Sens Rookies beat Pens Counterparts 4-1

The Ottawa Senators rookie squad soundly defeated the Pittsburgh Penguins freshmen 4-1 in a fight filled contest at the annual Rookie Tournament in Kitchener.

I'll do my bet to recount as there is no official scoresheet for me to fall back on.

2008 first rounder Erik Karlsson had a goal on a laser shot. At the same time, he was borderline awful in his own end. This kid has a lot to learn about the North American game. A little too cute for his own good. That may fly against the ladies in the SEL, but won't fly here. Unless he gets remarkably better in the next couple of weeks the best thing for him would be to play a season in the AHL before hitting primetime.

Robin Lehner, a Sens 2009 draft choice, was absolutely stellar in goal. 40 some shots his way and only power play marker beats him. A Lehner-Elliot tandem in 3 years could be awesome. Best player on the ice in my opinion.

Peter Regin was probably the best skater for the Sens. He was everywhere and, along with Erik Condra worked their asses off and were solid at both ends of the ice.

Scoring for the Sens, Karlsson, Dansereau (2) and Kinrade. Nice to see 2 from the defense corps and Kinrade looked pretty good out there.

Zack Smith was chippy and was in a couple of good fights. I'll give him a 1-1 record there, but was largely invisible offensively. He did a solid job, however, defensively and leading his team with his physical play.

Casey Lee laid a pounding on some poor Pen after fellow Ottawa rookie, Brett Parnham was pounded and appeared to suffer a shoulder injury in the process.

You can see the Sens tounament lineup here : http://senators.nhl.com/v2/ext/PDFs/2009_Rookie_Camp_Guide.pdf