The Ottawa Senators…are proud to select……from the Moncton Wildcats of the United Federation of Planets of Quebec League….Mister…Sulu

There’s not much to say about tonight’s game other than:

“This is Kung Fu not foot dancing!”
I once upon a time had this phrase screamed at me on a regular basis by a firm but fair Chinese man who could literally kill you several ways with his bare hands. (Don’t let the yelling dissuade you btw, I highly recommend you take up Kung Fu. It gets you in terrific shape and they teach you how to severely injure a human attacker in countless ways. Keep fit and have fun and learn to maim!) What was I talking about? Oh yeah, don’t try to rob me if you like your elbow not broken, baby cousin.
I mean…I want to yell at you for a second, “This is sporting games not fairy tales!” What I mean by that is, I, like you, have followed the Ottawa Senators through their playoff journeys since 1996-97. You, fetching reader, know that these nearly two decades of post season play have been filled with dizzying highs and crushing lows. I’ve found it important to appreciate those highs when they happen. A lot of them have been happening this year. A lot.

There was an article on The Ottawa Senators Chirping Page recently about playoff memories that really I enjoyed. I feel very similar to Chirpston (assuming that’s the editor’s name) in that we’re not even two rounds in and have been already been given so many new memories that no one can ever take away no matter what happens.

Am I saying I don’t believe that the Senators can take this thing to the promised land? What? No, or course I’m not saying that. If you read these things…oh wait…k, since this is the first time you’ve read our website here’s this: WELCOME! and also this: I go into each frigging game hoping Ottawa will win. I’m merely saying this has been pretty special so far.

It’s reminded me of how Ottawa’s first playoff win over the Devils in 97-98 means more to me than when they won the President’s Trophy and went to the conference final in 02-03. Or how Alfie’s goal to lift the team to the Cup Final has greater significance than anything that happened in all five games of that Final series combined.

Do I want to see Alfie get handed the GD cup this year? More than anything…but in true Alfie fashion so far he’s the one giving us all the memories. I’ve said it many times but again: We are witnessing the dawn of a new era of Senators playoff hockey and it could not feel more exciting.

And now I want to talk about the dangers of using Q tips…OH SHIT THE GAME!

Contery Placed Firmly on Back
I think having Jason Spezza’s back back really did wonders for this line up. First off, can we talk about how gracefully this guy plays? Such grace! I really missed that, the grace. Aside from not quite having the steam to backcheck effectively, Spezza looked pretty damn good for a guy who hasn’t played since January and was dropped into Conference Semi-Final pace.

Perhaps the biggest contribution Spezza makes is bumping Kyle Turris down to the second line. After watching a (short) season of him in Spezza’s shoes it’s pretty evident that Turris’ home is on the second trio. No lack of rispeck for Turris’ family meant here. Dude led the team in points and helped them make the post season for the second straight year but it’s as clear as something that’s clear that Turris thrives when he doesn’t have to play on the top line game after game. Pittsburgh is a weird example though as they have two first line centres but I digress: WELCOME BACK JASON SPEZZA.
Pretty good to see Spezz take a hard hit and not head straight for the dressing room. Well, well stay well soon we want you to remain welllllll!

Speaking of being well
Chris Neil will not miss tonight’s game after getting knocked out of game 3 with what looked like a pretty nasty shoulder injury.

Neil is a very divisive player in Ottawa. I for one think he’s at his best in the playoffs. He hasn’t remained in the league for 10 seasons and dressed in nearly 100 playoff games because he’s bad at his job. With 21 hits so far this series my only hope is he’s not being too much of a hero and is healthy enough to continue to throw them because that’s what he does. There are some that think hits are an irrelevant stat. That’s fine that you don’t pay close attention to hockey. No judgements. I KIIIIIIIID!!! But for real, against a team as old or as structurally sound as Pittsburgh, you have to wear them down and open them up. Sure, he doesn’t have hands. I get it. His job isn’t that. His job is to get the opposition off balance and create space for those who do IMLOOKINGATYOUJAKOBSILFVERBERGORWHOEVZ to get in a position to use their hands. Yes, Neil takes penalties. It’s the price of his game. When a goalie screws up the price is a goal against, when Neil screws up he takes a penalty.

You: Where you going with this one?

Me: Uhh, right!

If Neil can’t lay those hits tonight I don’t know how he helps the team. We’re going to have a guy who can skate fast, not really bury chances and…take penalties. I’m going to be watching him closely tonight.

In the words of our own Steven: “Tomas Vokoun: NOT. THAT. GOOD.”

Have you ever drank beers and watched a game with Steven? C’est le meilleur.

Anyway, as I pointed out before the series even started. I’m not going to pretend a guy who looks like Phil Collins (tbh) and was Washington’s 3^rd string goalie  a little over a year ago is some kind of world beater because he came in to relieve the totally inconsistent Marc Andre Fleury and beat the Islanders twice playing behind the Eastern Conference Champs. No. Vokoun is a very good NHL goalie. Like all goalies he has his weak points and in the last two games you’re really seeing Ottawa expose his weak glove side and inability to control rebounds. This series is proving the Greening Theory. You drive hard on this guy, youre going to see results eventually. Get tough, go glove and even this series.

You’re Not Even Working Anyway, Just Keep Reading…
Great to see bounce back games from Karlsson, Anderson, and a sweet, sweet set up from Michalek. Bounce back games aren’t everything though. Ottawa is still in a very desperate situation here. They lose this one on home ice and they are seriously on the ropes. Let’s hope MacLean can continue to work that Fortress SBP magic tonight. As amazing as that game 3 victory was it’s now in the sweet, sweet playoff memories satchel  and a loss tonight would mean Ottawa having to win every game after this one. No one wants to see the team have to get that pesky.

Enjoy the game, you lovers!
GO SENS GO!!!!!!

Hi there and how are you on this glorious day?

Before I start, I would like to apologize for the lack of a JDP for game one. As a working mother with a drinking and drug problem sometimes it can be difficult to find the time in a day and/or see the keyboard straight enough to be “always with updates”. Today is a new day and I promise promise promise I wont let going to court get in the way of being there for orange slice duty at your next soccer baseball game ever again.

 And now a take that you get to hear for the 30th time thanks to the 3 day gap between games!
I thought there were a lot of positives that came out of that last game despite what the score indicates. One of the biggest positives was that even though the Sens looked pretty overwhelmed at first and gave up a goal very early that they responded by tying it up on a dirt rascal greaser by Colin Greening. Not only is this the type of goal you want to see your team be able to score against a squad as good as the Penguins but the fact that it wasn’t scored by someone known for their offensive flair was also encouraging. Dirt rascal goals.

Another thing I noticed is that despite going pointless in game one, Erik Karlsson is really starting to get back to his 19 shots per game groove back. I find it very, very hard to criticize Karlsson because most players would have just shut it down for the season so to even see him playing half like himself is something I am still wrapping my head around. The fact that MacLean plays him 27-30 minutes and that Karlsson is able to do it blows my mind. No matter how deep the Sens can go this post season the dazzling King K skating we’ve come to know and love is just not going to be there so it was great to see EK just hammering shot after shot from the blueline. They weren’t all hitting the net but hey what am I going to say? Shoot less?

I thought Conacher and Pageau were looking great and Mika had a couple of close calls. For all the talk about the Sens having stage fright these guys did not really look like rookies in my opinion and that bodes very well for the Sens.

Jared Cowen looked pretty rough out there. You know what though? I think he’s the type of player that will learn from his bad game and take it to them tonight. Sure, the optics were terrible when he fanned on that pass and then looked weak on Malkin on the subsequent goal. Good news: I have a feeling Jerry is going to put Malkin on his ass next time they meet in front of the net.

MacLean Says “Yes [you may grudgingly return to the lineup]” to the Latendresse!!! 
Can we each and every last one of us agree that you do not want to get in Paul MacLean’s bad books? You could say the players do it to themselves to an extent but damn MacLean is not afraid to bench someone indefinitely. Remember The Ballad of Bobby Butler? A little depth returned to the lineup and MacLean all but shutdown Jim O’Brien and Peter Regin for the year. Paulrus obviously did not like what he saw out of Latendresse against Montreal and benched him for the next four games. BY THE WAY HE HAD A GOAL IN THAT SERIES. PMac means jolly-BUSINESS. 

I dont want to seem like I’m overdoing it here…or actually this is the internet whatever…
Now that Latendresse is getting that second chance that he otherwise probably wouldn’t if Spezza was put back in the line up or if Matt Kassian didnt skate like a gingerbread man (Ed. Note: ?) this is positively a pivotal moment in his career. The guy was healthy scratched for the remainder of the series against his former club because for not showing enough fire and for getting sonned by the smaller Ryan White. This does not look good on your resume going into the off season. And he cant really fall back on his regular season play either. He was good. He impressed me, a doubter, at times but the fact is he was Andre Benoit good. Andre Benoit is an overage AHL call up defenseman. Lats is a former 25+ goal top six forward. I think he has to make some noise and pad up those stats for the sake of his career. I know he’s only 25 but nobody’s looking for a top 6 forward in decline who cant play in the playoffs. Actually, Scott Gomez is playing right now…dont stop believin….hahaha seriously do not fuck this up dude. Be superthug tough in front of that net.  So yeah…uhh…unleash the Guyet!

BURRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRP!!!

Andre Benoit also draws into the line up in place of the banged up Eric Gryba. Not too much to say here. As much as it sucks to see the Sens go a man down I’m not about to pretend that Gryba was some irreplaceable rock on D. He’s performed well for a rookie called up from the AHL but so has Benoit. In fact I welcome Benoit’s offensive ability what with Patrick Wiercioch on the IR. Again, I cant say that Latendresse is an offensive upgrade without giving the same accolade to a defenseman who matched his point total in only 6 more games.

Swapping Kassian for Latendresse and Benoit for Gryba gives Ottawa an undeniably more offensively capable line up for tonight and considering they only managed one goal on 36 shots. It’s up to them to make the most of it and just pepper Vokun with shots and stay all UP in his kitchen OR WHO KNOWS WHAT KIND OF FOOD PREP AREA.

Craig Anderson who is still a frigging great goaltender gets the start.

Who to watch for: 
I think Nikita Filatov is going to finish that 3D puzzle he’s been picking away at tonight. Should be interesting to see how that shakes out.

GO SENS GO!!!

Pre game hype up jam: 

#UnitedinTherriensHead

HOT CHRISTMAS CAN THIS DAY GO ANY FRIGGING SLOWER!!!

Hi everybody. To quickly go over the Pageautions surrounding game 4, I have to say as I did after the 6-1 routing of game 3, we are witnessing a new era of Senators playoff hockey. Though pound for pound more talented, the President’s Trophy winning era Sens teams were not the type to do something like claw back from a 2 goals to none deficit in the third to win it in OT. Damn. That said, all this bologna about Ottawa having never blown a series up 3-1 is completely irrelevant to me. Those were different teams. Different circumstances. Tonight is about tonight. Let’s make out a bit…

I’m actually not all that happy that Carey Price is out. 
Oh sure, Peter Budaj is currently rocking a .500 playoff save percentage but he presents quite a wild card. Who knows how this guy is going to react to getting a start. I am never one to discount a backup tender. Lord knows we’ve seen enough of them get started against Ottawa the past couple seasons and seen a fair share beat us. My ideal scenario would have been Price trying to be a hero and not playing 100%. Instead we get a healthy guy who’s fresh. Ottawa’s had success against him in the past but having never started a playoff game before we have no idea what to expect of Budaj. If Price were to start, Ottawa would have a bit of a better picture of what they were in for. A good goalie not playing his best. If I were to guess, Montreal is going to fall back and try to protect their backup goalie as best they can so Ottawa’s going to have create chances and take a lot of shots…wait let me rephrase that:: Ottawa is going to have to take a lot of QUALITY shots tonight.

I am fine with Brandon Prust being out.
This guy. I have to hand it to him after his meathead walrus remark he did follow it up with being what I felt was Montreal’s best skater the next game. Montreal loses a significant physical presence in the game tonight. Ditto with the loss of Ryan White who is out with a human being injury or whatever coaches don’t call them. Montreal is not an overly physical team to begin with but with these two out of the lineup and a nicked up Max Pacioretty Ottawa is presented with a tremendous opportunity here. In game 3 Ottawa was laying out Montreal players left, right and centre and it slowed them to a Latendresque crawl. In each game that Ottawa has not played the body Montreal has pressured them with their impressive speed. Some people really don’t like him but I think Chris Neil has been particularly effective in stopping this. His big, timely hits have opened up space for the Sens to maneuver. I don’t know if you’ve noticed, attractive reader, but Ottawa has had some difficulty entering Montreal’s zone from time to time in this series. This is a game where Ottawa has to come out as aggressively as they did in game three. I feel we’ve only seen that kind of jump once so far. It would also help if Subban can manage to get another game misconduct. Neil get that irritating face of yours all up in his tonight! The Habs are missing a significant amount of players but there is still a lot of talent in that lineup and I expect them to come out looking like a team fighting for their playoff lives.

Smooth Jimmy’s HOT and uhhh NOT QUITE SO HOT list: A Presentation of That Really Creepy Strip Club and/or Adult Video Store I Cant Even Tell Out By The Airport. 

HOT
Marc Methot. 
Remember how much doubt there was surrounding the trade for Methot? I recall a lot of, “He’s played his way out of Columbus’ top 4” or “His possession numbers are terrible” etc etc. Look sugar bear, after the Pascal LeClaire fiasco, it wasn’t unreasonable to be skeptical of a trade for a Columbus player but for a guy billed as a “big shut down defender who can move” I have to say, as someone who was pretty excited about the acquisition in the first place I was not expecting the type of performance we’ve gotten from Methot this year. A solid season is one thing but a point per game and only one penalty in 4 games? Methot’s been fantastic on Ottawa’s back end. I am so happy to have this guy on board for the next couple of years. Also, according to every lady on twitter he is very handsome.

Hmmmmmmmmm Not Exactly Hot in Hurr..
Milan Michalek.
I dont know what to think here. Guy plays pretty poorly, get his knee scoped, misses time, comes back, plays well. Playoffs come, largely invisible. I dont know what the deal is but I know I’m not crazy about a guy as suited for this series as Michalek being pretty much a non factor. His two points and 11 shots are positives but he’s not the same guy who can burn by defenders on the rush down the wing. Get normal get normal soon we want you to resume being norrrrrmaaaaaaaaaal.

Creamy Middles
Tyle Kurris. 
Massive goal from Turris. Just massive. Pretty crazy to think that when you type “Kyle Turris Epic OT winner” into Askjeeves.net there’s more than one result now. At a point a game and hot off his goal that’s put Ottawa up 3-1 in the series its tough to criticize but Montreal has been taking it to Turris in large for most of the series targeting him every chance they get. It would be great to see Turry get yet another important goal. Revenge is a dish best served …goals.

Things that make you go UGH.
So, MacLean has announced that there will be zero line up changes for Ottawa tonight and as such Matt Kassian will continue playing his 3 minutes against a team that will not try to fight anyone tonight. Gotta trust MacLean as he is a better man than I (not hard btw) but from my point of view this is a missed opportunity to play the possibly fired up and far more talented Guilaumme Latendresse. I mean first off this is the one time that LATENDRESSE IS AN UPGRADE SPEED-WISE. Second, you sat him for being a bit soft, punishment served, lesson hopefully learned, now let the guy who has good hands and an ax to grind back in the game! Also, Mark Stone has been taking practices with Ottawa lately, you’re telling me that Stone also isn’t an upgrade over Kassian’s 3-4 minutes. I don’t know. Also, Jim O’Brien and Peter Regin are now skeletons covered in cobwebs.

Holy crap I’m so keyed up right now. The Sens winning a third straight game is a lot to ask. See you all out there. Deep breaths and only 17 more hours till game time!

Zen Jam

After Sunday’s game I actually found myself thinking back to some low times as a fan, oddly enough. You know what I’m talkin’ about… back to the days of Heatley’s ugly and drawn out exit, Clouston as ice king, many fans down on Spezza and hoping people like Alexandre Picard would ‘find their game.’ Worst of all Ottawa was still wearing that black SNES jersey.
We fans had enjoyed some very strong years in the early to mid 2000s but back just a couple of years ago it was really sinking in for me that the Senators were making a strong shift into shittiness.

Oh sure, I was still supporting the team and still making it out to what were some pretty painful games. The worst of which was a 5-1 pounding at the hands of the Florida Panthers on a Tuesday night in their black jerseys. MONEY AND TIME WELL SPENT! I mean, I’m a pretty optimistic fan overall but by all indications it seemed that we were in for a very steep and very, very long decline from the President’s Trophy days.
I wont dwell on it too long as I recognize it’s easy to wax on all flowery when your team just won a huge playoff game but thinking back to how recent many of those unpleasant events were I have to say I am feeling very grateful that despite a couple of Pascal LeClaire shaped bumps and thanks maybe to a few bits of good fortune like your talented but spotty diminutive mid-first round pick blossoming into the best defenseman in the game…I have to hand it to Bryan Murray and co. They made this team very fun to watch again…and FAST. I often think “What must it be like as an Oiler’s fan.” All those young fire crackers collected over years and then at the end of another brutal season your reward is, well, time for another high draft pick. That year that “earned” Ottawa Mika Zibanejad at sixth overall was hard enough. The Sens brass have built a team so solid that a squad comprised of half of the farm team is still a post season contender. And all without ever having to come in worse than 25^th.  Cant really call it a fluke anymore when MacLean actually got a better result with less. Anyway, speaking of Zibanejad, let’s get into it…

Obviously Pageau was the story of game 3 and we will get to him hey IM NOT MADE OF TALKING ABOUT STUFF EVERYONE’S TALKED ABOUT ALREADY!!! I want to point out that Zibanejad is now getting 20 minutes of ice time and he’s earning it. It would seem Mikachu has earned increased trust form his coaches and as such essentially doubled his ice time. I notice Zibanejad every game and even if he’s not getting the goals he is certainly attracting attention. Montreal appears to have a very tough time answering to Zibanejad’s size and strength. I love watching the Swedranian Bull routinely shrug defenders off his back Mario Lemieux style and work to get the puck to Silfverberg (whom he shares beautiful chemistry with).
It isn’t as if Zibanejad has been a slouch out there with 2 assists in 3 games. That’s not bad at all for a rookie but goals are what puts the pee-pee in fans pants (just…terrible writing here today). No question there will be a lot of focus on the diminutive JGP tonight (Note to JGP: Be careful out there buddy, this team is immune to disciplinary action! ITS A GREAT LEAGUE!). Anyway, if there is a lot of pressure to shut down Pageau I hope that opens things up a bit for Zibanejad as I am confident he can get something done. Big game for him I think.

You got me feelin’ Pageautions
Okay here we go. Judging by the way he was playing during his initial call up I just had a feeling this kid was ready to explode out there. I mean sure it’s still very early and I believe it was Winfrey Churchills who said, “Those who fail to learn from the Regins of the past will Bobby Butler in the future.” But you know what? Sometimes unexpected rookie sensations DO actually work out. We cant always be sad-sack realists.  It’s fun to be excited! PAGEAU UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE™! Regardless of what happens tonight or in this series no one will ever be able to take that game away from Pageau or the ever growing history of the franchise. Most dominant franchise win in the playoffs, a 5-0 line brawl, a rookie hat trick and of course, the “PAGEAU, PAGEAU, PAGEAU” chant (in my opinion one of the coolest things I’ve ever seen happen at SBP). Pageau was a key in a night where I felt we saw the entire franchise move closer to a new chapter.

Can you believe Ottawa was out shot last game?
Despite all the story lines floating around out there I think this game is about goaltending yet again. Anderson is going to have to be very, very good again as my inkling is that Montreal is going to employ a strategy of going hard to the front of the net and trying to bang home rebounds. The Canadiens have made it no secret that they think that Andy is a “first save” goalie and if you can get a rebound off of him and on your stick you can put it behind him. It will be up to Andy to stop those pucks from rebounding but also up to the large lads in front of him to make sure they cant get in too close, particularly the sneaky Gallagher (who’s comedy is terrible) and Subban who likes to jump up in the rush (and on his hits). No telling which Carey Price we will see. Your guess is as good as mine.

So In A Roundabout Way What I’m Trying to Say Is…

Despite how satisfying that game was for we Sens fans lest we forget that one game before Ottawa was positively dominated. The complete 180 that they made between games 2 and 3 has me as excited as I am nervous about tonight. In fact, Ottawa has only looked particularly good in 1 of 3 games thus far. That’s not to say that game 3 wasn’t a turning point but if we tune in tonight to see Ottawa with their foot off the accelerator we could have a tied series again and a much different scenario on our hands. The good news is the game they did look good in was a particularly inspired performance, the kind you can build momentum around. Ottawa’s going to have to come out as hard as they did on Sunday, no question.  Keep it simple stupids. Hit, skate and score.

Go Sens Go!

And now this… 

More gold from Steven! Enjoy the game everybody!

“Let me be your hero…”

Hi everyone,

I’ve had Spin Doctors “Two Princes” stuck in my head for I am NOT kidding you, four straight days. I’m hungover. LETS DO THIS.

We have a lot to talk about. I suppose I will get it out of the way off the jump

A Tale of Two Hitties

I will go on the record (that no one asked me to go on) saying I thought Gryba’s hit was a legal but devastating one. For those opposed I asketh thee this: “What gentlesir/madam was Gyba supposed to do instead of lay that hit?” Was he to step out of one Montreal’s best forward’s way? Delicately poke check the puck off of his stick? That was a trolley track pass from Diaz a la LaRose + Skinner = Cowen that we saw in Jared’s first game back. Like the Cowen-Skinner hit, I call it the Andy Sutton Special. “Five minutes for being humongous.” Eller is no shrimp but examine Gyrba’s positioning. I’ve seen many a head hunt and I cannot call that one of them. Hockey’s an incredibly fast game to the point that the NHL has added A WHOLE OTHER REFEREE to keep track of it in recent years…also O’Rourke is a terrible referee. I am willing to accept that in the moment at ice level that hit probably looked dirty. Eller laying knocked out in a quickly growing pool of his own blood did nothing to help anything. Fine. Gryba gets the gate. What I find laughable is now with the advantage of multiple angles of replay that he’s still getting a hearing with the Shannahan. Rediculous.

You know what hit was not so clean?

I don’t like how Subban jumps into the boards and I don’t like how his elbow goes right to the head of Neil. But that hit makes the highlight’s package and PK is celebrated for “being fired up tonight” why? Because Neil pops up like nothing happened. What am I trying to say here? I’m saying optics play a huge role in how a play is perceived apparently. If you’ve ever worn a hockey elbow pad you know how hard they are. If Subban concussed Neil and knocked his teeth out he gets the gate. Fortunately, he appears fine after the play (though I didn’t think he looked quite right after) and life goes on.  I never, ever relish seeing a player get hurt. I think it’s terrible what happened what happened to Eller. I hope he makes a full recovery but much like fighting after throwing a hip check I’m confused by the aftermath of this thing. In a game this fast with players the size of Gyrba or Sutton or Chara I say this: Players. Will. Be. Hurt. On. Clean. Plays. I point the finger at Diaz for a very stupid play that endangered his teammate.

NOW ONTO THE ACTUAL GAME: 
So good things and bad things. Let’s start with a few quick bad points.
-Ottawa looked HORRIBLE in the second period. In my mind this game had the potential to be a blow out. They are not going to get away with 20 minutes that bad very often. That game lived and died to the play of Craig Anderson. The goals surrendered to Bourque and Gallagher we’re beauties. Craig Anderson was the game’s hero. I was worried he’d be shaky after taking that puck the grill but he remained Steady Ruxpin in the crease. Hail Andy.
-The Sens gave up 50 shots BTW…on the heels of praising Anderson’s play…bros, don’t force your goalie into making 48 saves. Good God.
-And that power play. Forget trouble setting the table there was one power play that was pretty much played exclusively in Ottawa’s zone. Just unacceptably bad. There were a lot of thing’s I am not feeling great about considering this is a 7 game series.

Good points:
-Latendresse scored SUCH a troll goal. The only person laughing more than me when that went in was Latendresse himself. Those are the kind of Flugly goals that Lats is going to have to score if he’s going to be a factor against such a speedy team. That one had to hurt for Habs fans.
-You have to love that Marc Methot had the same stat line as Erik Karlsson last night. I actually thought EK had a few shaky moments to be honest. He had a goal and an assist, played a ton of minutes was a plus three…all good BUT I actually think he can play better. Which is ultimately great news for Ottawa.
Can you believe Mika Zibanejad is a rookie? I mentioned this yesterday but I cannot get over the chemistry he has with Silfverberg. I like their line with Latendresse.

Am I A Terrible Human Being For Even Mentioning This?
Hit controversy aside, how huge a loss Lars Eller is for Montreal? When the smoke clears on this thing that is not a player you want to see get injured in game 1. Not only one of their best players but one of their biggest.

The Price is Wrongderson…or whatever.
Tonight will be another goalie battle. Regardless of last night’s result, each game is a new one. A blank slate. Keep in mind Ottawa got their asses kicked in 4-2 by the Rangers in game 1 last year and bounced back with a 3-2 OT win in a much, much tighter game 2. I still don’t take Price lightly but if the Sens can get to him early that will be massive for momentum. The interesting thing with the Bell Centre atmosphere is that yes, undoubtedly it is the most electric building in the league…but if stuff starts going wrong I think it can also be the quietest. That’s the trade you get when you have fans as emotional as the Canadiens’. After that Silfverberg goal last night you could really feel the air exit that building even on TV. Of course the other delicious possibility is that if things go really shit for the Habs that base of passionate fans have a tendency to take out their frustrations on their own guys. After all this is the team I’ve seen boo their own side for not converting on a powerplay against one of the league’s best PKs in a game THEY WERE WINNING. Two home losses would be crushing for them. Especially after a game as frustrating as last night’s. With back to back games it’s not like Ottawa’s powerplay is going to miraculously get awesome overnight. I basically think we’re going to need yet another masterful performance from Anderson and continued scoring to pull this one out. If they can do that it would be beyond huge for the series but Montreal is going to come out trying to win one for Eller. Ottawa’s going to have to keep it calm on their side and take them out of it early.

Steve says that he photoshopped in my real eyes and glasses for this picture. Creep show! I will give that the paisley vest is accurate but the colour is off. I’m more of a fuchsia man. Also, I would never wear so few jewels.

Now,
Before I start I’ll be the first to admit that before the Sens victory in Boston put them in seventh place I was not overly optimistic about the playoffs. Maybe it’s the hundreds and hundreds of dollars I’ve spent on playoff tickets the past few years and never so much as getting to see a win talking but the last few times the Senators have made the post season they have been less than successful. Look, I’m not trying to be a bad fan here. I’ve BEEN there all these years: #myredisyourred #unitedintown #hockeymakesourbed all the things! But you saw what happened in that Penguins – Islanders game last night! That’s been us other years! I don’t know how this stuff works. My guess is as good as yours as to how this series will shake out (THANKS FOR READING!). Montreal is a really good team but I think Ottawa has a pretty damn good chance against them. Let’s get into it!

Forwards:

One disadvantage these teams both face here is that they are each missing their elite number one centre. Jason Spezza is still recovering from back surgery and in Montreal…uhhhh…
But the seriousness. These two teams might play a similar game but one glaring difference is definitely that the Habs can put the biscuit in the basket. Leading Ottawa point getter Kyle Turris wouldnt even be in Montreal’s top 5 in scoring. And they’ve scored by committee too with 8 players putting up double digits in goals. Impressive in such a short year. Not so fast though. Does anyone else get a bit of a sleeping giant vibe from the Sens? Its not like Ottawa is devoid of scoring talent. They routinely pepper their opponents with shots and when they get going they have the ability to load up on goals. See: 5-1 victory over Montreal earlier this year. Ottawa has their Habs killer in rookie sensation Daniel Afredsson and Montreal traded away Sens killer Erik Cole but I still give the edge to the more productive Canadiens. It will be up to to Craig Anderson to stem the tide (as usual)

Defense:

For my insight and analysis on this whole EK vs. PK thing please see this helpful video.

Outside of the E vs. P thing Montreal also possesses Andrei Markov who you know, scored more points than everyone on Ottawa’s roster. So there’s that. The biggest hole in their D corps is that they are missing the bruising Russian Alexei Emelin. Ottawa dodges a lot of devastating hits thanks to this guy missing the series. They’ll need to be physically imposing and bully their way into the zone. Zibby I’m looking at you. Outside of the offensively threatening PK and Markov there’s some stalwarts like Josh Gorges and a bunch of misfit toys like STANLEY CUP CHAMPION TOMAS KABERLE.
Ottawa’s D is an interesting combination of youth and experience. Fun fact: Did you know if you add the ages of Jared Cowen, Erik Karlsson and Eric Gryba, multiply them by two and subtract Patrick Wiercioch’s age you get the same age as Sergei Gonchar’s youngest granddaughter? It’s called MATH PORN. Look it up in a dictionary about differnent kinds of porn that arent porn. Moving forward, despite a D squad with a bunch of green horns and a guy who used to play for Columbus, Phillips and Gonchar combine for 229 games of post season experience. Look to those two guys to keep their heads if things get rough for a game or two. Add to that the Senators have an elite Penalty Kill and allowed the fewest goals against in the East this year. A silver lining of all those injuries was that it forced Ottawa to get their shit together big time defensively. I have to give the advantage to the Senators here.

Goaltending:

Okay can we stop pretending that Carey Price isn’t a really fucking good goaltender? Talking a gang of shit is fun but let’s not kid ourselves that a team that has as much trouble scoring as the Senators is going to be in pretty tough against Price. His numbers might not be Anderson-like this season but honestly he is a player I hope does not heat up for Montreal. He finished the year pretty poorly but the playoffs present a clean slate and he shouldn’t be taken lightly. The same goes for Anderson, he hasn’t been quite up to the non-human level since his return from injury but I am confident that we will see the guy who was Ottawa’s best player in last season’s series against New York. You have to give the edge to Anderson here but the Sens difficulty scoring goals makes the matchup closer than I am comfortable with.

Coaching:

Coaches are humans that make all kinds of sports decisions.

 and now this…

Smooth Jimmy’s Step Up To Get Your Rep-Up List:

• Cory Conacher: Conacher got off to a great start with Ottawa, carrying on from his great rookie campaign that begain in Tampa. CC’s dwindling ice time over the ever-important last stretch of the season suggests MacLean did not like elements of Conacher’s game. If I were to guess it was on the defensive side. He’s still showed flashes of awesomeness like his heads up flip pass to Turris for his empty netter against the Bruins but Cory’s going to really have to earn his ice time out there it seems. I really hope he does as we’ve all seen the chances he can create with Zibenejad and Silfverberg.

• Kyle Turris: I noticed teams really going after Turris physically lately. Barring a Brandon Prust head punch special, at his REPORTED 6 foot 1, 195lbs Turris will get to enjoy being a decent sized forward in this series. I don’t know though, I’m not so sure he’s only one inch shorter and three pounds lighter than Lars Eller. Whatever, the point is he ain’t exactly lining up against Jordan Staal up in here. I’ve been a big defender of Turris this season feeling he was thrust into a very tough job. The playoffs are a whole other beast and we are going to see if Turris has that extra gear in his daddy pants role. Turry put up respectable if pedestrian numbers this season (though his production is actually up slightly from last year) but I think he can do a bit better. Anyone who watched him closely knows that his 118 shots contained more than a few Condra-level heartbreakers. That’s not to sound like I’m going into this series down on Turris. He’s not invisible in the playoffs clocking 3 points in 7 games against NY including a sweet snipe I needn’t mention. He was very by all accounts Phoenix’s best player in the playoffs in 2011 with 3 points in 4 games but this year is much different. He’s going to have to be the guy at forward. He’s not only going to have to create chances for Milo and Alfie (OR WHO KNOWS WHAT LINE SHUFFLING SPICE!) but he’s ultimately going to have to find a way to bury more of those shots.

• Milan Michalek: Another player who can struggle with the odd goal drought and considering he’s not exactly Adam Oates with the helpers out there, Milo needs to be that 30+ goal calibre guy he showed us he can be last year. Of course he wont be getting dishes from Jason Spezza but when the game is speed there’s few faster than 9MM. Back from an apparently much needed knee scope Michalek looked proper down the stretch but he needs to show he’s a great winger with or without his typical linemates. As an Ottawa Senator this a skill he’ll likely need in the future…when he’s in the lineup.

• Jakob Silfverberg: Known for his slow starts that gain momentum, Silfverberg is not going to have the luxury of time in the post season. Despite his status as a rookie Jakob knows what it takes to go the distance in the playoffs as last year he Captained his Byrnas Fluurgendorffs (?) all the way to the Whatever It’s Called Cup of the Swedish Elite League. After starting the year in Binghamton for 34 games and moving up to play 48 more on a compressed schedule for Les Big Boys it’s no secret that Silfverberg looked a little gassed toward the end of the season. His play has had a little more life of late but that rookie line is going to need his possession skills in full effect if its going to be a factor against the Canadiens. Zibanejad and Silf have been on some pretty psychic shit at times this year. If this line can get clicking again that could cause big problems for Montreal.

• Eric Gryba: The microscope is going to be trained tight on Grybes by fans and media alike simply for getting picked to play over Patrick Wiercioch. Considering the high flying game that Montreal plays, I personally think it’s a bit of an odd choice to go with Gryba but…Trustache. Maybe the coaching staff thinks the puck moving game is covered with Karlsson getting 45 minutes a night already and Gonchar enjoying top scoring honours among Ottawa defensemen this season. Regardless of the decision to go with the rookie Gryba over …the other rookie Wiercioch the onus is now on Gyba to prove he deserves to keep his spot in the line up. One bad game and MacLean knows he has a very capable replacement (or three) waiting in the wings.

• GUILLAUME LATENDRESSE: Alright, I fronted hard on this guy since he got signed but you know what? Since recovering from his whiplash (..ugh whatever moving forward…) problems I grew to like Gui alright. He has pretty great hands and despite his speed issues he finds his way to the front of the net where he’s most effective. He’s also proven he can set up a faster skater charging toward the goal with a beautiful pass. So yadda, yadda Latendresse is p. good. P. Good (copyright) doesn’t mean irreplaceable though. A contract renewal in Ottawa is not exactly guaranteed for Lats. Consider the talent like Stone, Prince, Puempel, Noeson et al on the creep-creep coming into rookie camp in the fall. Latendresse, a heralded draftee of the Canadiens (or as I call it “Skilled Player with the Frenchest Name Selected”) was anointed “Le Sauveur du Mont-Royal”, rushed into the league and promptly booted to the wilderness of Minnesota. My eyes are going to be on Latendresse to see how he reacts to facing his old club. Gui hasn’t exactly been a playoff ruler with a Reginesque 1 assist in 12 career post season appearances skating to a -7 rating. The playoffs are a breeding ground for unlikely heroes and this is the perfect opportunity for Gui to emerge as one. Should he be a big fat zero (see what I did there) he doesn’t give the Senators much reason to give him millions upon millions more dollars. Criticized in the past for issues with motivation, Gui has the opportunity to stick it to the club that told him to hit the trails.

Secret Hobo Spices:

• Jean Gabriel Pageau: Look, I dont want to overdo it here, he’s played 9 NHL games but speaking of potential heroes flying under the radar…I have a really good feeling about this kid. He plays a solid, responsible game but there’s a wee bit of magic in that silk scarf of his (what the fuck am I talking about at this point?).

• Z. Smith: Maybe he’ll get the odd point, maybe he wont but look for Zmith to be out there punishing the Canadiens every chance he gets. Zack was made for playoff hockey and I’m thinking he’ll quietly be a difference maker out there.

• Colin Greening: Scored the quietest 8 goals this season. Greening has the speed, size and versatility to be a big factor. The quietness of his 8 goals and 19 points comes from a tendency to disappear for long stretches. Which Colin Greening will we see? I’m hoping the surprising game breaker kind.

Welp, that’s all. Now ish gets Real. GO SENS GO!!!!

WELCOME! 

So as you well know, the Sensphere is all atwitter over the news of Jim O”Brien’s healthy scratch tonight against the Washington Capitals.

OKAY Erik Karlsson is back. I don’t even know what to do with myself. What can I say that hasnt aleady been said? All the emotions are happening. After my preview of the recent match against Carolina I predicted that in his return Jared Cowen would take a glorified twirl around the ice and make sure the old hip feels okay in a Borowieckian 12 minutes of ice time.  I think we can say after 20 minutes that included a thunderous hit, 2 fights and a number of beastly defensive plays that I should go back up into my tree house and shut up. THANKS FOR READING!

And now James would like to issue a statement:

“Ladies and gentlemen, I sincerely apologize for not wearing my Erik Karlsson jersey to the bar the night of his devastating injury suffered from noted piece of human garbage Matt Cooke. Since I decided to stop washing my Peace Tower logo Sens t shirt during the entire cup final run of 2007, I have been aware that my superstitious actions control the outcome of sporting events that I am interested in, namely those of the only sports team that matters, the Ottawa Senators. By not wearing my Karlsson uniform I not only endangered the outcome of the game but put his health at risk and feel incredibly lucky that he has found a way to recover quickly. I can assure you, my fellow fans, this will not happen again. #lalala” 

Heyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy exciting story line aside, the Pittsburgh game did not go very well and shit is starting to get extremely real up in here!
Not everyone was terrible in that game (gotta love Zibanejad these days) but have you seen the Sens trying to look so fancy this season? They did not look like Paul MacLean’s team that game. Forget this running after Matt Cooke stuff, you know what I dont want to see distracting the team? MARC METHOT ATTEMPTING A FUCKING DROP PASS. That happened. Obviously his partner was NOT expecting it. Even if Erik Karlsson solely gets power play time tonight it will be a welcome change simply because he loves to shoot. Ugh, guys, with the cycling already! To quote the Scotiabank Place crowd “SHOOOT!!!”  Just brutal with the extra man. Speaking of which…

Craig Anderson’s Been Terrible at the Point on the Power Play! 
Been hearing a lot of ragging on Anderson’s play since his glorious return. With so much on the line it’s hard not to get a bit rattled watching the Sens make things a little too “interesting” down the stretch but… Andy aint the problem. The Sens as a team have put up 2 goals in their past two losses. There is such a thing as momentum in hockey and putting up 1 goal a night tells your goalie “hey we expect you to have a shutout” Nah. You have to score more than one goal to win hockey games against most teams….especially the Washington Capitals!
Like the whole Cooke thing, the return of Karlsson has created a circus surrounding him that does distract from how important this game is. Punching a playoff ticket is something Ottawa should do, you know, sooner than later. All the good vibes in the world aren’t going to win this game…well what do I know maybe they will…but still win you guys. I cant takes this no mores. The Capitals are a team that is not going to be easy to defeat on the road but lets hope that having the past couple of days off has given Ottawa a chance to get it together after some disappointing performances. Tonight’s the night. Ottawa can do it! They’ve proved they can do it without Karlsson now let’s see them do with him back. Welcome back Special Little Guy!
Enjoy the game. As usual, I will be eating my feelings on twitter. Seriously hold me.