Ottawa 6 Florida 0

THE GOOD:

Total domination. While they slipped slightly in the third period (as tends to happen with a six goal lead), I thought this was, all around, the best game the Sens have had in a long time. Their play in the defensive zone, save a few brainfarts that didn’t result in anything because of Ray Emery and some luck, was terrific. Every Sens forward was committed to the cause, backchecking with vigor and making it impossible for the Panthers to sustain any pressure. In addition, the forecheck was relentless. Every line maintained an aggressive forecheck presence throughout the game, which is what this team needs. It wasn’t just the third and fourth lines doing the dirty work. All four bought into the gameplan. It’s difficult to pinpoint one line as the best because each had their moment in the sun and spurts where you figured they were the best trio. I liked the game, in particular, of the Daniel Alfredsson line. Tremendous two-way games from all three. As well, the defence unit had an extremely strong game. Andrej Meszaros, Anton Volchenkov, and Chris Phillips deserve special mention. Meszaros followed up Tuesday night’s strong outing with an even better game. Two points, rushed the puck well, and was extremely effective in his own zone. Volchenkov is in a zone and playing his best hockey since, well, ever. When a guy is blocking shots in the third period of a game that his team is leading 6-0, you know he’s a team player.

Daniel Alfredsson’s aggression. I’m not sure if he simply woke up on the wrong side of the bed this morning or if there was something, away from the cameras, that we missed, but Alfie was PISSED off tonight. He came as close to dropping the gloves as I’ve seen him and even extracted some revenge on poor Stephen Weiss (who had a rough night) later in the game for a perceived cheap shot in the second. His play is coming around in a major way and I genuinely believe he’s a week away from breaking out huge. Speaking of which, um, can someone else step in for Daniel Alfredsson to punch Weiss in the face, please? I was glad he got pissed but after throwing a few blows he should be stepped away by someone else who pummels the other guy. A hilarious moment in the game was when Alfie and Weiss were tussling, color man Gord Wilson said something to the effect of “I bet Chris Neil is on the bench, standing this, watching, taking notes”. Camera cuts to Neil on the bench wiping his face with a towel, not even paying attention.

Ray Emery. Solid when called upon, he’s building more and more confidence with each win.

THE BAD:

Losing Wade Redden. There’s not much indication of the severity of the injury, but it didn’t look good. On the replays you could see him grimace after being hit by Jay Bouwmeester. If it’s any consolation, the fact it’s not another lower body injury (i.e. groin), but instead of the upper body variety. That of course is assuming the Sens are feeding us bullshit information about player injuries. Surely they wouldn’t do such a thing, right? Redden has proven himself to be quite the catalyst this season, and without him, the team, and in particular the powerplay, struggles badly. So say a prayer the Sens aren't without their most important blueliner.

Shattered glass. Let's also hope the kids who felt the wrath of Phillips and Weiss are alright. The word is that they were taken to the hospital as a precautionary measure, but boy was that scary for a few moments.

THE OPPOSITION:

While the Sens caught them in a dry spell, as the Panthers are now goalless in three straight games, I'd be very concerned if I'm one of the couple dozen fans this team has. Compared to the spirited effort they displayed six days ago, this was a catastrophe of the grandest kind.

They had ZERO jump in the first period, and for a team on the brink of big trouble, there was absolutely no desperation. It's one thing to be playing poorly or not getting the breaks. To just have bad puck luck or no chemistry. But when there apepars to be minimal effort, that's bad news. Where Olli Jokinen for most of this game? Where was Jay Bouwmeester? Jozef Stumpel? Nathan Horton? Bryan Allen, who was awesome in the last meeting. The only time I noticed him was when the Sens were knocking him around. I'd say Todd Bertuzzi can't get back soon enough but I'm not sure he'll make a lick of difference.

And on paper, it might seem as if goaltending was the problem, but Alex Auld was awesome before he got the mercy hook. I remember saying I didn't know if Auld playing was a good thing or not. If it had been Ed Belfour from the start, the score might have been double digits. He made at least six huge game-saving stops and cannot be faulted on many of the ones that did get by him.

The game story, if you want it simplified, is that the Panthers D had no answer for the Sens pressure. They made the 'Canes blueline that I shit all over two nights ago look like the the d-men who backstopped the Habs in the 70's.

Are changes in order? Does it even matter?

UP NEXT:

Tampa Bay Saturday night. The Bolts took it to the Sens Sunday afternoon so there is, I'd hope, some desire for revenge. The big thing to watch will be who they have in goal. Johan Holmqvist stonewalled the Sens in that game and was a big reason for the result, but he got chased the other night.

Ottawa 4 Carolina 1

THE GOOD:

Martin Gerber. He needed this one. More even than a W, Gerber needed a solid performance without any major costly mistakes, and we got that. Though it certainly looked like this would be a long night based on the early (and lone) goal he gave up, where he looked awkward and uncomfortable, Gerber managed to compose himself nicely and give a strong outing that hopefully builds some confidence not only within himself but also with his teammates. Because there can be no disputing that Ottawa played like a different team with Ray Emery between the pipes than they did when it was Gerber tending the goal. One good game doesn’t mean he’s out of the woods, and he’ll need to do the same the next time he gets tapped on the shoulder, but it was a good starting point. Fundamentally, a lot of the things that were killing him, and as a result the team, were much better. Primarily, Gerber didn’t look nearly as small. You could see, based on where the ‘Canes where shooting – high – that the book is out on how to solve Gerber, and as long as he was going down so quickly, so deep in the net, the opposition was going to continue to roof it with success.

The penalty killing. Awesome. Carolina had five powerplay opportunities and could barely build any momentum from all the man advantages they had. In fact, in a few instances, Ottawa was generating more chances and getting more energy from killing off all the penalties. Props to Chris Phillips, Daniel Alfredsson, Mike Fisher, and Chris Kelly, who were all terrific in this area.

The third period. The final 20 minutes has become a pretty sizeable foe of the Sens this season, which is a strange thing to say given how well this team was at protecting leads that season. We’ve already seen Ottawa shit the bed in the third and blow a lead a handful of times this season, and we’re only 25 games in. While it was when Ottawa scored their second and third goals to blow the game open, the truth was, Ottawa was the inferior team in the second period, as Carolina dictated the pace and dominated the majority of the frame, spending much more time in Ottawa’s end than vice versa. So, despite a two goal lead going into the last period, I was a tad nervous based on the various collapses we’ve seen this year. However, a different team came out for the third period.

The Patrick Eaves-Mike Fisher-Chris Neil line Terrific. Fisher scored a goal, registered an assist, and was the catalyst for his line’s strong play throughout. It was nice seeing Eaves score because he’s been due and they need him to be more of an offensive presence for this team to prosper. Whenever people would say “where is the secondary scoring going to come from now that Martin Havlat is gone?” I would tell them (after pointing out that Havlat only accounted for nine of their league leading 312 last season) that Eaves would be a big part of it. He scored 20 goals in 58 games last season, and in the process, demonstrated a tremendous natural goal scoring instinct that made me think a more seasoned and mature Eaves would rack up quite the tally in a full season. Thus far, that hasn’t been the case, and it’s not because of a lack of opportunity, as Eaves spent significant time playing with some pretty offensively talented people. His overall game has improved since moving onto a line with Fish and Neil, but that scoring presence hasn’t come around. Let’s hope his first goal in seven games ends the slump and gets him scoring like we need him. Fisher’s skating pretty friggin’ well right now as well.

Going to the net. Someone lit a fire under the asses of the Sens’ forwards (and Christoph Schubert). That’s the only explanation I have for why Ottawa skaters went so hard to the net, nonstop. The first goal, scored by Patrick Eaves, was a direct result of him skating hard through a bit of a clutch from a ‘Canes defender and getting rewarded as a result. Even Daniel Alfredsson, a former Lady Byng nominee, was going to the net, and got punched in the face as a result (would’ve liked some retribution for that, but that’s another issue).

Christoph’s Schubert’s shot. Holy fuck.

Andrej Meszaros. Over 25 minutes played, strong in all ends of the ice, good in every situation. This is the Meszaros we’ve become used to.

THE BAD:

Chris Phillips lack of discipline. The Big Rig’s new found habit of taking bad defensive zone penalties is starting to annoy me, mostly because they all result from Phillips not skating and instead resorting back to the “old NHL” ways of hooking. We’ve had these new rules for a little while now. I would’ve thought otherwise smart veterans like Phillips would’ve adjusted by now, but alas, that’s not the case.

Playing with fire. Both Joe Corvo and Wade Redden must’ve decided they just didn’t give a fuck because each guy threw caution to the wind. Redden threw the puck through his own crease more than once and Corvo thought he was Bobby Orr the way he attempted to pylon Carolina skaters.

The attendance. I realize the ‘Canes aren’t burning it up the way they were last season, and Ottawa no longer has that “must see TV” buzz around it (seems to have gone south to Buffalo), but less than 15,000? And that’s announced. It’s a good bet the real number was closer to 13K. What gives Raleigh? Was there a town hall meeting going on simultaneously?

THE OPPOSITION:

The one noteworthy observation I have to make about the ‘Canes, above all others, is that their defence is a mess. In comparison to the squad that backstopped Carolina to a Cup win in the spring, this one is ass. Pittsburgh-last-year ass. Now, a drop off of some sort had to be expected. They lost Aaron Ward, an unremarkable but important piece of the puzzle, to free agency and Frantisek Kaberle to a long-term injury, and that hurts. But the guys they have left who were so good last year, the Glen Wesley’s (looked 50 years old out there), Brent Hedicans and Mike Commodore were not the least bit effective. Hell, Anton Babchuck, a guy they got for almost nothing from the Hawks (nice trade) was their best rearguard. Now, no offence to Anton Babchuck. He’s a former first rounder and had a very good game, but they need the veterans to anchor the ship.

This was where the game was won. All four of Ottawa’s lines forechecked consistently and Carolina’s defence, which was praised by that old relic John Muckler for their puck moving ability and overall speed last year, couldn’t deal in the slightest. Carolina’s forwards were fine and in the second did a excellent job of taking it to the Ottawa defencemen in that frame.

Also, John Grahame stinks. I thought this much was known but the Hurricanes thought he would be a good backup to Cam Ward and, apparently, serve as their insurance should Ward suffer from a sophmore slump/Conn Smythe Curse. And here I thought Jim Rutherford was one of the best GMs in the NHL.

UP NEXT:

A game against Florida on a Thursday night may not seem like a big game, but I think it is. Sorta. Ottawa, like most teams, tends to struggle when they come back from lengthy roadtrips. There is a hangover that carries over and the first game back at home is often quite poor. So it’ll be especially interesting to see if they can keep it rolling after a nice win tonight to their home returns. The early word is Alex Auld is starting. I haven’t seen enough of Florida, nor cared enough about them to follow the team closely, to know if that’s good or not.

A confession

I didn't see last night's Sens-Sabres game. A previous engagement had me out and about, and my attempt to dust off the VCR and record the game (yes, I'm still behind on the PVR bandwagon) didn't go so well. As a result, I have no thoughts.

And since they won, I'm debating "missing" Monday night's game against Minnesota, watching it on a delay when doing so will have no effect on the outcome one way or another.

New Jersey 3 Ottawa 2

Sort of an abbreviated version tonight. Blogger already ate my previous attempt and it's nearly 2am.

THE GOOD:

A strong third period. For the second consecutive game, the Sens elevated in the third period. Unfortunately, unlike Wednesday night, by the time they turned it up a notch, the hole they dug themselves was too severe to get out of. But still. It's reassuring to see that that hurdle looks to have been leaped.

Mike Fisher & Chris Neil. It shouldn't come as much of a surprise that these were the lone Sens skaters who brought it for a full 60 minutes. Fisher was skating like the wind, again, and generated a number of the team's prime scoring chances. He was also the only Sen who was able to penetrate the Devils trap they implemented from the midway point of the game on. He rushed the puck down the wing often and good some decent shots away as a result. Neil must have thought it was April because was stirring the pot the way he did in the Tampa series. I'm pretty sure the Devils want to kill him.

Ray Emery. 23 saves with three goals allowed may not blow you out of the water, so on paper it probably seems like Emery was quite ordinary but in fact it was the exact opposite. Emery was even better than he was Wednesday night and was probably the only reason the game was as close as it was after the Sens played so poorly in the second. Emery is providing Ottawa with something they were never getting consistently from Martin Gerber: steady, reliable goaltending with the big saves being made. Emery cannot be faulted on any of the three goals scored.

THE BAD:

The second period. Boy oh boy did they disappoint here. This was the 20 minutes where the game was lost. What I think is happening is that this team is so fragile emotionally that when they have a pretty good first period (still not outstanding, but certainly better than the Devils) yet go into the room down a few goals while having hit a post or two, they start feeling both dejected and bad for themselves. Then they come out feeling down and out and the other team takes it to them.

Daniel Alfredsson. He scored Ottawa's second goal but overall, where was the captain last night? It would be kind to say he was not a factor. #11 makes it difficult for us Alfie Apologists with games like this.

The powerplay. 0-2. Back it sucking it seems.

THE OPPOSITION:

The Devils came out pretty flat in the first, yet a lucky bounce (and a strong finish from Jamie Langenbrunner) as well as an effective powerplay had them up two goals after the first 20 minutes. And while Ottawa scored twice in the third to make things more interesting, the truth was, once they netted a third goal in the second period the end result was never really in doubt. The idea that the Devils would blow a three goal lead in the third period at home seemed pretty unrealistic.

The big surprise was how dominant the Langenbrunner-Zach Parise-Travis Zajac line was. They were responsible for all three of New Jersey's goals and were, far and away, their best players. Zajac looks to be a hell of a player and at 21 should have fans of the team excited.

Brian Gionta, invisible. Way to earn that paycheck.

UP NEXT:

Right back at it, which I think is a good thing. They can build on the good things from this loss and hopefully *fingers crossed* correct the mistakes. Buffalo didn't play their best two nights ago so you know they'll want some revenge and redemption while, ideally, the Sens want to prove Wednesday night and not the game we saw five hours ago was the real team.