Welcome!

Can you believe this rain today! Holy macaroni art! MOVING! ON!

Ladies, this team is CONFUSING! Am. I. Rite. Ladies?
Uhhhhhhhhhhh…I guess Ottawa has a good chance at winning this one because Washington is pretty good? There’s been precious little in the way of a pattern emerging on the season though I guess it could be argued that the Sens have tended to bring it a little harder against quality opponents.
Down side: Getting fed by teams like the frigging Hurricanes.
Tonight projects to be a Showdown at the .500ish Coral with two teams that have no problem putting the puck in the net and I’m just going to assume the Caps D also stinks ( iGRACIAS POR LEER!) and relies on a hot goaltender to keep their heads above water.
Luckily for the Senators Paul MacLean will allow Spezza to play with Zibanejad and Michalek on his wings for another game. With a little time I think this trio can start racking up some points and we could actually have TWO lines! No promises! Just glad to see the captain get a little time with linemates. Comes the games, comes the chemistry!
Oh good Alexander Ovechkin is on pace for 73 goals. Key to victoriousness: Cover him.
World’s greatest Sex Machine Clarke MacArthur has 5 points in his last 4 games and has climbed into the team’s top 5 in points. Man, if he can start getting goals on the regular? Dayum! I know it’s been a weird season so far but there’s some stuff you have to love about this team. The MacArthur – Turris – Ryan line.

A Thought on Defense
Uh oh…really painted myself into a corner with that heading…mmmmm….uhh…thought…thouuuuught….c’mon James…Oh, I know:

Tonight’s Starting Goaltenderrrr: EMOTIONS! 
Craig Anderson will square off tonight against anti fighting advocate Braden Holtby. Paul MacLean is trying to avoid a goaltending controversy by continuously deferring to Andy,  which I get, but it is starting to get kind of weird because of the team’s overall performance and constant back to backs he is switching back and forth between his two netminders every other game. One thing is clear, the team’s gotta play better in front of Anderson. This isn’t to let Andy off the hook either, he’s gotta play better behind the team too.
I hate to say it but I feel like the team doesn’t trust Anderson as much as Lehner right now. Or maybe Andy can’t save the team’s bacon as consistently as Lehnny. Regardless, we’ve been over how the lack of defense is what is killing any momentum surrounding the team. As such, for Ottawa to have a chance of winning the goaltender pretty much has to allow the team to get away with some complete bullshit.
No better example of what’s been going wrong than Heatley’s goal (his league leading 4th of the season) in the last game Anderson played against the Wild. Karlsson weak as a newborn chinchilla on the play but hot mess that does not excuse Andy from letting the puck trickle through the wickets slower than Heater backchecks. Defense falters, goaltender falters, Back status: Broken. Unrealistically good goaltending saved Ottawa’s season last year. Feels ridiculous to say it but they need a good stretch of it to get this thing back on track.

HEYYYYYYYY Colin Greening as Zero Points in 18 Games Which Is Funny Because That’s The Exact Amount of Games It Took Mike Hoffman To Score 24 Points. 
As a fan of Erik Condra, I know full well that a player’s value isn’t necessarily predicated on the amount of points they score or even hitting wide open nets. I still feel it also important to note, however, that THERE IS SOME VALUE BASED ON HOW MANY POINTS YOU SCORE.
Fresh off a new contract, guy is about to go a quarter season without a point. OOF. Speaking of value I know Murray’s been shopping Greening and likely doesn’t want him in the pressbox but goddamn in Milburyless world it’s not like you can hide a player behind stats that bad. It’s frustrating as a fan to know that there is a guy who is clearly Sriracha hot right now AND plays the same position just sitting there in the minors. It’s not like Greening is a top six player (at least not this game) give a guy who’s tearing up the AHL a chance and let CG check it out from upstairs. I don’t know, I’m just a garbage man from Garbage Island, I don’t know garbage about garbage. Now go out there Colin Greening and HAVE SOME FUN! HAHAHAAAA…fun…..but seriously score a fucking goal.

Knews and Knotes: 
Mark Borowiecki has been practicing but will sit out tonight’s game after receiving the dirtiest hit I’ve seen this season from SUPERSTAR winger and Olympic hopeful, Kevin Westgarth (0G, 0A).
Counting the game he was knocked out of, should Borowiecki miss an additional game he will miss more time than Westgarth will on his two game suspension.
I know it’s old hat to talk about this stuff but this league needs to seriously step it up suspension wise before someone gets paralyzed or worse. It’s not because Boro plays for Ottawa either. It could have been Claude Lemieux of all people getting hit and I’d feel the same way. There’s no place for a hit like that and everyone knows it. It’s not going to change the game for the worse to make players think twice about hitting a guy in such a vulnerable spot. LET’S PUT OUR GOOD CANADIAN BOYS AT RISK OF SERIOUS INJURY BECAUSE JUST WIN BABY. PLAYERS KNOW WHEN THEY STEP ON THE ICE THAT THEY’LL BE CHECKED HEAD AND NECK FIRST INTO THE BOARDS WHEN THEY ARE ON ALL FOURS AND EVERYTHINK LIKE THAT LET’S GOOOOOOOOO!!!!!! Two games does not send enough of a message. Get well soon, Borocop.

ENJOY THE GAME!