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

BULLSHIT!!! Leafs beat Sens

The true sign that you are insane is when you do the same thing over and over and expect a different result. I think Sens' coach Craig Hartsburg is now officially insane. Why is Mike Fisher still playing the point on the power play? Why did this great, wise coach pair Jason Smith with Anton Volchenkov? They both play the same game and are slow as molasses in January. Why is Gerber still in the NHL? This guy never seems to know where the puck is. The Leafs' second goal was soft, their third goal was a wrap around you could see coming from the upper deck and he never even reacted to the first goal.

Mike Fisher and Nick Foligno were the best Senators on the ice and I think I actually saw Antoine Vermette hit an opponent. The effort was there from the players but Hartsburg was simply out-coached by Ron Wilson. Everything from his choice of starting goaltender to his line combinations and matching. Using a rested and previously struggling Vesa Toskala versus using the Swiss Cheese known as Martin Gerber was Wilson's coup de grace. Toskala was superb in the win and was probably the main reason his team has 2 points.

Let the drive for Tavares begin in earnest.