be in question when the season was in its early stages. It's disappointing that it took until the last gam of the season, but I'm still damned excited about the playoffs.

Despite the 2-1 loss the Sens suffered at the hands of the Bruins, the Sens made it into the playoffs through the back door. In what I can't describe as anything less than a playoff-like game--probably because both teams had their playoff lives on the line--the Sens came up short against the Bruins. Whatever. I don't care. Thanks to a 4-3 Florida Panthers victory over the Carolina Hurricanes, the 'Canes are now officially eliminated (EDIT: Actually, if Washington loses their last game against Florida, then they finish tied with Carolina and the Hurricanes would win the most-wins tie-breaker) from the playoffs and Ottawa will finish in either seventh or eighth (EDIT: The Sens could technically jump into sixth if Boston loses their last game, thanks to that most-wins tie-breaker). Thank you, Jacques Martin!

Speaking of the game against Boston, Antoine Vermette continued to step it up. He had a great game, made all sorts of chances, and scored the Sens' only goal. He's now got 4 goals in the past two games, the kind of offensive step-uppability that will make it difficult to consider letting him go as an unrestricted free agent this season. A bunch of other players had great games, too, but none of that matters anymore, because now the real season starts.

As it stands, the Sens will play either Pittsburgh or Montreal (EDIT: Or, depending on what happens with the earlier scenarios, Carolina or Washington). Without further adieu, here is an impromptu playoff preview, which will likely be elaborated upon once we figure out who will actually be the Sens' opponent.

Pittsburgh Penguins

Insane offensive firepower. Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, Marian Hossa, Sergei Gonchar, Petr Sykora, among others. Goaltending has been up-and-down, but both Ty Conklin and Marc-Andre Fleury have had their moments. Defense is questionable; one hilarious comment I heard on the Team 1200 today was the accurate point that the Pens picked up Hal Gill at the deadline as a defensive upgrade; this guy would be lucky to crack Ottawa's top six if it weren't for his size. Pittsburgh will probably also benefit from the return of Gary Roberts when he returns from his injury, but they lost some serious depth when they acquired Hossa. The Sens handily defeated the Pens last year, but this Pittsburgh team has had one full year more to develop, and Malkin kind of scares the shit out of me. It wouldn't be an easy series, but if Dany Heatley and Jason Spezza step it up as they can, Vermette continues the way he's going, and the role players... well... play their roles, the Sens have what it takes to beat the Pens.

Montreal Canadiens

What an amazing series this would be. Montreal is always such a hard team to predict, however. The resurgence of Alexei Kovalev is nothing to scoff at, but he has been known to lose interest in games if he's punished physically. Thomas Plekanec can also be controlled if you pressure him, and Ottawa's shutdown defencemen like Anton Volchenkov, Chris Phillips, Mike Commodore, and Christoph Schubert (should he drop back) should be able to make his life difficult. Carey Price is an unknown quantity; if he steals games, there is very little the Sens can do aside from continuing to get to him with everything--shots, bodies, snow, verbal abuse--to try and knock him off his game. Nothing's worked so far, but Price hasn't had to deal with the same guy in his crease, stepping on his toes, for 4-7 games straight. That means Chris Neil, Martin Lapointe, Shean Donovan, and Cody Bass will have their work cut out for them, and they'll have to do so while staying out of the penalty box to avoid Montreal's punishing powerplay.

I don't really care who we play at this point. Whichever team it is poses difficulties, but every team in the league also has vulnerabilities that can be exploited if the coach can find a way to pick them out and take advantage. I think the Sens should be able to take down just about any team in the East, especially if they get Mike Fisher, Chris Kelly, or Daniel Alfredsson back from their injuries sooner rather than later.

(EDIT: Sorry, I wrote this late last night and I apparently missed a few things. I added in edits wherever I made mistakes. I'll add in a preview for the Washington or Carolina scenarios later this afternoon if I can.)

A crushing defeat: Habs 7 Sens 5

I love how well this photo illustrates the crushingness of tonight's loss...

Wow. Just... wow. I can't believe how ugly those first two periods were. And more frustrating was how well the team played in the third period. Why not just play that way all game long? I have to admit, I was watching the game with some friends, and I stopped watching once it was 6-1 and watched a few episodes of The Office. The American edition. Steve Carell is hilarious. We checked back with 10 minutes gone in the third, and it was 7-4. So we watched the rest of the game, which ended 7-5. A lot better than the 7-1 score going into the third.

I'm pretty sure this loss wasn't because Chris Kelly and Dean McAmmond were out, even if those two are valuable contributors. If it was, we're in trouble for a while. I hope Cody Bass plays tomorrow, because he's a Kelly-esque hard worker.

Is it wrong that I laughed when Wade Redden trip himself and smashed into the boards behind the net? He's a great person in the community. He gives a lot back to the city. He might be a good leader. But he's been terrible for most of the last two seasons. His tripping and smashing into the back boards, turning the puck over to the Habs for an easy goal, is a microcosm of the season we've seen from him: a complete disaster. At this point, I don't think Bryan Murray would want him back even if Reds agrees to sign for $1.5M or something ridiculous.

Where the hell did Randy Robitaille learn to play that hard? Maybe we should scratch him every other game, so he always feels he's got something to prove. NHL.com only gave him one hit, but I saw one shift where he had at least two, and he finished with two assists and was +2 on the night.

The Sens' powerplay was terrible. Eight powerplays, including a 5-3 in the third that could have made it a tie game, but they bombed. I'm not sure what the problem is. Certainly frustrating is seeing Jason Spezza or Dany Heatley trying to stickhandle through the neutral zone, have the puck knocked back, and havign to regroup and try again. Although dump-and-chase on the powerplay is ugly, it might be necessary. Puck movement in the offensive zone--when it is eventually gained--is usually fine, but shots don't get through. The powerplay's been clicking the last few games, but not tonight.

The floodgates have opened offensively for Mike Commodore! The man has two assists in the last two games. Outstanding. Also of note: Martin Lapointe got a goal and an assist and now has five points in 12 games with the Sens. Andrej Meszaros shot 13 towards the net, even though 5 got blocked on the way. He's continuing to improve, despite his -2 rating tonight, and he might be priority number one this off-season.

The goaltending situation got a little cloudier. When Martin Gerber allowed three goals in the first period, including some poor ones, and Ray Emery came in for the second, I thought there was some drama. Then Emery allowed four goals in the second, including some poor ones, and it addressed no concerns. Then Murray announced that Gerber would start again tomorrow in Buffalo, and it might be his last chance to prove he can be the starter. Although Emery will be tagged with this loss, Gerber has played poorly in three of the last four.

I don't know what else to say. The CASH line combined for 6 points, with Daniel Alfredsson getting three assists. Although Heater's Drive for Fifty campaign is getting less likely, his two goals tonight brough the season total to 39, so six games to score eleven more goals.

Tomorrow's game against the Sabres can go a long way in helping me forget tonight's. But right now, the assignment I have to write--which is due tomorrow--will be extremely difficult due to all these distracting questions about my team's playoff hopes. Do the Sens have no consideration for the lives of their fans? So selfish.

Who needs secondary scoring? Sens 6 Habs 1

In the 13 games that either Dany Heatley or Daniel Alfredsson--or both--were injured, I'd forgotten how much the Senators' CASH line could dominate a game. Just 22 seconds into Saturday night's game against Montreal, I was reminded. And then, just over a minute later, another reminder. And then again three minutes after that. You get the picture. By the time the fat lady sang (the national anthem in Vancouver; at least it looked like a fat lady), the Sens had absolutely massacred the Canadiens 6-1, and (more importantly, some would say) won me $5 from a friend.

Jason Spezza looked incredible, and scored his first career hat trick plus three assists to bring himself within two points of the NHL scoring lead. Alfredsson scored twice plus three assists, to tie Alexander Ovechkin for the league-lead with 73 points (additionally, Alfie's scored 14 points in his last three games; not too shabby). Heater scored once, added three assists, and now has seven points in the two games since returning from his shoulder injury. When all was said and done, the line had combined for all six goals, nine assists, they were +12, and had 12 of Ottawa's 29 shots. Simply amazing.

Alongside the heroic story of the CASH line reuniting was a pretty darn good game for Ray Emery. Don't let the 6-1 score fool you, this game could have been close. Rayzor came up big with some key saves to keep the Sens pouring on the offence, stopping 33 of the Habs' 34 by the end of the night. Say what you will about John Paddock's "win and you're in" philosophy, it seems to have brought the best out of Emery--even if it took a few games. I guess it's this kind of play that makes his off-ice shenanigans a little more palatable.

Also Lost in the Flood (Bruce Springsteen reference; great song) of goals was a decent game by Wade Redden. Maybe Bryan Murray should ask him if he'll waive his no-trade clause before every game, so Reds will get pissed, play well, and kick some young kid's ass. Especially notable about that fight was that, despite the fact that Redden smoked Sergei Kostitsyn with an uppercut, he only suffered a two-minute minor penalty. To quote Kenny Wu of Mighty Ducks 2 fame, "Two minutes? Well worth it."

There were Ottawa two points NOT scored by the big line: Anton Volchenkov and Joe Corvo each had one assist. Defensively, Volchenkov blocked five freakin' shots. Offensively, Corvo's assist was the hundredth of his career. Both had good games.

Sens play 20 minutes against Habs, lose 4-3

Well, that was a frustrating loss. Made more frustrating by the fact that had Ottawa continued the momentum of the first 2 minutes of the game, there could have been a victory. Or if the team had played the first forty minutes as well as the third period, it would have been a different story.

There's no way John Paddock can call out Jason Spezza for his play against Montreal. I don't know why he did, as it likely served no purpose aside from making guys hate him more, and a playmaker like Spezza needs play-finishers to be effective. Tonight, though, he scored a nice goal, got an assist, and finished +1 overall.

The difference was probably special teams, as it so often is. After Chris Kelly scored to give Ottawa and early lead, the two consecutive penalties really took the wind out of the Sens' sails, especially the second one where Andrei Kostitsyn scored to tie the game. The Sens got a little down after that, and a sick passing play ended with Tomas Plekanec giving Montreal a 2-1 lead.

Martin Gerber probably should have had at least one of the two second-period goals, if not both of them. Mark Streit shot a rocket from the blue line that Joe Corvo may have tipped, but it was stoppable. Plekanec' second goal of the game was banked in off The Gerber, because he was cheating in anticipation of a cross-crease pass.

Things picked up in the third, and I wish the whole game was like that. The Sens outshot the Habs 12-4, and both Spezza and Antoine Vermette got Ottawa to within one. Randy Robitaille and Kelly both got stoned by Cristobal Huet, and the Sens ran out of time on the comeback If Ottawa can play like the third period on Saturday, then there's a chance for a victory to restore our lead in the Northeast Division; if Daniel Alfredsson's able to return to the lineup, all the better. Oh yeah, and there's a game against Florida in the meantime, on Thursday night. The only reason I'm not tremendously disappointed is that the Panthers beat the Leafs 8-0 tonight, but the Sens had better watch out if Florida runs with that.

Note about Alfie: A friend saw Alfredsson at the airport on Monday night, and casually said, "So, are you going to be ready to go tomorrow, Daniel?" Alfie said no, but that "He'd get [the Canadiens] on Saturday." So there you go.

Another winning streak begins

Just two days after a dismal effort against the Maple Leafs, the Sens bounced back to defeat Montreal 4-2 on Monday night. Awesome.

After a slightly-less-than-usual delay for pre-game ceremonies honouring Larry Robinson, Ottawa and the Habs had another very exciting game for spectators to watch. If these two teams meet in the playoffs, it will be an incredible series.

Most Senators had good games, but special mention goes to Dany Heatley. His second effort to get Jason Spezza the puck on the Sens' second goal was what good players have to do to become great players. Heater also broke his eight-game scoreless streak, and probably could have scored three or four goals if he could hit the net. Three points in the game for both of those guys, a few more games like that and Heatley will be right up at the top of the point- and goal-scoring races.

It also looked like Spetzky is back in game form now, after taking the last two games to readjust to the pace. Good to see, and I'll bet Heatley and John Paddock are both pretty relieved.

Alfredsson got dropped to what is now line 1B, along with Antoine Vermette and Mike Fisher. That'll be a great line, Alfie and the Fish play well already, and once Vermette gets a feel for how they'll play, we could have a bona fide second scoring line. Unless Paddock goes back to the old formations, or throws Fisher on the top line with Spezza and Heatley.

Chris Neil had his best game of the year, scoring a goal and an assist. He's played pretty well in most of the last few games. If he keeps working that hard--and gets some time on the top line--he should have a chance of matching or breaking his career-high 33 points from 2005-06.

Finally, Patrick Eaves continued on his streak of great games and is making it harder and harder for Bryan Murray to consider trading him. Eaves seems to be the most likely roster player to be traded aside from one of the goalies, but he seems to be getting closer to the role the Sens had hoped he'd fill when he was drafted. And if that happens, there's no need to find another top-six player; we'll already have one.

And then there's Martin Gerber. Made key saves at key times, and if Ray Emery wants a shot at giving The Gerber a run for the number 1A spot, he's really going to have to kick some ass on Wednesday against Buffalo or Thursday against Pittsburgh, whichever of those he plays in. Most think that start will be against the Sabres on Wednesday, bringing with it the potential of a rematch against Andrew Peters. Given how pissed Rayzor seems to be after losing the starting job due to injury, maybe he'll boil over. I hope not, though, he's got enough to worry about with goaltending.

In other news, Alfredsson is second overall in voting for the 2007-08 All-Star Game. Which is great. Unfortunately, the write-in campaign for Martin Gerber isn't going so well, so go and vote! There is a link to the voting website in the lineup tracker on the left side of this page.

If you can't deke 'em out, eke 'em out

Well, it was a tight game against the Habs on Thursday, but it ended the right way.

Congratulations to Nick Foligno on his first goal. Even though your post-goal jump wasn't the best, it was still fun to watch, for sentimental reasons.

Of course Daniel Alfredsson played awesome. If he plays this way all year, he'll have a Hart Trophy to put beside his Calder Trophy, and--if his three assists tonight have anything to say about it--maybe an Art Ross in there, as well.

Wade Redden played well at times, but not so well at other times. He scored a pretty weak goal on Carey Price, and got an assist, so I guess it was good, all in all.

Speaking of Price, he played well, but that's exactly why I questioned Guy Carbonneau's decision to play Cristobal Huet against Florida and throw Price against three of the best scorers in the league. Price seemed well-balanced after the game, but Ottawa's shooters just have a way of scoring on most goalies no matter how well they play (knock on wood). Although Carb's Guillaume Latendresse/Steve Begin experiment seemed to work.

Those of you who watched the game may have noticed two Senators not playing in the third. The first was Antoine Vermette, who apparently had back spasms. He didn't go to practice on Tuesday, and I wouldn't be surprised if he took Saturday's game against Floria off to make sure his back is all good. Maybe someone from the farm, like Alexander Nikulin or Josh Hennessy, will get the chance, since I don't think Dean McAmmond is ready to return yet.

The second was, for some reason, Luke Richardson. I thought Richie had a pretty good game, but for some reason John Paddock decided to bench him in favour of Christoph Schubert (who was bumped back to defence) nearing the end of the game. The only reason I can think is that the Habs are a pretty fast team, but Richardson plays a defensively sound game, and has rarely been out of position so far this year. I understand wanting to move Schubie back, but I would think benching Joe Corvo, who's often times unreliable defensively.

Although Martin Gerber played well, his rebounds just give him so much extra work. But as long as he keeps winning, I'm fine with it. I wouldn't be surprised if Ray Emery was given the start on Saturday against the Panthers, though, just to get the opportunity to some real game-action.

Game preview: Sens vs. Habs, Oct. 18

Since there is so much damned time between games, it means I'll have time to assemble a (hopefully) decent game-preview regarding the Sens and Habs in Ottawa on Thursday night.

The first of eight games this season; Ottawa won the season-series last year 5-3, outscoring Montreal 31-24 in the process. In 2007-08, Ottawa's 6-1-0 (12 pts), and Montreal's 2-1-2 (6 pts).

Sens storylines

• This will mark the debut for the newest Senator, Randy Robitaille. Robitaille has just re-joined the NHL after scoring 9 points in 14 games for Lokomotiv Yaroslavl of the RSL. It's unclear where he will play in the game; he practiced on the second line on Wednesday, but common thought is that he will line up on the fourth line.
• To make room for Robitaille, it appears that Christoph Schubert will drop back to defence and Luke Richardson will be the odd-man out. I don't know why, as I've been quite impressed with Richardson's play so far, but I guess John Paddock has his reasons.
• Despite the fact that Ray Emery is ready to play, the Sens are going with Martin Gerber in nets. More on that in the last post.
• It's been five days since the Sens last played. Will the layoff be too much?
• The Sens have the best penalty-killing percentage in the league at 96.97% (32-for-33). They are 22nd on the powerplay, going 5-for-34.
• Among Sens players, Daniel Alfredsson has the most career points against the Habs, with 22 goals and 49 assists for 71 points in 57 games played. Dany Heatley has 30 points (10G, 20A) in 25 games and Jason Spezza has 26 (13G, 13A) in 26 games. Plus Spezza annihilated former Hab Sheldon Souray. Let's never forget that moment (not that Jubille Jewellers would ever let us).
  

Habs storylines

• Carey Price will make his second NHL start against Ottawa. Sure, he got a victory against the Pittsburgh Penguins and the best player in the NHL, but Ottawa's got a lot of big guns. I hope they are firing on all cylinders.
  
• After being scratched on Tuesday, both Steve Begin and Guillaume Latendresse will be back in the lineup against the Sens. If head coach Guy Carbonneau's plan worked, they'll be a pain in the Sens collective butt.
• After questioning Carbonneau's tactics, Alexei Kovalev apparently had a heart-to-heart with his coach. We all know Kovalev's bi-polarity; he can either respond negatively and do nothing, or positively and act as a one-man wrecking crew. Time will tell.
• Montreal is tenth on the PP with 5-for-24 and 23rd when short-handed, killing 20 of 25 penalties.
• Kovalev leads all active Habs in points against Ottawa, with 43 (16G, 17A) in 53 games played. Then, to my surprise, is former Senator Bryan Smolinski with 33 points (16G, 17A) in 33 games. Saku Koivu is third, with 28P (8G, 20A) in 44GP and defenceman Patrice Brisebois is fourth, 10G, 16A, 26P in 41GP.

And that ends the game preview! Was it good for you?

Around the boards: Oct. 15

Since there's little to no Sens news, I'm going to try something new; a Northeast Division wrap-up, since I don't feel like doing the whole league! Sorry if you find them boring. Well, I'm not really sorry, but you know what I mean.



Ottawa Senators

• The Sens are gone on a team-building trip to the Muskokas or something. Must be nice. Apparently there will be some scrimmages while they're there, and some rounds of golf.
• Dean McAmmond participated in his first full team practice since the Steve Downie incident, which is awesome. The sooner Deaner's back, the better.
• According to Bruce Garrioch, the Sens are going to sign Randy Robitaille as soon as he is released from the Russian team he signed with. I wonder if they are as pissed at him as we were at Alexei Kaigorodov last year. Probably.
• Scott Niedermayer is coming to Otttawa. Don't ask me why or how, but if it happens, you heard it here first.
• Ray Emery's wrist is back in fine shape, apparently, so he's ready to dress come next game. I'd say Marty Gerber will start against Montreal on Thursday, but Emery might make his first start of the season against Florida on Saturday.

Toronto Maple Leafs

• If the trend oof inconsistency (OTL-L-W-L-W-L so far in the season) continues, the 2-3-1 Leafs will at least get a point against Buffalo tonight. While stranger things have happened, don't count on it.
• Andrew Raycroft is starting against the Sabres. If you ask me, goaltending was the least of Toronto's problems last year, and they just made it worse with the Vesa Toskala addition.
• After injuring his knee in a practice, Alexei Ponikarovsky is close to returning, but won't be rushed. He won't play against Buffalo.
• Now that Matt Stajan has scored a few goals, idiot Nick Kypreos wants to trade him for--get this--grit. This is why the Leafs are in the position they are in now; trading away young guys to get old men like Gary Roberts. And it's also why Ben still doesn't watch Sportsnet.
• Mats Sundin is on pace to get a career-high 137 points. I guess bringing in Jason Blake was a good thing. Plus he's playing incredibly well.
  

Montreal Canadiens

• Guillaume Latendresse, whom I thought was embraced as the francophone saviour of les Habitants, looks like he's worked his way out of the lineup (according to TSN). I respect Guy Carbonneau, but why would he bench fan-favourite Latendresse? This team is in a priveleged position of appealing to all francophone players not named Danny Briere if they market the team right. Maybe if he got more than 10 minutes of ice time a game and some powerplay time he'd be getting points, Carby.
  
• Speaking of Carbonneau and players who are being embraced as saviours by Habs fans, why isn't he giving Carey 'the next Patrick Roy or Ken Dryden' Price another start? Cristobal Huet is going to play Tuesday aginst Florida, but wouldn't the lowly Panthers present a pretty good game for Price to play in? I guess Carbs is saving him to play the Sens, including the three leading scorers in the NHL. That'll be great for his confidence.
  

Buffalo Sabres

• I don't know why I hate the Sabres so much, but I do. Probably as much as I hate the Leafs.
• Jocelyn Thubault is starting against the Leafs. That's a slap in the face if I've ever seen one. I hope Jason Blake gets a hat trick of hat tricks. Nothing against Thibault, but I see Buffalo as a bigger threat to Ottawa's Northeast Division title, plus Blake's a pretty respectable character.
• After losing the first two games the Sabres have won the following two by a combined score of 13-3. But they were against Washington and Atlanta, so do they really count? No. So maybe tonight's contest against Toronto will be close.
  

Boston Bruins

• Apparently the Bs are looking at, and possibly close to, signing Danny Markov. Word on the street was that Ottawa was looking at him in the off-season, but there's little to no reason to sign him considering the depth Ottawa has on D.
• Tim Thomas, the goaltender with the ugliest helmet in the league, has outplayed newcomer Manny Fernandez, and has so far retained the starting-goaltender moniker.
• Milan Lucic is playing well for the Bruins, and TSN.ca is reporting he's been promoted to the third line. I wish he was on Ottawa. His play in the Super Series against Russia was pretty stellar; he's the kind of left-winger I would like to play with Christoph Schubert. Or Daniel Alfredsson. I don't care.

And that's that. It took a lot longer than I thought it would. In other news, I love that the NHL made all team websites the same. No matter what the Detroit Red Wings say, it makes summarizing team news easier, so I don't care.

I'm not watching the sens tonight

There's just too much drama right now between the Leafs and the Habs - that game tonight is going to be awesome. The Senators game (vs Boston) is only on Centre Ice. If the sens win tonight, they will clinch 4th place and get home ice advantage against Pittsburgh in the first round.

That said, I'm not even that concerned about the Senators getting home ice advantage. Look at what it's done for them the last few years. This season has been all about taking the long road, and I think that our playoffs should be no different.

The sens are 3-4-0 vs the Bruins this season. This is Heatley's last chance in his Drive for Five-ty. He currently has 49 goals. I hope he makes it... but like I said - long road this season. I'm not betting on it at this point.

Took the day off yesterday from blogging and participated in an Easter Egg hunt on the University of Ottawa campus - sweet - my team won.

Playoffs start in one week!

Step up to the Mike

Senators 5 - 2 Canadiens

Sometimes you get all the bounces. The Habs hit a ton of goal posts and Ray Emery made a ridiculous save with hits right leg while flailing on the goal line. Dany Heatley even helped his Drive for Five-ty with a goal on an open net late in the third period. He now has 47 goals and 99 points. I'm ready to give Heatley the title of most consistent Senator this season - and he's played every game for two seasons now - very impressive!

What did I say about those Mikes?! The Fisher and Comrie each had 3-points last night against the Montreal Canadiens. I think these guys are going to be instrumental in the Senators upcoming playoff serie(s). Mike Comrie could very well be the best late-season acquisition that the Senators have made in years! ...well let's wait for the playoffs to declare that.

And it looks like my greatest fears are becoming reality - if the season ended today, the Senators would play New Jersey in the opening round of the playoffs. Wake me up when we're in the second round.