Here kid…happy birthday you said you wanted a coyote…here’s a drawing of a coyote…now leave daddy alone, daddy’s drinkin.

Bobby Ryan is Struggling…to hear what h8rz are saying with his 4 points in his last 3 games….plugging his earz
Well, this whole thing changed in a jiffy. Hopefully Bobby Ryan becomes a metaphor for Ottawa’s season. Put in a tough situation x excitement + expectations = slightly premature shortness of breath.
Ryan has scored a series of beauties and as a fan I am happy to come away from this roadie having witnessed some dirty, disgusting snipes from Ryan and some positively stellar goaltending from Robin Lehner. Ryan has gone from the forward most worried about to one of the most productive. Funny that. And Lehner? Well, backup goalies don’t tend to put up save percentages over .940 when facing over 40 shots in back to back games. Future starters do.
Though I am trying to be patient and everything, as Varada pointed out in his previous post, any possession team worth it’s salt can’t be surrendering nearly 50 shots per game. Speaking of nearly 50 shots per game…uhh can we please win one for the goddamn Gipper up in this piece? I mean you’ve got goalies who are in several cases stopping over 20 shots IN A PERIOD for you. They need some support! They (esp. Lehner) are making scores like 4-1 losses look flattering…

Simplify. These are supposed to be road games!
Y’ever go to see some dumb game at the Paladium Corel Centre Scotiabank Place Canadian Tire Centre and the team Ottawa is playing just wont stop using this stingy defensive trap strategy waiting for the Sens to show off a little for the home fans one too many times and next thing you know they capitalize on a botched fancy play and boom it’s 1-0 for the bad guys and they just trap up again. You have? You know why, right? BECAUSE THAT’S HOW TEAMS PLAY ON GRUELLING ROAD TRIPS!
The roster can change over they years, the coach can change but it seems a constant to the Ottawa Senators that they get caught up in these ‘one too many passes’ type plays. Their passes keep getting broken up and boom back to the defensive zone where the team has been weakest so far. Makes sense they aren’t winning. With Karlsson, Wiercioch, Corvo, Ryan, MacArthur, Michalek…there’s enough shooters out there. Just get them on net.

More like ASSociate Captains
If Neil and Phillips are guys that are supposed to lead by example then there is no word to describe the job they are doing so far…so I’m going to make one up now, “Yeashtfurlap.” As I was saying, if these guys are supposed be leading by example the young guys must be learning heaps about the ancient art of being unreliable. That’s right, Phillips less reliable than Joe Corvo. These two need to turn it around in a serious way. At a combined salary of $5MM and wearing letters…you have to uhh….not be two of the worst players on the team. Contract year Philly, contract year. Neil…uh…..signed through 2016? YEASHTFURLAP. Ugh…moving forward. 

When this roadie concludes, let me be the first to welcome Mikail Zibanachev, General Secretary of Actually Being a Top 6 Player! 
Okay, well, I think it’s about time to rest the case of DaCosta vs. The NHL. I’m not trying to scapegoat the guy but with Spezza back and looking…kind of better(?) and Turris playing quite well, DaCosta is not really doing anything for the team. On the REALreal, we’re talking about a guy who’s supposed to be a top six or bust type guy right? Okay, 40 games, 7 points, -12, time to send him back to the AHL. He’s had an audition that has safeguarded his passing through waivers unclaimed. Trust me, type “Stephane DaCosta” into The Youtube (a video sharing website) the top returns are him him getting hit very hard by a caveman, a mix of Merrimac stuff, Binghamton stuff and a light smattering of NHL stuff (none of it from this season). Teams are not tripping over each other for this guy right now. That’s okay! Murray did not even so much as give up a pick for him. Send him back down after tonight’s game and let Stepha Get His Groove Back. He could always get on a roll in the A and get another call up later in the year. The brass felt Mika needed a lesson taught to him for maybe not playing up to potential in camp. That’s cool. Running a hockey team. Mika played well in MacLean’s system last season and that’s better than DaCosta can say. Now with Pageau getting stapled to the bench last game, let’s bring Mika back, hm’ka-iy?. I’m not saying he’s the answer but I think Ottawa looks like they need his help right now.

Mamma I’m comin’ home
Can you tell I’m pumped for this game? I’ve basically just talked about what stuff that might happen after it. THANKS FOR READING!
When you think about it, it has been a couple of years since we’ve seen a Southwesterly road trip. These things are typically murderous but slightly easier to take when they occur during the dog danglin’ days of December or January when you’ve seen the team go on some winning streaks and losing streaks. We knew in the summer when the schedule was released that this would be a really, really tough way to start the year. I think what I didn’t anticipate was how without much of a precursor other than preseason leading up to it, it gives the impression that this is the only Ottawa Senators we’ll see this year. I think we all know that’s not true so I am very glad to see it end. On the bright side, despite getting killed a couple of times, a win tonight would send the Senators back to Ottawa with a barely deserved 2-2-2 record. Something of a clean slate to return with. C’mon fellas, game starts at 10:00pm here…trap up, win a dirty boring one and come back to our loving arms. 

Worlds Done Collided Video of the Day:

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Heyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy not really feeling current top line centre Stephane DaCostaaaaaaaaaaaa.

I don’t think he’s horrible or anything but consider the far superior Kyle Turris looked a little in over his head at times filling in as top pivot last year. After seeing his first crack at it, as a fan, I don’t think I’m interested in watching DaCosta find his sea legs with only one win in the first three games of the season. I simply think there might be better options to choose from
Jean Gabriel’s Pizzageau for instance. If management is okay with trying out a slight, speedy guy in Spezza’s place why not go for, you know, the better of the two slight, speedy guys? In my opinion, aside from Turris, Pageau has produced the most chances so far in this young season. He’s a spark plug who seems to make things happen even when saddled with some of the less skilled players on the team. Admittedly, he does have great chemistry with Condra and MacLean might not be in a hurry to break that up. Still, I think Condra is so reliable that he could make it work for a couple of games with a different centre.
My favourite part of the game in LA on Wednesday (besides watching Ottawa defend a number of 5 on 3’s and Andy surrendering pretty much the first shot of the game *slide whistle*) was when Neil took a puck in the face. No, not because I’m mad at him for taking an unsportsmanlike penalty from the bench for squirting human jack-o-lantern Dan Carcillo with a water bottle. It is worth noting, however, that maybe that’s something you don’t want to see your ASSISTANT CAPTAIN doing with less than ten minutes to go in a tied road game. Talk about getting beaten at your own game. Anyway, Neil’s temporary departure forced Paul MacLean to shuffle the lines a bit. After some initial psychedelia Bobby Ryan landed on Pageau’s wing. I was praying they’d get something going quick to give the coach some incentive to keep them together for a few shifts. They didn’t look out of place but alas it was just a brief tease. I think it’s something that’s worth a try even just to start the game tonight in San Jose. That is if Spezza’s not playing. I don’t think we see the captain until Sunday.
I don’t want to give him all the credit but Pageau’s goal against LA really helped to shift the momentum of the game which was looking like it was going the way of the route after 20 minutes.
If you want to talk career numbers JGP has managed almost as many points in a third of the games as DaCosta has. JGP has put up 5 points in 12 games while DaCosta has 7 in 37 games. Factor in Pageau’s playoff experience and it becomes 12 points in 22 games. Most striking is that unlike DaCosta, JGP is typically buried in the lineup while DaCosta is usually handed a more prominent top six assignment like he was on Wednesday versus LA. Of course the competition you play against is tougher in the top 6 but a pass to Milan Michalek probably has a bit of a better chance of making you look good than a dish to Matt Kassian.
With Ottawa in need of a win on this South Western swing, I think Pageau is worth a try between Ryan and Milo to start off against the Sharks. With all his time spent in the bottom six I also think it’s made Pageau a more physical player than DaCosta. He did put Dustin Brown on his ass at one point last game; no easy task. He’s also solid defensively taking a number of D zone draws…that said, he has been getting killed at the dot lately…so…uhh…I think he’s earned it? No, really, I do.
To me the best fill in, aside from Turris, would be big, quick and skilled Michael Zibaneham. But that’s all kinds of “I’m not even going to talk about that right now.” 

When will Genghis Lehner get his first chance to eat the still beating heart of Craig Anderson?
Though I am pumped as anyone to see Lehner get some game action Ottawa has only had 3 contests in the past 14 weeks of the season. What can I say, these are exciting times with Ottawa having not one but TWO, count em TWO good goaltenders. Facing a team who’ve been the absolute class of the NHL, save for some Def Comedy Jam lockeroom remarks (good luck in future endeavours whoever that reporter who printed that was btw), you have to assume MacLean goes with his no.1 in this situation. No doubt in my mind Lehner will get the start tomorrow against the Ducks…which is…I still can’t believe a professional sports team is called that and this is in a world that has a team called Sheffield Wednesday and another called the Nippon Ham Fighters. *stretches for two full minutes* What was I saying? Oh yeah, facing a team of San Jose’s REGULAR SEASON calibre, we’re going to see how Ottawa as a club needs some work still to take it to the next level. As such Ottawa will need some of that Anderstud swagger tonight. Some of that absolute game stealing shit that he can get on. He was flat out heroic against Buffalo and hung out to dry on penalties against LA and Toronto. Being an NHL goaltender is a relentlessly hard job. After being slightly maligned for giving up a softy and looking human in a first period that was basically a twenty minute penalty kill, Andy not only has to “bounce back” tonight but flat out steal one against an unbeaten team to give Ottawa a chance. Should Lehner get the start and win this thing? Whew, get ready for the makings of Ottawa’s first ever controversy not based on who’s less terrible at goaltending!

Now that he in one fell swoop become a point per game player, Bobby Ryan has silenced his critics for a while so y’all can go back into your nest and you can shut the fu– GodDAMNit Silfverberg has 4 goals.
As it is written in the Book of Karlsson Tweets “#whocares.” Now the new thing is comparing him to Silfverberg? I am NOT down with this. If you seek out ways to be disappointed in a player you can always find them. So let’s all be pissed off at Marc Methot for being a -1 on the year because Nick Foligno is on pace for 55 goals! Fire Murray! I did not fight in the Complaining Wars of 2009 to 2013 on the front lines of moaning that Spezza needs a quality sniper just to malign the guy who finally IS that less than a handful of games into his time here. Ryan’s coming off his best game as a Senator and I’m hoping he can get rolling.
Usually Ottawa gets ripped to shreds on Western road trips. This one has the potential to be a bit different. With or without Spezza, the top line has two players in Michalek and Ryan with years of experience playing on or against a lot of these teams. Ditto Turris, really. I’m not sure how much of a factor this will be but I can’t ignore that two thirds of the goals against the Kings came from Ryan and Milo. It can’t hurt that MacLean cut his teeth as a coach in the Western conference. The West always seems this bruising, quick and skilled Sasquatch (or Yeti) stealthily lurking in the redwood forests just off the coast of the glorious Pacific Ocean. Hopefully with a few of our best players and our coach having seen a whole lot of these teams in the past it will take away some of the mystique surrounding them and Ottawa can just focus on how they are really fucking good….uhhh…wait, come back! After looking like they were going to be taken apart by LA the Sens showed they could very much compete with one of the best in the conference. Tonight hopefully they can carry a bit of the confidence in as they face THE best in the We– I forget how the rest of that goes. BEAT THOSE SHARKSQUATCHES!

Enjoy the game and here’s hoping we’re not all watching Saturday Night Live after 2 periods!

GEAU SENS GEAU!

Hi Everybody… Ooooooof, this three day layover betwixt games hath really been a breeding ground for not enough to talk about and too much time to talk about it.
Like my lower back tattoo says, “You don’t get 3 out of 4 points against two divisional rivals on the road without making a few enemies!” I have to admit, it’s been pretty fun watching Sens fans punch back at this panic nonsense about Bobby Ryan (1 point, 2 games played BTMFingW) that’s appeared in the press. Some fans are smart and rational, other fans make “Matt Cooke 4 MVP” signs after he nearly ends a young star player’s year. As I’m pretty sure Elton John once sangsaid, “It’s the ciiiiircus of liiiiiife” (can’t confirm those lyrics as I’m not allowed to watch Disney movies, they give me daymares). The main part that bothered me about  that whole Ryan thing is that the questions being put forth in media scrums aren’t asked by fans. Newspaper articles claiming all of this panic aren’t written by fans. Some shit got said on the “twittersphere” are you kidding me? Sourcing fan tweets? Some of the most ignorant shit on any topic is being said around the clock on that thing if you look for it…ugh there’s enough even when you don’t look for it.
My question is, who’s really perpetuating this so-called irrational narrative? I’m not going to go that same route and lump all the media together as some journalists did fans. Ian Mendes wrote a balanced article for this Citizen this morning talking about how a slow start isn’t unusual for Bobby even during a productive season. Further, if you want to hear some awesome real talk check out this must listen clip of TSN’s Bent Wallace getting neck snappy on…also TSN’s (1200) Shawn Simpson for being too quick to get on Ryan’s case.
Look, I get it a little bit. The top line hasn’t really hit it’s stride (though they have produced a goal) and Ryan has looked like a guy still adjusting and not the dominant force that many think he could be. I think the lesson here is Cory Conacher. Here’s a guy that seemingly “went cold” after he arrived in Ottawa in the Ben Bishop trade after an otherwise hot season with the Lightening. Many questioned if he’d start the year in Binghamton. Conacher has looked like a different player in his first two games of the season but here’s the thing: He ain’t isn’t aint’st. Unlike last year he just knows exactly what he’s supposed to do now. He’s had some time to adjust. Are the expectations different for him? Is the pedigree different? Of course but I’m willing to give Ryan and the Sens time becauuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuse (great news!) IT’S GOING TO BE KIND OF A ROUGH MONTH! Why? Well, a win and a shootout loss are going to be very, very welcome results later on as tonight the team embarks on a nearly two week long road trip against some very, very good teams…including thing I haven’t even talked about—THE LOS ANGELES KINGS!

SFW Groin Chat: 
Since Barack HUSSEIN Obama is in the pocket of Big Time and wont man up to Tim Thomas’ Tea Party’s REASONABLE request to coordinate all time zone’s to American Freedom Standard Time the uhh…morning skate wont be happening for a few hours still and Jason Spezza seems very much a game time decision. I for one am in favour of sitting him if he is not 100% good to go. As has been an affirmation the past three days, “It’s two games into the season, eighty to go.” Think we need this guy now? Just wait till post Olympic break when it’s really going to be crunch time. A wonky groin could bother Spezz all season if he doesn’t take care of it and that’s the last thing any of us want. What’s on my mind is If Spezza sits for a few games going forward, what do we see? Is it Stephane DaCosta centering the top trio? Does Zibanejad get called up? Dare MacLean remove Turris, who has the most 1st line experience, from his productive trio with Conacher and MacArthur?
I’m not saying the Sens have no chance here and the game’s a write off!  I’d never say that but as I just mentioned, this is a very, very difficult road trip. It’s not realistic to expect a string of wins. Getting Spezza back to playing shape might be worth it as the Sens will return to playing crucial 4 point divisional games before we know it. After last season I feel like I can stomach all kinds of injury situations. Not welcoming them by any means but let’s say I’ve steeled myself…especially in regard to a player with an injury history like Spezza’s.

[Update: Spezza will not play tonight. Smoke y’all crack and whatever]

The Battle of America II: Uhh…Carry on Battling Edition
After out dueling fellow US Olympic hopeful Ryan Miller last week tonight Craig Anderson finds himself up against goalie to beat Jonathan Quick…which is a name where if it was the name of the goalie character in the Mighty Ducks 4 you would roll your eyes so hard that you’d have a upside down Nike swoosh shaped wrinkle permanently etched into your forehead. Anyway, if you thought Miller-Anderson was an exciting match wait until you see him have to go up against a goaltender who’s NOT playing behind the Buffalo Sabres!
Sure Quick let in a mortifying 150+ foot goal the other night but you know what? Those happen pretty much every year to netminders of all stripes. Needless to say Quick is going to be looking to erase that shit from memory and from all accounts he’s good at bouncing back (what am I? Made of definitively knowing shit about the game in, game out behavior of LA Kings players? THANKS FOR READING!).

Heyyyyyyyyy Who the Hell Are These guys!? .. No seriously…This has been like writing a preview of an upcoming match against the Illuminati 

I’ll be the first to admit teams don’t get more mysterious to me than the LA Krangs. I know that they won the cup recently and have a bunch of excellent players. So…looking forward to…seeing how their system matches up against Ottawa’s?
Tonight Ottawa faces a slow out of the gate King’s team coming off an embarrassing loss at the hands of the visiting Rangers. Looking at their roster there are a few star players including Mike Richards and Anze Kopitar still searching for their first goal of the young season. I wonder if the LA Times is throwing those guys to the wolves after 3 games. These guys are going to come out swinging trying to erase a loss in what looked like a safe 2 points. Sounds like Ottawa only with zero media pressure.
With the travel, coming off a rough shootout loss and the possibility of Spezza sitting some games, Ottawa is certainly in tough tonight. A big question is if the rest will help the Senators. They’ve had a couple of days to focus on practice…lets hope they spent 50% of it on the power play and the other 50% on defending. After seeing him look pretty quiet I’m thinking the time off will benefit Erik Karlsson who I keep reminding myself is actually still healing. No doubt EK is looking to notch some assists and speaking of which YES I will talk about this…
I’d love nothing more than to see Bobby Ryan pot one even just for his own sake of getting some of the bologna off his mind. He’s actually at a bit of an advantage having played the LA Kings more than any of his team mates save for maybe Michalek (Who’s playing tonight!). Hopefully we can see a bit more of that Karlsson to Ryan breakout that produced some results in the preseason. If he’s kept off the score sheet well, again, it’s only been THREE games. Still 79 games after that.
Oh and stay out of the goddamn penalty box, you guys.

Enjoy the game and enjoy feeling crud tomorrow morning!

Let’s hope the Sens start the season off as strongly as Steven did with his JDP image!

Please click play on video before reading. Sorry if there’s an advertisement before it that you have to deal with…which I’m almost positive there is as now you have to sit through some garbage about TD Bank just to watch someone’s cat fart these days– OH IT’S STARTING GOTTA GO!

*very poisonous looking pitch black smoke clears as you see me dragging myself out from under a pile of burning plastic lawn furniture the size of what the Greater Toronto Area considers a “ski hill”* 

COUGH, COUGH…Hello. Everybody COUGH, My name is James. Let me be your Spirit Guide. WELCOME 2 ANOTHER GR8 SEASON OF THIS WEBSITE!

To say that the time that has passed since last we met for a good old JDP back in spring has been “A Whirl of Wind” would be a thunderstatement *rim shot on broken drums* (it’s probably sinking in that you didn’t miss reading these as much as you thought you did). I’m not going to go over any of it as you’ve heard way too much about it already and if you haven’t, you can catch up here and meet up with the rest of us in a bit. For the first time in 16 months I can finally say…We. Have. A. Game. To. Talk. ABOUT:

The Sens have been dealt a difficult hand being served up a six game, mostly western road trip to start their 2013-14 campaign. To compensate for this situation the league’s schedulers made Ottawa’s first opponent the Buffalo Sabres.

Okay can we TALK about this team for a second?

If you ever want an example of what a good job Bryan Murray has done with the little resources he’s been given, look no further than D’arcy Regier’s Sabres. We’re watching a playoff team that has financial concerns over a guy on AN ENTRY LEVEL CONTRACT meanwhile Buffalo got a new owner that said to their GM, “Here’s all the money in the world, make us great again like we were decades ago.” Bro comes back with, “I got this. Not only have a locked up superstar Ville Leino [basically a street cred Clarke MacArthur] but….are you sitting down? I got us Christian Ehrhoff [basically a decent fantasy league FA defenseman] until…the year…wait for it…2021!”
Imagine what Murray could do with a blank check? Dang. Who knows what the Sabres are going to look like in a couple of years as their two best players forward Tomas Vanek and goaltender Ryan Miller are UFAs at the end of the season. One has to assume both players have been frustrated with living in the cellar are probably going to finally be freed head out of town at the trade deadline. Does this mean Ottawa should ease into tonight’s game like Euge a few pina coloadas and barbiturates deep into a hot tub after a hard day of being the worst on Toronto radio? No. These guys are both in contract years where they could stand to cash in big time. They’re coming to play. Plus, one guy scores a lot and the other guy stops the puck. Could be a rough combo to deal with. This is only compounded by the fact that this is an Olympic year and you’d better believe that Vanek will be looking to crack Austria’s NOTORIOUSLY competitive Olympic lineup.

Hey Erik, what did you get up to this summer? 

“Ehhhhh yeah, I mean, obviously, did the Euro techno festival circuit and ehhhhh went to the gym once or twice.”

Uhhhhh…yikes. Did dude do a few months in the clink for racketeering in the summer?

“I aint seen pipes THAT big since warping straight to World 4-1 back in ’85!” 
                                                    – Super Mario’s Brother (Luigi) 

So I think it’s worth mentioning that Buffalo finished dead last in shots allowed last season at an average of 33.5 per game…or y’know the amount that Erik Karlsson likes to fire in the second period. Seriously for whatever he’s saying about how his foot is feeling, by the look of EK’s arms those shots don’t look like they’ll be getting any softer. Tonight we’re going to get our first look at a Wiercioch-Karlsson powerplay pairing. Honestly, I am tempering my expectations for game one as I remember I was way too hyped at the home opener two seasons ago where Gonchar and Karlsson stepped on the ice for their first crack at the man advantage. I was disappointed when they didn’t score infinity goals on their first point shot. With the addition of Bobby Ryan to Spezza and Michalek you’d think there’d be enough power out there to put one in. With Steve Ott and Walking Piece of Garbage Patrick Kaleta on the opposing team lord knows they’ll get a few chances…if they fail to capitalize on them they are definitely going to hear about it.

The Battle of Goaliesberg

Since Tim Thomas has refused to play for Barack HUSSEIN Obama and finally got his citizenship to his newly established principality of NewFreeLand cleared (meaning his wife finally finished making his passport out of construction paper) it’s not too early to say that a war for the starting spot on the US olympic team IS ON for Miller and Anders– what’s that? Jonathan Quick is American? It’s not too early to say that a war to be Jonathan Quick’s backup on the US Olympic team IS ON for Miller and Anderson!
In yesterday’s prediction post I mentioned that I think if Anderson looks shaky to start the year that Lehner will step all kinds of up ins as soon as he gets the chance and will do his damndest to best him out of the starting slot. Guess what? 24 hours later i still feel that way! It’s no secret that Lehner looked much better than Andy so far through preseason but this is the real deal now, honey (sorry).
Anderson can put up a shutout tonight and he still wont be out of the woods that Lehner is hunting him in. Ottawa faces Toronto tomorrow and has a grueling road trip for the next couple weeks. Lehner will see starts in that time. I still can’t believe I’m writing about two GOOD goalies battling it out for starts in Ottawa. We’ve come a long way, babies!

Kwieting Koncerns

Okay so what does Ottawa have to do tonight to stop all the hand wringing that came from what I thought was a pretty decent preseason?

– Jason Spezza has to get through the game without getting hurt
– Milan Michalek has to get through the game without getting hurt
– Craig Anderson has to get through the game without getting hurt
– Spezza, Michalek and Ryan have to look like they’ve played more than a couple of games together (particularly on the powerplay).
– Erik Karlsson has to look the same as he did two seasons ago
– Patrick Wiercioch has to play at the same level as Sergei Gonchar (No preshaaaaa)
– Jared Cowen has to look like a guy who deserves to make more money than both Marc Methot and Chris Phillips OR put another way more than Patrick Wiercioch and Joe Corvo combined.
– Beat down a clearly inferior divisional rival who are the brink of a rebuild.

Wowzers. A tall order but I think the guys will get some of that stuff done tonight. The more of those concerns they can calm through solid play the fewer rough questions they will have to deal with day in and day out. An early win will allow them to focus on coming together as a team after a weird and wild last season.
Remember October is starting off with an extensive road trip so steel yourself for a bit of a rough go out of the gate. It will even out as the season goes on and hey, it seems better to get it out of the way early than in January or something.
Smoove Jimmy’s Playaz 2 Watch: 
Jean Gabriel Pageau: Get used to this one. Love seeing him lined up with Greening and Condra. That is going to be one fast bottom six line. Greening smash things and Condra just PASS TO PAGEAU. Can’t wait to see if JGP can make a statement early, even if it’s continuing to dominate the face off dot (hey that shit matters big time on a possession team!).

Patrick Wiercioch: Tempered expectations not withstanding, I am still very excited to see how he fares loading up on secondary assists playing the power play with the King. I have a feeling he wont be as timid to shoot as Gonchar sometimes was.

Clarke MacArthur: With all the other story lines going on I feel MacArthur’s arrival might have been a little lost in a shuffle of questions surrounding bigger names. Still, for what it’s worth I think he managed a point in every preseason game he played including a couple of beautiful goals. Also interesting MacArthur is a former Sabre, which is nice….to put “former” in front of Sabre I’m sure. I think he’s going to get a bit of a chance to fly under other teams’ radar as things get going. Hopefully he, Turris and Conacher can take advantage.

Thanks as always for reading, sticking it out through a rough off-season and most importantly ENJOY THE GAME! 

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.