| Bruins 4, Sens 3 (SO) |
[Nov. 28th, 2009|10:14 pm] |
Well, if there was any poetic justice in this universe, we would have won this game in either overtime or the shootout. That, after all, is what Boston did to us in October, getting two goals to tie the game in the last few seconds and then taking it in that part of the game we seem to suck so much at. We completed the first part of the fairy tale tonight, scoring to tie the game in - you guessed it - the last few seconds, but alas, we couldn't finish, and the Bruins walk away with both the two points and the division lead. We're still just one behind them, though, so if we can keep putting points in the hopper, we might be able to get some distance on top. That's the hope, in any case!
In reality, the Sens probably didn't deserve to win, and I fully acknowledge that. There are nights when you just don't play your best, when you get a couple lucky bounces and then fall asleep and forget to participate in the rest of the contest. That was, to some degree, what happened tonight, and so the result at the end of the day is basically justifiable. We're lucky to escape with that one point if truth be told. The Bruins were the better of the two teams through the second half of the first period, the entire second period, and the first half of the third, and they come out full value for their two points tonight. Doesn't mean I can't be annoyed about poetic justice, but I am much less annoyed than I would be if, say, Ottawa had played amazingly through all three periods and then had to claw their way back and still didn't come up with it. I'd have to trot out the Angry Alfie icon for that one, methinks. ;)
Anyway! The first period started out well, with two lucky bounces off Alfredsson (his 9th) and Michalek (his 12th) giving us a 2-0 lead before twenty minutes were up. From there on out, though, the Sens fell asleep, and were really not sharp at all either in trying to get scoring chances or in defending against them. This allowed Boston to tie it up, their markers coming from Krejci (his 3rd) and Ryder (his 7th) and taking us into the third knotted at two. The Bruins added another on the power play midway through the third - Wideman with his 2nd) - and it looked like the story had been written from there, that the Bruins had everything wrapped up with a neat little bow. But the hockey gods had one more trick up their sleeve, in the form of Michalek's 13th with just twenty seconds remaining in the period. I was SO excited, figuring this was the start of that poetic justice I talked about, and I hoped desperately that Ottawa would triumph in overtime. Unfortunately it wasn't to be, and we went to a shootout.
Shootout
Ottawa:
1. Kovalev (miss)
2. Spezza (miss)
3. Alfredsson (miss)
Boston:
1. Bergeron (miss!)
2. Wheeler (miss!)
3. Krejci (miss!)
Extra Shooters:
1. Bruins - Ryder (goal)
2. Sens - Fisher (miss)
And so it was. Le sigh, le groan, etc. Shots were 33-22 in Boston's favour, and they also beat us in the faceoff circle 27-23. We were 1-for-4 on the power play, while they were 3-for-5. A bad night all around, I guess, but I still see plenty of reasons to be optimistic. We're just one point behind, and we almost managed to come back even though we didn't play all that well. Good stuff to bank for next game!
Speaking of which, the Sens next play Tuesday night in San Jose against the Sharks. So begins the western road swing ...
CBC three stars:
1. Ryder
2. Alfredsson
3. Wideman
NHL.com three stars:
1. Krejci
2. Alfredsson
3. Ryder
( And the results are ... )
As always, let me know if I've made a mistake! |
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| Sens at Bruins, November 28th |
[Nov. 27th, 2009|11:18 pm] |
| [ | Tags | | | predictions | ] |
| [ | mood |
| |  cheerful | ] |
| [ | music |
| | Edmonton/San Jose hockey - TV | ] |
Prediction post is a bit late because my internet had the hiccups tonight ... silly router. In any case, so begins the road trip! I'm trying to be mostly optimistic about it, as is my custom, but even I recognize that a straight sweep of all these teams will be, in all likelihood, impossible. Hopefully Ottawa will try its best, though, and pick up as many points as it can along the way. They're money in the bank for the inevitable slump later in the season when the games are coming three and four and five on top of each other.
The Sens (13-7-3, 29 points and 3rd in the East) will first encounter the Boston Bruins (12-8-5, 29 points and 5th in the East). Despite the fact that the teams are tied in points, Ottawa holds the tiebreaker by virtue of having won one more game, so we're still on top of the Northeast Division. Yay us! :D But tomorrow we have to maintain that lead, and the Bruins, as our chief competitor, are the ideal team to do it against. I kept an eye on Boston in their afternoon game against New Jersey, and they put up a terrific fight, taking the Devils to a shootout before finally succumbing to all-world goaltender Martin Brodeur. (Congratulations to Brodeur, by the way, for setting the record for most number of minutes ever played by an NHL goaltender! Very cool.) The Bruins may not be as good as they were last year - okay, they're not nearly as good - but they still have the capacity to surprise, so Ottawa will certainly need its wits about it.
Injuries stand thus, according to TSN: for the Sens, Shean Donovan (knee), Pascal Leclaire (broken jaw) and Chris Neil (knee) are all out, and Anton Volchenkov (elbow) has also confirmed that he will not play tomorrow. Fisher (upper body) is listed as "questionable", and I'll try to have an update for you tomorrow as soon as word comes in after the morning skate. Boston suffered a devastating loss the other day when Milan Lucic was once again confirmed out, this time with a high-ankle sprain. This is the second stretch of time he's missed this season due to injury. Tim Thomas has been having difficulty with a hand issue, but he was available for the New Jersey game and may play tomorrow.
Ottawa's last game was their 2-1 triumph over Columbus on Thursday. The Bruins are coming off a 2-1 shootout defeat to, as I mentioned, the New Jersey Devils.
Edit: Sens Twitter feed says Fisher is "probable" for tonight, with Volchenkov doubtful - this all according to Clouston. Cross your fingers! |
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| Sens 2, Blue Jackets 1 |
[Nov. 26th, 2009|11:34 pm] |
Well, it just goes to show you the awesome things that can happen when the Sens are given a power play! Maybe that's why we haven't been allocated quite our fair share in the last few games. ;) Seriously, though, I am honestly not going to complain about the refereeing tonight, especially considering an incident that happened in the first period of the game. A Blue Jackets player had gone down off a hook by Kuba, and as he fell, he slid into referee Dave Jackson, knocking him down and twisting his knee in a way that knees really ought not to be twisted. Jackson lay on the ice for several moments, eventually needing to be helped off by Senators trainers. It was later found that he has MCL and ACL damage to the knee, which is, incidentally, the same injury that felled Donovan earlier on. No matter what one's opinion of the refing, you never want to see something like that occur, and my best wishes are with Jackson for a speedy recovery. :)
Anyway! Back to the game. It started off with quite the sense of déja vu, as the Sens and Blue Jackets (I refuse to call them just the Jackets, damn it) traded goals to knot the score at 1-1 going into intermission, which is basically what happened in the New Jersey game as well before everything went to hell. (Pun decidedly not intended; I am neither Dean nor Gord. ;D) Columbus' marker came from Huselius (his 10th) and Ottawa's was scored - FINALLY! - by the long-slumping Jason Spezza (his 2nd). I held out hope that he would get another one and have that game-winner everyone keeps predicting, but alas, it was not to be. I'm crossing my fingers for the next game now. ;) In any case, it was lovely to see Spezza score. Maybe this will be the start of the break-out? :D
The teams were evenly matched through another 40 minutes, trading some excellent chances and very near misses. Both goaltenders were equal to the challenge, however, and Elliot in particular acquitted himself very nicely. If he hadn't been as sharp, the game might have had quite a different result. While I think we're still going to miss Leclaire, it may be that we can not only survive but also continue to pick up some much-needed points along the way. Here's hoping!
I was fully expecting overtime, or perhaps even a Devils-type result, but with about nine minutes remaining in the third, Jesse Winchester executed a brilliant faceoff win and passed the puck to Foligno, who banged the puck into the net for his 5th of the season and what ended up being the GWG. Usually I would have been on absolute pins and needles, wondering if the Sens could defend the lead, but this time I wasn't nervous at all, given how well Ottawa was playing defensively and how strong Elliot seemed. My belief was justified, too, as the Sens barely gave Columbus any time to pull their goaltender at the end, keeping the puck in the offensive end until there was almost no time left. By then, the Blue Jackets couldn't really muster anything of note, and Ottawa easily shot it down the ice as the final buzzer went.
Shots were 36-33 in our favour, as were the faceoffs, 27-23. Ottawa went 1-for-4 on the man advantage while Columbus was 1-for-6. And another bit of good news for us to round off what has been a basically good-news-night all around: this game sold out at Scotiabank Place, with 19,244 bums in the seats - a lot higher than the average of about 17,000 they've recorded so far. I realize that some teams would kill for a 17,000-strong crowd per game, but we are rather accustomed to sellouts here and so it's been somewhat disconcerting to see significantly lower numbers. Maybe fans are getting excited with these winning streaks, or maybe they've simply realized that with the extended road trip upcoming, they aren't going to get much chance to see the Sens until mid-December. Anyway, it's encouraging, no matter what the reason!
That extended road trip starts on Saturday, as the Sens will be in Boston to visit the Bruins.
NHL.com three stars:
1. Winchester
2. Elliot
3. Umberger
( And the results are ... )
As always, let me know if I've made a mistake! |
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| Sens vs. Blue Jackets, November 26th |
[Nov. 25th, 2009|10:48 pm] |
| [ | Tags | | | predictions | ] |
| [ | mood |
| |  blah | ] |
| [ | music |
| | Calgary/Phoenix hockey - TV | ] |
Now the compression of the NHL schedule really begins to kick in for us, as Ottawa had a game tonight, they'll have a game tomorrow and then another game on Saturday before starting a Western road swing that will take them to Anaheim, San Jose and Phoenix, just to name a few. That's why, despite the packed schedule, the Sens need to accumulate as many points now as they can, to have some in the bank for the inevitable tough trip. We weren't able to do that tonight, but I am as ever hopeful for the next couple games.
This particular contest brings the Columbus Blue Jackets (12-8-3, 27 points and 8th in the West) to Scotiabank Place to face the Sens (12-7-3, 27 points and 3rd in the East). I haven't watched too many Jackets games, so I'm hard-pressed to do an in-depth analysis of exactly what we'll be facing, but it's never unjustified to trot out the old we-mustn't-take-them-lightly saw. The records of these teams are similar, and we'll be playing against former team member Antoine Vermette, who was of course traded to Columbus in return for Pascal Leclaire last season. (Unfortunately, the other side of the trade won't be in play, as Leclaire will sit with that broken cheekbone. Alas.) If I'm not mistaken we have also lost our lead in the Northeast Division with Boston's shootout win over Minnesota, so we really should be like ... 6th or something in the conference, but my reference websites haven't updated their standings yet so I can't say for sure. ;) Anyway, it's all the more incentive for Ottawa to play well.
As far as injuries go, we'll be missing Shean Donovan (knee), Anton Volchenkov (elbow) and Pascal Leclaire (broken cheekbone) for sure. I don't see any status reports on Fisher, Kovalev or Neil - as I said, my websites haven't refreshed themselves after tonight's action - and I expect we'll probably know more after the morning skate tomorrow, at which point I will update. :) The Blue Jackets are without Fredrik Modin (knee), Andrew Murray (torn shoulder muscle) and Derek Dorsett (head).
Our last game was tonight's 3-1 loss to New Jersey. Columbus is also coming off a loss, 5-3 to Montreal on Tuesday.
Edit: Injury update, as promised: Neil is expected to miss 10-14 days with a knee injury. Fisher is still out, but Kovalev will slide back into the lineup tonight. No word on Carkner. |
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| Devils 3, Sens 1 |
[Nov. 25th, 2009|09:57 pm] |
I have a lot of difficulty believing that New Jersey played a clean game and committed no fouls whatsoever. The referees evidently thought so, as the official game sheet shows only two penalties on the Devils' side, and neither of those fouls occurred independently of an Ottawa penalty. Did New Jersey really not trip, high-stick, board or hold any Sens players? Did we really not deserve even one single power play? Really?
And that's all I will say on that particular part of the game.
The bad news for us is of course that the winning streak was snapped tonight, and that we may have inherited another member of the Sickbay Squad - Chris Neil left the game in the first period with a suspected knee injury after an Andrew Peters hit sent him spiraling to the ice. No word on his condition is available yet as I type this post. But the good news (I am ever the optimist, after all!) is that Buffalo also lost in regulation time, so we will retain our position atop the Northeast Division as long as Boston loses too. I'm keeping my fingers crossed for that!
Things didn't go too well for us from the start, as the Devils got the first goal off a Bergfors marker (his 6th). I actually thought it could still be okay, not only because I am a boundless optimist but because, as you'll recall, the exact same thing happened against both the Penguins and the Sabres and we ended up winning those games handily. :) The lack of worry seemed justified when Michalek banged in his 11th of the year midway through the period to knot the score at one-all. We seemed able to keep up with them, we were playing well defensively, and we weren't giving way to the style that New Jersey likes to play, the suffocating neutral zone game they're so good at.
But, alas, matters swiftly unraveled in the second with Patrik Elias' 1st goal of this season (I know; I was surprised too!), and from there on out, the Devils clamped down and Ottawa got barely a sniff at the net, despite many attempts and one or two lucky bounces. A late penalty assessed to us in the third effectively killed any hope of a last-minute comeback, and New Jersey iced it with Langenbrunner's 5th once the Sens had pulled Elliot. Elliot did perform very capably, by the way, and I'd be hard-pressed to say that any of the goals were really his fault.
Shots were 25-20 in the Sens' favour, and we were victorious in the faceoff circle 23-24. The Devils went 0-for-3 on the power play, and we went, well, 0-for-0. It's hard to convert on the power play when, you know, you don't get any. Bah. >.>
Ottawa's next game is tomorrow night at Scotiabank Place against the Columbus Blue Jackets, so I'll have that prediction post up asap. Gotta love those back-to-back contests. ;)
NHL.com three stars:
1. Brodeur (Martin)
2. Elias
3. Greene
( And the results are ... )
As always, let me know if I've made a mistake! |
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| Sens at Devils, November 25th |
[Nov. 24th, 2009|06:32 pm] |
If I had to pick one saying that most applied to Pascal Leclaire these days, I think it would be this one: If it weren't for bad luck, I'd have no luck at all.
Granted, our overall situation isn't quite as dire as that of the Leafs, and that's something in which I believe we can continue to take comfort. ;) But Leclaire himself must wonder what the hell he did to piss off the hockey gods. First, he injures his leg in a goal-crease skirmish against the Buffalo Sabres, but he's expected to be basically okay and even backs up Brian Elliot in the next game. He is performing that backup job - in other words, sitting on the bench - when an errant shot by Mike Fisher whizzes over the boards and catches Leclaire right in the face. It breaks his cheekbone, badly enough to need surgery, and is expected to keep him out of the lineup for the next month or so. He said on CBC tonight that it's probably the most painful injury he has ever sustained. Poor, poor guy. :(
Leclaire is confirmed out of the lineup starting tomorrow, when the Sens (12-6-3, 27 points and 3rd in the East) are in New Jersey to meet the Devils (14-6-1, 29 points and 4th in the East). In case you're wondering how Ottawa can be above New Jersey in the standings while having less points, chalk it up to the crazy divisional seeding system in which division leaders are seeded first, second and third in the conference. The Sens are first in the Northeast Division, as I mentioned in last night's post, which automatically seeds them third according to points. The even crazier thing is that only two points separate us from the New York Rangers, who are in tenth place. How's that for parity?
The Devils, although they started off well this season with a record-setting number of road wins, have faded of late, and don't look quite as strong as they once did. I still say we're in for a tough battle, and shouldn't let our guard down at any point. We did last night, and it almost cost us the game. I'm not sure New Jersey would be so forgiving of us sleeping through the first and second periods - in fact, I doubt they would.
Injuries-wise, we will be missing Leclaire for the next month as I mentioned with that broken cheekbone, and Shean Donovan is also out indefinitely due to his knee injury. Anton Volchenkov isn't quite ready yet - he's targeting his return for Saturday at the earliest - and continues to rehabilitate his elbow. Kovalev is listed as "questionable" by TSN, but he may play. The Devils are without Jay Pandolfo (separated shoulder), Paul Martin (broken arm), Johnny Oduya (groin), Rob Niedermayer (upper body), Ilkka Pikkarainen (flu) and Dainius Zubrus (right kneecap surgery).
Ottawa's last game was Monday's 4-3 overtime win against the Washington Capitals, while New Jersey is coming off a 5-3 loss to the Dallas Stars this past Saturday.
Edit: Sens Twitter feed is reporting as of 1:00 p.m. that Fisher will not play tonight - he's out with an upper body injury. *grumbles at the sickbay fairies* Elliot will start in net. |
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| Leclaire out one month with a fractured cheekbone |
[Nov. 24th, 2009|01:40 pm] |
From TSN:
The Ottawa Senators will be forced to do without Pascal Leclaire for up to four weeks as the Sens' number one netminder will undergo surgery to repair a fractured cheekbone.
The injury occured during Monday's victory over the Capitals when an errant puck bounced off the glass behind the Senators bench and hit him in the head.
Leclaire, who was already listed as day-to-day, will be replaced by Brian Elliot should he be out for an extended period. The team recalled goaltender Mike Brodeur from the Binghamton Senators of the AHL on an emergency basis.
Boo :( |
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| Sens 4, Caps 3 (OT) |
[Nov. 24th, 2009|12:22 am] |
FIRST PLACE IN THE NORTHEAST DIVISION, BABY!!!!!
Oh, man. Exactly how long has it been since we've been able to say that? A long time, that's for sure. The Sens are right up there and they have earned their position by virtue of an AWESOME homestand. Of a possible 10 points, Ottawa snatched up 9, and it's hard to imagine things going better in any way, really. They want it, they're hungry, they respond to Clouston's line-juggling and once they get going there seems to be very little stopping them. Mike Fisher is absolutely on fire - it's such a shame that there probably won't be space for him on the Olympic team, because if he keeps playing like this, a good argument can be made that he deserves it. WOW. The Sens have been rocking the team play lately and I LOVE it.
Things didn't look so rosy to begin with tonight, though. If Ottawa hadn't come to life in the third period, I'd be typing a very different game recap right now. They did get the first goal, Peter Regin's 3rd of the season, but it was all Washington from there both on the ice and on the scoreboard, at least until the third started. I'm not too sure what happened to the Sens in the intervening time. Mike Eastwood of the Team 1200 talked about Ottawa playing not to let in a goal rather than playing to score one themselves, and that's probably an accurate description. They just seemed to be completely asleep ... not hitting, not getting any rushes, and spending most of their time in the defensive zone. The defense itself was not horrible, in that it prevented Ovechkin and some of the other Capitals snipers from getting goals, but Washington nonetheless stepped up to fill the gap, and by the time the second period was over, they had built a 3-1 lead on the strength of goals from Clark (his 2nd), Morrison (his 8th) and Beagle (his 1st). Things didn't look all that great.
But in the third, as I said, the Sens came to life. Chris Neil atoned for his penalty brain fart the other night by getting his 4th of the year to put Ottawa within one, and he also had a huge hit late in the second which probably accounted for at least part of the momentum shift. Then, halfway through the third, Andre Picard scored his 2nd to knot the score at three. I was absolutely cracking up laughing at the goal song the Scotiabank Place people chose to play - the theme from Star Trek: The Next Generation!!! Total geek moment, yes, but it was AWESOME. :D They have smart trigger fingers, I'll give them that. ;)
There were several more chances by the Sens to potentially take the lead in regulation, but none translated to a goal, and so to overtime we went. It was there that Mike Fisher scored his 10th of the year to complete the comeback and send the crowd home happy. (Sparse as they were - attendance tonight was only 16,210!) Very sweet. :) I can't remember feeling that excited about a game since the Minnesota comeback of last year, which also featured brilliant coaching and line juggling by Cory Clouston. This guy is for real, yo.
Shots were 37-28 in our favour, even though the Capitals did lead on that front for much of the game, and we also owned them in the faceoff circle 36-24. We went 1-for-3 on the power play and Washington was 0-for-3.
The one potentially bad thing about tonight was a freakish accident that actually befell Pascal Leclaire as he was sitting on the bench backing up Elliot. Seems like you're not safe anywhere, and Leclaire certainly wasn't, as he got whacked in the face by an errant puck. It'll be really, really sad and annoying if he ends up injured out of this - Sportsnet apparently reported at first that he'd suffered a broken jaw, but I'm not taking that as gospel until I hear something officially from the Sens. Keep your fingers crossed, folks!
Tonight marks the end of the homestand, as our next game is Wednesday in New Jersey against the Devils.
NHL.com three stars:
1. Fisher
2. Regin
3. Green
( And the results are ... )
As always, let me know if I've made a mistake! |
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| Sens vs. Capitals, November 23rd |
[Nov. 22nd, 2009|11:39 pm] |
| [ | Tags | | | predictions | ] |
| [ | mood |
| |  busy | ] |
| [ | music |
| | Help I'm Alive - Metric | ] |
Late prediction post is late-ish - at least in terms of the time of day, heh. I've definitely been making an effort to get them up earlier, but there will be some times when that is just not going to be possible, and Sundays are one of those times. They tend to be exceptionally busy days for me due to other online commitments ... thankfully we don't see many Monday games!
The homestand winds up tomorrow, as the Sens (11-6-3, 25 points and 6th in the East) tangle with the Washington Capitals (13-5-5, 31 points and 1st in the East). What I'm finding comforting these days is that our record is remarkably similar to those of some of the real elite teams in the Eastern Conference, such as the Capitals. It is most certainly better than it was last year at this time - I was looking back at some of the old stats and by November 2008, Ottawa had fallen below the .500 mark and would not get back up there again until March. We've also shown that we can hold our own against those elite teams, at least lately - in our last couple games we have won over Pittsburgh and Buffalo, and this game will complete the triad of Eastern toppers.
Washington is Washington, as good as they were last year and captained by super-sniper Alex Ovechkin. Ovechkin actually missed some games earlier this season with a lower body injury (if I recall correctly), but he's back in the lineup now and set to work his magic. Surprisingly, though, the Caps are coming in on a losing streak - two games, as I type this. So they'll be hungry. I'm thinking Ovechkin will probably get at least one goal against the Sens, but hopefully they can hold him to that rather than allowing him to repeat that dreadful four-goal debacle of once upon a time. Yuck. *shudders*
There's some bad news on the injury front for us, as TSN's report informs me that Pascal Leclaire will not play tomorrow due to that lower body injury. Clouston hasn't said anything else regarding the severity of the injury or if it's worse than they thought, so maybe that's a good sign. Hopefully? Anton Volchenkov (elbow) and Shean Donovan (knee) are also confirmed out, while Kovalev is listed as "questionable" with those personal matters. If he doesn't play tomorrow night, he will almost certainly be back in the lineup on Wednesday. Washington is missing Milan Jurcina (lower body), Mike Knuble (broken finger), Boyd Gordon (back), Alexander Semin (wrist), Quintin Laing (broken jaw), Shaone Morrisonn (head) and Tom Poti (upper body).
Ottawa's last game was Saturday, the 5-3 win over Buffalo. Washington lost in overtime 2-1 to the Leafs (ouch!). |
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| Sens 5, Sabres 3 |
[Nov. 21st, 2009|11:23 pm] |
Well, I'm sure the question on everyone's mind right now, at least if you're a Sens fan, is: How is Pascal Leclaire?!?! I'm totally with you guys - it was a scary moment when he went down in the second, and even scarier when they announced that Brian Elliot would be starting the third period. Allow me to reassure you: according to the CBC, Team 1200 and Cory Clouston himself, Leclaire will be fine. They're not saying what exactly the problem is, aside from the ever-elusive "lower body issue," but they do say he's going to be okay, it isn't the ankle, and it is not serious. So hopefully we can rest easy on that point, and enjoy the little winning streak we've got going here. :D
What I'm really seeing from our boys right now is something that they haven't done nearly enough of in the past couple years, and that is team play. I remember they were so awesome during the 2007 playoffs because they played as a team, they worked together, they crashed the net, and they were otherwise persistent and never gave up. That is precisely what's happened over the last two games. They could have panicked tonight after Buffalo scored two quick goals, and even more after Chris Neil took what can only be described as a boneheaded four-minute penalty that basically forced the Sens to play shorthanded for the last quarter of the third period. But Ottawa did not panic. They revved up their penalty killers, Elliot stood tall, and they waited it out. That is team play. That is what we have been missing. That's what I love to see. It's a little early to call this a turnaround, at least in my opinion, but it sure felt like the old days out there tonight for a second straight game.
The first period was your typical sleepy Ottawa-Buffalo tilt. Both teams came out of the gate cautious, testing each other out. The Sens had the early pressure, but they ended up giving up the first goal - Vanek's 7th - on a late period Sabres' power play. Ottawa sure didn't wait too long to tie it up, though, as Filip Kuba banged in his 1st of the year fifty seconds into a power play of our own. They followed this up with Alfredsson's 7th, and it stood at 2-1 through the rest of the second and into the third.
Ottawa was once again ready, though, and for a second straight game we chose to bury our opponent in the third. The Sens did so off goals from Kelly (his 2nd), Michalek (his 10th and the GWG - FINALLY, eh? :D) and Alfredsson again (his 8th). By that point it was 5-1, and looked like we could just cruise to another easy victory. Unfortunately, I think we decided to cruise a bit too much, and the Sabres did get two quick goals a couple minutes apart from Kaleta (his 3rd) and Pominville (his 5th). Then there was the Neil penalty, of course, and there were some anxious moments for Sens fans as Buffalo pressured heavily in our zone and our penalty killers didn't seem to be able to keep it out. But, we pulled it off in the end, and will be all the better for hanging on, I think.
As testament to their many power plays, the Sabres did outshoot us 41-26, but it is the score at the end that matters, after all. ;) Back on the positive side of the ledger, we absolutely creamed them in the faceoff circle 38-21. Sens were 1-for-5 on the power play, while Buffalo was 1-for-7.
Our next game is Monday night at Scotiabank Place against the Washington Capitals. And, one last awesome thing to leave you guys with - we're now only one point behind the Sabres for the division lead!!
NHL.com three stars:
1. Kuba
2. Alfredsson
3. Fisher
( And the results are ... )
As always, let me know if I've made a mistake! |
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| Sens vs. Sabres, November 21st |
[Nov. 20th, 2009|06:32 pm] |
| [ | Tags | | | predictions | ] |
| [ | mood |
| | okay | ] |
| [ | music |
| | CTV News - TV | ] |
Ottawa's current homestand continues with another tough test, this time against a divisional rival. Tomorrow, the Sens (10-6-3, 23 points and 6th in the East) will entertain Buffalo (12-5-1, 25 points and 3rd in the East) at Scotiabank Place, in a game at which I'll once again be in attendance. I'll be there on Monday too, for Washington, which kind of makes me wish I had an apartment to stay at in Kanata to cut down on some of the driving! ;) Ah well. I love going to the games, so I'm sure I'll survive. :D
Back to hockey. The standings in the East got shuffled again, so that we were vaulted from tenth seed and out of a playoff position to sixth seed, comfortably in the middle of the pack. Well, for now, anyway - with all the parity in the league these days, I've got little doubt the placings will get shuffled again, probably even tonight. The records of the Sens and Sabres are pretty close, and if Buffalo loses their games tonight and tomorrow, we'd find ourselves tied with them for the division lead. :D Might be a bit of a long shot, but hey, I'm an optimist, remember? Buffalo have definitely looked like an elite team this season, with solid goaltending in Ryan Miller and a rediscovered scoring touch. They can still be beaten, in my opinion, but it will be a tough test for sure.
Ottawa got some bad news on the sickbay front today, as Cory Clouston gave an update on Shean Donovan's condition. They will apparently need to do more testing, but Clouston indicated that the injury is serious, and could keep Donovan out of the lineup for a long time. It's a high price for last night's victory, unfortunately. >.> Our only other injury is to Anton Volchenkov (elbow), while the Sabres are missing Mike Grier (groin) and Derek Roy (left leg). Toni Lydman has also had groin issues, but he's expected back in the lineup tomorrow.
The Sens' last game was their 6-2 stomping of the Pittsburgh Penguins. Buffalo plays Boston tonight, and I'll update with that score as soon as it's available. :)
Edit: A couple notes for your Saturday afternoon:
- Boston beat Buffalo 3-2 last night in overtime. So, while we can't tie them in points if we win tonight, we can pull to within one with a clean (i.e. not in overtime or a shootout) win. Yay?
- According to the Sens' official Twitter feed, Shean Donovan has MCL and ACL damage in his right knee. He will rehab for 6-8 weeks, then test the knee to see if more is needed. |
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| Sens 6, Penguins 2 |
[Nov. 19th, 2009|11:53 pm] |
WELL! Was there a hockey game tonight, Sens fans? ;D
This was a TERRIFIC one to be at!!!! Honestly, there is nothing like a good blowout once in awhile to lift the spirits and get you smiling. Of course, I'm obviously talking about a blowout in our favour, as there have been far too few of those over the last few years. I wasn't sure exactly what to expect from this contest going in. Evidence would suggest Ottawa was trending up, with their defeat of the Leafs coming last game, but these were the Pittsburgh Penguins, and like it or not, they were the 2009 Stanley Cup champions. Hobbled by injuries as they are at the moment, the Pens are still a formidable opponent, and not one to take lightly. Not at all. It's my belief now that the tables were turned tonight, though - in the form of them taking us lightly! And they did so at their peril.
Things didn't look so great at the start. Jordan Staal's 6th kicked off the scoring barely one minute into the first period, before a lot of fans had even found their seats (the weather here's pretty crappy, and traffic as usual was murder). There were a surprising number of Pittsburgh fans in the stands tonight, although Sens fans gave as good as they got in that regard, for once. :D It's funny, but the Penguins scoring the first goal did not depress me as much as it maybe should have. I had an inexplicably good feeling about tonight. So much so that I almost immediately turned to my boyfriend and said, with a big smile on my face, "Not to worry, we'll get that back!"
The Sens must have shared my optimism, for they took out their lunch pails, put on their hard hats and went to work. Almost literally. The first goal that they scored, Matt Carkner's 2nd of the year, was a result of 60 seconds of sustained Ottawa pressure in the Pittsburgh zone. My friends, it was absolutely beautiful to watch. The Sens played as a team, they did not give up, they got their cycle game going and they were rewarded. You could almost SEE the momentum shift, it was a very visible thing. I believe it's as close as they have come to complete team play since the Cup run of 2007. Absolutely breathtakingly awesome. They can still do it!!!!
We went into intermission tied 1-1, and there was only one goal in the second, Milan Michalek's 9th of the year. Throughout all of this, though, the Sens were playing well and Pascal Leclaire was standing tall, making several excellent saves. The gates then completely burst open in the third, with markers from almost everybody except the goaltender - Chris Kelly's 1st and the GWG, Chris Phillips' 2nd and 3rd and Jonathan Cheechoo's 2nd put us ahead 6-1. Scotiabank Place was going NUTS. Evgeni Malkin did notch his 5th near the end, but that was mostly academic because the game was already far, far out of reach for the Penguins. Starting goalie Fleury was chased from the net after Ottawa's fifth goal, and I'm sure he would like to have at least some of those markers back. Of the three goaltenders on the ice tonight, Leclaire was most certainly not the weakest. Not by a long shot.
The night was even more special for a couple of Sens. Chris Phillips played in his 800th game, notching two goals to celebrate - ironically, almost nine years to the day since his last two-goal performance against the Calgary Flames! - and Milan Michalek got his 100th career goal! Congratulations to both those guys! They received a very warm reception from the crowd when their milestones were announced. :)
Shots were in our favour, as you might imagine, 31-27, and we also beat them in the faceoff circle 29-27. Chris Neil had a very entertaining tilt near the end with Goddard; they basically fought each other to a standstill to the cheers of a raucous crowd. :D The only bad news for us might be Shean Donovan's condition - a late knee-on-knee hit seemed to take him out of action, and was (I think) at least partially the cause of the Neil-Goddard fight. I don't have any updates on him yet, but I'll see what I can do for tomorrow's prediction post.
Next game in this extended homestand is Saturday night against the Buffalo Sabres. Another litmus test, but for tonight's, we sure proved ourselves. :D
NHL.com three stars:
1. Phillips
2. Fisher
3. Kelly
( And the results are ... )
As always, let me know if I've made a mistake! |
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| Sens 3, Leafs 2 |
[Nov. 19th, 2009|06:29 pm] |
Yep, finally. Hehe. ;) While the game might now be a couple days old, my enthusiasm for the result certainly has not waned in any way, shape or form. I only hope we can make as good a show of it tonight, heh.
This was probably the most entertaining Battle of Ontario in a long, long time, and I think I speak for a lot of Sens fans when I say that it renewed our belief in the rivalry, and in Ottawa/Toronto games still being exciting. There were fights, fan heckling, and everything in between. The only thing I didn't like was that Leafs fans continue to boo poor Alfie, even though that incident was how many years ago now? A lot, anyway. Dave Schrieber (sp?) of the Team 1200 made an excellent point. He said that one can be a Leafs fan, turn up at Scotiabank Place wearing a Leafs jersey, cheer for the Leafs and all the rest of it, but that booing Alfredsson, who is an important community leader and does so much for the Ottawa area, is simply classless and cowardly. I quite agree. I recognize that there were a ton of Leafs fans here before the Senators ever came to town, and I understand that they might not wish to abandon their team. That's fine. That's what rivalry is all about. But to boo a guy who does so many important things in your very own city, and without whom life in that city would probably be a lot harder for many of your fellow citizens? That is really, really shameful.
Anyway! The Sens kicked off the scoring bright and early in the first off Mike Fisher's 8th of the season, a beautiful feed from Kovalev starting the play. I hope they keep Fish and Kovalev together, because they work awesomely together. :D The Leafs soon replied with Phil Kessel's 5th, and added an exclamation point in the second, Nicklas Hagman scoring his 7th. But Ottawa wasn't giving up, even though Toronto did have the balance of the play for a little while there. Michalek scored his 8th on the power play to tie the score, and Fisher got another goal, his 9th and the GWG, to put us ahead. We managed to hold that lead through the rest of the second, a few more fights, and through the rest of the third. Pascal Leclaire was absolutely outstanding, and without him, I highly doubt we would have gotten out of this game with two points to our name. The doubters can be silenced again, at least for now! And even though I was SURE we were dead if we didn't get an empty net goal, I was proved wrong, and I didn't mind one bit. :D
The Leafs outshot us 32-22 and also beat us on the faceoff circle, although narrowly, 29-28. In return, we pounded them into the ice in most of the fights, and of course we also trumphed on the scoreboard. That's what counts, right? ;)
Next game is of course tonight's, at Scotiabank Place against the Pittsburgh Penguins - and I've got to run, because I have tickets!
NHL.com three stars:
1. Leclaire
2. Fisher
3. Kessel
( And the results are )
As always, let me know if I've made a mistake! |
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| Sens vs. Penguins, November 19th |
[Nov. 18th, 2009|01:40 pm] |
I'll have the recap post for last night's (TERRIFIC!!) game up as soon as I can, but I wanted to get this up first before I run out of time on my lunch hour and end up, you know, actually working. Hehe. ;)
After yesterday's awesome game of awesomeness, the Sens (9-6-3, 21 points and 10th in the East) meet the Pittsburgh Penguins (14-7-0, 28 points and 4th in the East) at Scotiabank Place. Pittsburgh, as we all know, were last year's Stanley Cup champions - and there isn't even the slightest possibility we'd forget, either, since the NHL shoves footage of Sidney Crosby's celebration down our protesting gullets every chance they get. Bitter? Me? Nooooo, of course not ... now excuse me while I go round up those video clips and accidentally-on-purpose drop them in the Atlantic Ocean. Oops ... my bad!
Anyway. Being serious now. (Marginally.) Despite being hobbled by injuries through the later part of October and into early November, the Penguins have picked it up a bit, and they're not exactly resting on their laurels waiting for the Stanley Cup Jinx to come knocking. They've been winning games, as evidenced by their fourth place position in the East, and so they'll be a tough test for us. At least we won't have to worry about the Sens playing down to the level of their competition, since aside from the Philadelphia game they have been in almost every game against the elite teams, even if they haven't necessarily won them. Yes, winning is important, but you're not going to have a chance at that if you don't bother to show up. Which, again leaving out the Flyers game, is one sin I don't think we've been guilty of.
Our only injury continues to be Volchenkov, out with the dislocated elbow. (Clouston says he may be able to return by next week.) The Penguins' list is still relatively long: Maxime Talbot (left shoulder surgery), Sergei Gonchar (broken wrist), Tyler Kennedy (groin), Kris Letang (bruised shoulder), Brooks Orpik (lower body), Chris Kunitz (lower body) and Alex Goligoski (left leg) are all confirmed out. Whew!
The Sens last played yesterday, in that glorious 3-2 victory over the Leafs. Pittsburgh is coming off a 5-2 win against Anaheim.
Edit: According to TSN, Kovalev will not play tonight. His wife's mother passed away, and he is currently enroute to Russia and is expected to miss at least a couple games. Ryan Shannon will slide into the open lineup spot.
Son of Edit: New info - Kovalev apparently is going to play tonight, and will leave for Russia after that. |
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| Sens vs. Leafs, November 17th |
[Nov. 16th, 2009|05:04 pm] |
That's right, it's time for yet another installment of the Battle of Ontario. Using this icon mainly for that reason, hehe. ;) Sometimes I think this rivalry isn't as intense as it used to be - at least compared to the one we have with Montreal - but when I actually go to the games, it's quite clear that the rivalry between the fans hasn't died down one little bit. We've got long memories, after all.
Tomorrow sees the Sens (8-6-3, 19 points and 11th in the East) meeting Toronto (3-10-5, 11 points and 14th in the East) at Scotiabank Place. The Leafs ... well, almost everyone knows how woeful they've been, at least if you're like me and enjoy a nice healthy helping of schadenfreude on occasion. ;) Toronto was the last team in the NHL to win a game, although they're not quite as bad as Carolina, which occupies last place in the conference and lost something like fourteen straight contests before finally beating Minnesota the other night. There were rumours early on in the season that Leafs coach Ron Wilson was set to be fired if things didn't start picking up a little, but his job seems to be safe for the time being. (Although, even a rat will leave a sinking ship.)
Phil Kessel, traded from Boston for two first-round picks and recently back from injury, makes Toronto a little better, as does goaltender Jonas Gustavsson (referred to as "The Monster" by approximately 99.9% of the news media). All of which means that it's time for me to trot out the old much-abused "we can't take them lightly" stuff. Ottawa has a nasty habit of playing down to their competition, so we have to hope that tendency doesn't rear its ugly head this time around. (Mind you, if they're going to play to the level of their competition, they may need to be provided with shovels so they can dig for it. ;) And yes, I'll stop with the potshots now. Haha.)
Injuries-wise, we're still missing Anton Volchenkov (dislocated elbow). For the Leafs, Mike Van Ryn (left knee) and Mike Komisarek (torn quadriceps) are both out.
Ottawa's last game was their 2-1 overtime loss to the New York Rangers on Saturday afternoon. Toronto also went down in defeat on Saturday, 5-2 to the Calgary Flames. |
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| Rangers 2, Sens 1 (SO) |
[Nov. 14th, 2009|06:25 pm] |
Well. I guess we used up our one-shootout-win-per-year mulligan, huh?
I am mostly kidding, of course, as in my opinion we did have a real chance to win this one. It was just ... luck, for lack of a better explanation, and I personally take some solace in the fact that the Sens did get a point, and they certainly played better than in Philadelphia. (Mind you, not much could have been worse than the Flyers game, but I wasn't going to tempt the hockey gods. They have an annoying habit of going out of their way to prove that yes, things CAN get worse, no matter how bad it actually seems.) Clouston might not be working miracles, per se, but you could tell he had given the boys a stern talking-to.
It seemed to help. The Sens came out hard in the first period, and Brian Elliot was equal to everything the Rangers threw at him. The bad news for us was that Lundqvist performed just as well, and so our first goal didn't come until the second, a nifty shot from Brian Lee (his 2nd) that put us ahead. On the penalty front, I also have good news and bad news. The good news is that things finally seemed a little more equal for Ottawa in terms of which way the calls were going - we had several power plays, including one 5-on-3. The bad news is that one of those power plays created an opportunity for New York to score shorthanded, which they did off a goal from our old nemesis (heh) Vaclav Prospal (his 5th).
Opportunities were basically equal from then on, with both teams getting some excellent chances and failing to capitalize. That continued to be the story throughout overtime, although it's my opinion that the Sens had the balance of zone time and shots. There were several points in overtime where I was actually convinced that we'd pull it off, and not just because I'm an eternal optimist. Ottawa really looked that good. Alas, it was not to be, which heralded the entrance of our other nemesis: the shootout.
Shootout
Ottawa:
1. Kovalev (miss)
2. Alfredsson (goal!)
3. Spezza (goal!)
New York:
1. Gaborik (miss!)
2. Kotalik (goal)
3. Prospal (goal)
Extra Shooters:
1. Rangers - Lisin (miss!)
2. Sens - Ruutu (miss)
3. Rangers - Anisimov (miss!)
4. Sens - Fisher (miss)
5. Rangers - Higgins (miss!)
6. Sens - Foligno (miss)
7. Rangers - Parenteau (goal)
8. Sens - Michalek (miss)
Ah well, at least we put up a hell of a fight. :) Sens outshot the Rangers 36-28 and were also full value in the faceoff circle, winning 28 draws to New York's 25. I'm feeling a lot more positive coming out of this game than I did for the Philadelphia game, despite the loss. It seems to me that maybe the situation is finally starting to equalize, and to hopefully turn in our favour. Or maybe that's just the Eternal Optimist speaking. ;)
Next up, the Battle of Ontario resumes on Tuesday as the Leafs visit Scotiabank Place to tangle with our Sens.
CBC three stars:
1. Lundqvist
2. Elliot
3. Parenteau
NHL.com three stars:
1. Lundqvist
2. Elliot
3. Phillips
( And the results are ... )
As always, let me know if I've made a mistake! |
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| Sens vs. Rangers, November 14th |
[Nov. 13th, 2009|09:22 pm] |
| [ | Tags | | | predictions | ] |
| [ | mood |
| |  full | ] |
| [ | music |
| | Washington/Minnesota hockey - TV | ] |
This isn't getting posted nearly as soon as I hoped it would, but I unfortunately can't ever rely on getting modly stuff done at work - even on a Friday, which are usually less busy in comparison to the rest of the week. >.> Ah well. It's a start, anyway, and I'll get better at the earliness thing, I promise!
After the debacle of the other night, our next game sees the Sens (8-6-2, 18 points and 9th in the East) entertain the New York Rangers (10-8-1, 21 points and 6th in the East) for a 2:00 p.m. tilt at Scotiabank Place. This game was actually supposed to take place at seven, which is the time printed on all season tickets, but the NHL decided to move it and make it an afternoon game, so it's a tripleheader for CBC and an early start for us. Ottawa doesn't historically do well in afternoon games, but I think that's basically the least of our problems at the moment. The watchword of the last several days has gone from penalties to goaltending, and there were even whispers of the dreaded "goaltending controversy" on the postgame show the other night. Personally, while I utterly cringed at some of those goals let in by Leclaire when I saw them on replays, I believe it's a little early to declare a goaltending controversy right now. Ask me again in five or six games, maybe. There is such a thing as bad luck, after all, and we seem to have had more than our fair share of that lately. Best thing we can do at the moment is try to put the Philly game behind us, and look for a way to bounce back.
Our only injury is still Anton Volchenkov (dislocated elbow), while the Rangers are missing Chris Drury (concussion) and Brandon Dubinsky (broken right hand). Clouston hasn't yet announced a starting goalie, and while he didn't seem too happy with Leclaire today in interviews, I'd have my money still on him. Of course, watch me be wrong now I've said that, but ... ;)
Last game for us was of course that 5-1 shellacking by the Flyers, and New York is also coming off a loss, 5-3 to the Thrashers on Thursday. |
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| Flyers 5, Sens 1 |
[Nov. 12th, 2009|09:53 pm] |
Ugly. Ugly, ugly, ugly.
Did I mention this game was ugly?
That basically says it all. I could post only those eleven words and you guys would be able to get a perfect sense of how tonight went. The first half was sleepy, and the second half was a nightmare. Come to think of it, those two descriptions actually go together pretty well.
I don't know what it is. Maybe we were due for this kind of a game after barely squeaking one out against Edmonton. Maybe the hockey gods had planned for us to lose on Tuesday and were trying to level the playing field. They certainly did tonight, so I think we can consider that debt repaid. Every time I believe I've figured this team out, every time I come close, they pull another one completely out of left field. The same old patterns do repeat themselves, which is perhaps why I'm getting so sick of said patterns. The opposing team gets all the opportunities. They take advantage and are brilliant. We get the short end of the stick, and are not. End of story, details at eleven.
Can you tell I've already had half a beer? ;)
So, the gory stats, for those interested. After a quiet first period, the Flyers started things off with a goal by Blair Betts (his 1st) on the - surprise, surprise - power play. Ottawa replied soon afterward, on the one power play they are allotted per week, with Mike Fisher being the lucky goal scorer (the goal is his 7th, which took him 44 games last year. Positives, people!). From there it was all Philadelphia, with van Riemsdyk (his 4th and the GWG), Briere (his 6th), Powe (his 5th) and Briere again (his 7th) all lighting it up. Some of those goals were again pretty flukey, and you can add Leclaire to my personal "I don't know what to think of that" list. I love him, I really do, but ... yeah. >.>
We were once again outshot, for a second straight game, this time to the tune of 27-23. Faceoff numbers ... well, I'm not even going to mention them. Let's just say they were abysmal, like so much of the rest of this game, and leave it at that. At least the Sens' lone power play was successful, going 1-for-1 to the Flyers' 2-for-4. Positives, where we can take them. That's my story and I'm sticking to it.
Ottawa's next game is this Saturday afternoon against the New York Rangers. I will endeavour to have the prediction post up at lunch hour tomorrow, providing work isn't too busy. :)
Team 1200 three stars:
1. Briere
2. Carter
3. Timmonen
NHL.com three stars:
1. Briere
2. Carter
3. Van Riemsdyk
( And the results are ... )
As always, let me know if I've made a mistake! |
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| Sens at Flyers, November 12th |
[Nov. 11th, 2009|11:38 pm] |
| [ | Tags | | | predictions | ] |
| [ | mood |
| | rushed | ] |
| [ | music |
| | Lost - Annie Lennox | ] |
Now for the prediction post! As mentioned previously, the Sens (8-5-2, 18 points and 7th in the East) next face the Philadelphia Flyers (9-4-1, 19 points and 6th in the East) for a tilt in Philly tomorrow evening. Although their record is similar to Ottawa's in terms of wins and losses, the Flyers have been H-O-T of late - they're on a four-game winning streak, and Ray Emery is among the top ten goaltenders in the NHL. I sure didn't expect to be hearing that, but, there it is. Heh. He's apparently looking forward to playing Ottawa, and according to tonight's CTV Sports report, has been a model employee for Philadelphia. Hasn't missed a single practice, or reported to one late, and has otherwise behaved himself properly by all accounts. I still think the buyout was the right decision, but if it's indeed true that Emery has turned over a new leaf, it's kind of a shame that it had to happen that way. >.> Ah well. We shall see what transpires.
The Sens still list Anton Volchenkov (dislocated elbow) as their only injury, while Philadelphia is missing Mike Rathje (back), Simon Gagne (hernia surgery), Daniel Briere (strained quadricep), Ole-Kristian Tollefsen (concussion), Ryan Parent (groin) and James van Riemsdyk (fractured finger). Van Riemsdyk is listed as "probable" for tomorrow's game, so it's likely that he will play. Still not an insubstantial injury list by any means, but they haven't seemed all that affected by it, so we have to remember to - there it is again - not take them lightly.
Ottawa's last game was yesterday's 4-3 shootout win over the Oilers. Philadelphia is coming off a 2-1 win over St. Louis on Saturday. |
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| Sens 4, Oilers 3 (SO) |
[Nov. 11th, 2009|11:07 pm] |
Okay, so, slightly-late game recap is slightly late, but here we go! I was at the game last night, so as a result didn't get home until quite late, and while I can usually manage to get the recap up once I'm home, it just didn't quite happen yesterday. A full day of work plus a seven-thirty game plus overtime plus a shootout (plus all the attendant traffic afterward) equals a very exhausted Liz who gets home about 11:30 at night. Heh.
Anyway! A good game it was, if not perhaps the prettiest win ever. ;) I still think Ottawa can play better, and I think Leclaire can play better as well. While he's certainly one of the better goalies we've ever had, he's had a couple games now that haven't been quite as good, and here's hoping he can bounce back. The goal that tied it up near the end of the third period was one that he definitely should have had, and that's just the simple truth of it. It looked bad in the arena, but I got home and watched it on replays and it looked really bad. Ugh. >.> In any case, crossing fingers that he'll have a better one on Thursday. I don't think it would really work for Clouston to put Elliot in now, nor would it be that fair. 'Sides, we tried that last year with the goalie-swapping, and it did not turn out all that well. ;)
Ottawa got some good pressure and shots on the opposition to start the contest, but it was the Oilers who struck first off a goal by Dustin Penner (his 11th). Ahh, the if-onlys, eh? Penner could've been playing for us, had Heatley only agreed to the Edmonton trade, and by all accounts Penner has started off the season with a bang. Le sigh, le groan, etc. The Sens soon replied, though, on a lovely feed from Kovalev to Cheechoo that allowed the latter to FINALLY bang in his first of the season and first as an Ottawa Senator. The crowd gave him a very hearty cheer when he was announced as the goal-scorer. :)
The game then bounced back and forth, with goals by Moreau (his 3rd), Foligno (his 4th), Neil (his 3rd) and the aforementioned weak one off a Brule shot (his 5th). I honestly had no idea which way the game was going to go from there - I basically sort of threw up my hands and said to the Oilers, "Okay, it's clear you guys want overtime - FINE. You've got it." My attitude was not helped by the large numbers of Edmonton fans present in the crowd, fans who were not shy about showing their support for the visiting team. It wasn't quite as bad as when the Leafs or Habs come to town, but close. And, unlike Leafs or Habs fans, who usually have the good grace to shut the hell up once the Sens take a lead, these Oilers fans just kept right on cheering. Mind you, I guess it worked, in that Edmonton came back, but ... bleh. I wish we Sens fans weren't so easy to walk all over.
No goals were scored in overtime, so at that point, we went to a shootout. I actually felt a lot more optimistic about our chances than I might otherwise have, figuring that the law of averages had to factor in at some point and hand us a shootout victory. And sure enough ... it did!
Shootout
Ottawa:
1. Kovalev (goal!)
2. Alfredsson (miss)
3. Spezza (goal!)
Edmonton:
1. O'Sullivan (goal)
2. Penner (miss!)
3. Comrie (miss!)
Sens Army absolutely erupted in cheers upon Spezza's goal. One caller to the postgame show compared it to the 2007 Finals noise level, and while I wouldn't go quite THAT far, things certainly were loud! A lot of dejected Oilers fans, too. Mwahahahaha. ;)
Stats - they outshot us 34-25 and were also slightly more successful in the faceoff circle, winning 28 draws to our 26. Ottawa only took one penalty the entire game - I think they were scared stiff by all the talk of Edmonton's magical power play! - and got no powerplays; the only Oiler penalty was a coincidental minor. There were some fouls that probably could have been called on both sides, but hey - what are you gonna do.
Ottawa's next game is tomorrow in Philadelphia against the Flyers. I'll have the prediction post up momentarily. :)
NHL.com three stars:
1. Spezza
2. Neil
3. Moreau
( And the results are ... )
As always, let me know if I've made a mistake! |
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