Leclaire Steals a Point for the Sens

What a crappy ending to an entertaining game! Nice to see the referees flex their small-man disorder urge to play God and decide the outcome of a game by calling a weak penalty in overtime to go along with awarding a 5 on 3 powerplay to the Preds with 2 minutes to go in regulation. Disgusting.

In any event, the Sens were badly outplayed through periods and were down 3-0 with Leclaire being the only reason it was that close. He made some spectacular saves late in the period to keep it do-able with a 3 goal deficit.

Enter the 3rd period where the Sens showed some guts and character by tying it up before it was half over.

The teams then traded goals with the Preds having what appeared to be the last word on their generously awarded 5 on 3 powerplay with a minute left in regulation time.

Enter Mike Fisher who worked his guts out along the boards in the dying seconds, finally kicking the puck to Alfie who quickly dished it to Phillips who scored the tying goal with 2 seconds remaining to gain Leclaire the point he deserved.

Welcome overtime where Carkner is called on a questionable trip as he himself was falling. Powerplay goal by the Preds, game over.

Tough finish for a goalie and team that hung in there and never quit. 5-2-1 is a pretty good start to the season.

Next up: The Savard and Lucic - less Bruins on Saturday. Should be a helluva game.

Sens Hypnotize Habs 3-1

The Ottawa Senators dumped the Montreal Canadiens in Alex Kovalev's return to the Bell Center.

Scoring for the Sens: Neil, Alfredsson and Kovalev.

OK, this was a pretty boring game and the difference was, once again, Pascal Leclaire.
The Sens were completely outplayed in the first half of the game with Leclaire completely stoning the Habs. Montreal outshot the Sens something like 10-3 in the first, yet the game ended 1-1 after a late Montreal goal. Montreal then gave up a powerplay marker to Captain Alfie and appeared to lose their mojo after that. Kovalev iced his former team's dream of a 3rd period comeback and that was that.

A decent road win for the Sens, lulling their opponent to sleep while allowing their goalie to shut the door. I can't even count how many shots were blocked by Sens' defenders. Nice job.

Who would have thunk that Alex Picard and Matt Carkner would be the 2nd pairing?

All you "fans" who wanted to trade Alex, I hope you enjoy your crow. I liked him last year and like him more this year. He and Carks make a great pairing. Alex seems to play with a little more confidence out there knowing Big Country has his back.

Jason Spezza? Hello? Where are you?

Amazing the team is winning WITHOUT their number one centre firing isn't it.
That speaks volumes to the depth up front on this team.

Sens are still first in the division.... houda thunk that too?

Sens Jolt Lightning 7-1

Well, well, well.... The hard work pays off for Mach 9, Milan Michalek. After buzzing and threatening all season, he breaks out for a hat trick including 2 shorthanded goals. I wonder when the last time Heatley scored 2 shorties in one game? Just sayin'.

Also scoring for the Sens were: Picard, Foligno, Kovalev and Ruutu. Meanwhile, Alfredsson and Ruutu had 3 point nights.

The Sens were completely dominated by the Bolts during the first 3 minutes of the game until Alexei Kovalev got the good guys on the board and it was all Sens from there.

Leclaire was solid when called upon stopping 16 of the 17 shots he faced. The Bolts also had one disallowed by the much maligned "kicking motion" rule. Guess who the Ottawa defenceman was who was burned on both plays? Rookie Erik Karlsson. I like the guy's skills, I really do but he really looks lost out there. He needs seasoning in the minors to learn the North American game. He really does. I feel bad for the kid. He was cock of the walk when he arrived in town and now is constantly hanging his head. His minutes are decreasing and he needs to be "the guy" somewhere. I remember saying when he was drafted that he was 2-3 years away and I stick by that. He'll be a good one, but just not now.

Speaking of rookies, Matt Carkner continues to impress. He played a solid game and logged some big minutes. Coach Cory really seems to be spreading the minutes around, however. Top ice getter was Alex Picard at 24:24, but after that, all the other defencemen seem to be around 20:00 with the exception of Karlsson at 16:00 or so. On the forward side, Michalek led the way with 18:00, while everyone else was logging 14:00-16:00 with the exceptions of Donovan, Neil and Foligno who were closer to the 10:00-11:00 range mostly due to the fact that they do not kill penalties. Pretty balances attack, I must say.

Highlight of the game? Carkner absolutely pounding Steve "the rat" Downie. Nice to see. In other pugilistic news, Neil got the better of Wilson while Phillips took a rare major penalty in fighting Konopka. While lagging behind in both size and experience, hats off to Chris for holding is won against Tampa's "Big Z"

Another highlight? A-Train Volchenkov continuing his stellar play and absolute demolition of NHL rookies by hammering Victor "Sylvie Bernier" Hedman into the boards. Welcome to the NHL, Sylvie. Keep your head up, ya big wuss.

Is it too early to say that Michalek is the best Sen ever to don the number 9?
I'd like to point out as well, Jason "Giggles" Spezza is really starting to pick up his physical game. I had to double check the number on the back of the jersey when he flattened the Tampa defenceman on the forecheck. Keep it up, Giggles. Your "personal stats" may suffer, but your team will be better for it. His play in all 3 zones is the best of his career. He is becoming a "complete" player and is starting to look more and more like someone named Stevie Y every day.

Next up... who cares... I'm going to bask in this one for a couple days.

Sens iced by Penguins 4-1

Well, all good things must come to an end and for the Sens, their modest 3 game winning streak crashed to a halt last night at home against the defending Cup Champs.

The 4-1 score wasn't indicative of the effort level however as the Sens buzzed all night and hit numerous posts in the process.

Like I said in the preseason, a Michalek-Spezza-Cheechoo line could be super and I was proven correct last night. That line was by far Ottawa's best and accounted for the team's lone goal and a beauty at that by Milan Michalek.

Alexei Kovalev seemed to take one of his patented nights off and hopefully having him surrounded by probably the best team players as line mates in Mike Fisher and Captain Alfie they'll drive him to be more consistent.

A totally deflating goal to make it 3-1 Pens when Leclaire had his first brain fart as a Sen was the difference here in the game.

Matt Carkner continues to impress with his simple yet effective play while Chris Campoli and Erik Karlsson continue to scare the crap out of me when they have the puck in their own end. At least the latter has an excuse in being a rookie and is probably best served to learn the North American game in Binghamton enabling a call up for a legit NHL'er in Brain Lee.

Next up.... Tampa Bay on Thursday. Look for the boys to bounce back.

Ottawa Thrashes Atlanta 4-2

We have a winning streak, folks.

The Sens handily beat the Atlanta Thrashers 4-2 in Ottawa tonight in a non-televised (Thank you, CBC) game.

Was it just me or did it seem like every Senator was taking a run at former team mate, Christof Schubert?

A little line shuffling from Coach Cory and the Sens seem to have found a balanced attack. This had been the achilles heel of the club over the past couple of seasons, but now they look like the can roll 4 dangerous lines. Kovalev, Fisher, Neil and Ruutu scored for the Sens tonight. The newly formed line of Kovalev - Fisher - Alfredsson seems to be clicking quite nicely while the Cheechoo-Regin-Neil line continues their strong play. Even the "fourth" line is kicking in lately with timely scoring.

Brian Elliot was solid tonight providing a nice alternative to the hot-handed Pascale LeClaire. The Sens seem to have good goaltending for the first time in years as well.

This team could surprise a lot of pundits this season if they can shore up their defense. If BM the GM can do that, this team could do damage in the playoffs.

Enjoy it, Sens fans. The defending Cup Champs are up next on Monday.

Sens beach Isles 3-2 (OT)

Fisher the OT hero scoring shortly after the extra frame got underway.
Ottawa's best line of the night? Cheechoo - Regin - Neil
Ottawa's best defenceman of the night? Matt Carkner

Regin and Carkner put the Sens up 2-0 before the game, young Isles got on the board late in the 2nd. Isles then tied it up 5 minutes into the 3rd.

LeClaire was again, stellar in goal for the Sens.

Powerplay is a serious concern for the Sens and they have to work on that, but this team is coming together.

Next up.... Schubie and the Thrashers before their big test in the defending champ, Pens.

Sens Rake Leafs 2-1

Well, I can tell you one thing for sure. Pascal LeClaire is the best goalie the Sens have ever had. How do I know this? How can I make such a bold statement? Because Pierre McGuire of TSN told me so 8,539 times during this game.

The game itself was on the dull side. Very little in the way of odd man rushes, very little in the way of tough, physical play, very few quality scoring chances on both sides of the ice but it was a perfectly played road game by the Sens.

Coach Cory had the boys slow the tempo of the game down to a crawl and never let the game develop any kind of flow. They controlled the neutral zone and allowed very little in the way of offense to develop for the Leafs.

Good on Shean Donovan scoring for the Sens. I've said many times in many venues that he is a superb 4th line energy guy for the cap hit he brings. Alfie tallied the other Sens marker on a penalty shot. Was it legitimately awarded? Maybe, but who cares. Leaf fans wil cray about until the next "Battle of Ontario".

In all seriousness, LeClaire was the main reason for the Sens victory, completely shutting the down when the Leafs finally woke up in the latter half of the third period.

The Sens' offense still looked rusty and out of sync. Kovalev seems to do all kinds of great work with the puck only to see nothing develop out of it. He needs some linemates who are used to playing or can adapt to playing with such a creative and unpredictable player.

With the exception of the Philchenkov pairing and Carkner, the defense plays a pretty small game. Rookie Erik Karlsson was much improved over his shaky opening game but still has way to go. I wish one of his monster shots would actually make it to the opponents' net instead of just hitting opposing defensemen.

All in all, this was a rather tame installment in the "Battle of Ontario". If this keeps up, I'll be forced to rename it to something clever that reflect just how much of a non event this is becoming. Not even one fight.... geeeeeeez.

Sens and Leafs!!!

Let's get ready to rumble!!!

Finally, the battle of Ontario resumes. Will the newly toughened up Leafs bully the Sens? Will "The Monster" out-duel "Snoopy"? Will the Sens offense start to gel and play up to capabilities? Will Karlsson settle in or will he get run over by the hard charging Leafs? Will Carkner pound new Leaf tough guy Rosehill? We shall all find out tonight.

The stream is available here?

http://sports.offmytv.com

Sens Dumped by Rangers 5-2

Well, opening night did not go as well as planned for the Ottawa Senators. They turned in a lackluster effort and looked to lack chemistry while shaking off some rust tonight.

Pascal Leclaire was awesome in the first period keeping the game somewhat close, but he didn't have much help in front of him.

As for the rookies, Carkner was good and solid, Regin appears to be continuing his preseason success and Erik Karlsson was awkward an best.

Karlsson reminded me of Brendan Bell the way he made be gasp with panic everytime the puck came to him in the defensive end. He was out muscled all night and just plain beaten on several play. He needs some seasoning and Bingo would probably do him some good. Barring a huge turnaround in his play, expect him to be sent down before game #10.

The team looked rusty and needs to gel. No one seems to know how to play with Kovalev. He seems to be passing to no one all night. His linemates never seem to know what he's going to do and therefore, don't know where to position themselves.

Michalek showed some skill, but needs to gel with Spezza. He seemed a little confused out there as to where Spezz was at or coming from.

Coach Cory will certainly be working on his lines over the next few games to try and find the right mix. Cheechoo was OK and made some good defensive plays but seems to be unsuited to his role a little. Maybe Coach Cory will give him a shot with Spezza and Alfie.

This team will be fine once they figure out who's who and what's where. Don't panic Sens fans. We seem to have a good goalie and that's a start, eh?

Sens Vs. Rangers

Tonight, our beloved Sens take on the New York Rangers. The wait is over! I'll post a review after the game.

Here is a stream to the game:

http://sports.offmytv.com