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Thoughts on last night’s Senators-Capitals game

January 8th, 2010

Washington Capitals- 5, Ottawa Senators- 2

Well, last night’s game was quite the stinker, wasn’t it? It was one of those games that you knew how it was going to end within minutes of the opening puck drop. For most of this game, it was 2-0 and 2-1 for the Washington Capitals when it felt like it should have been 5-1 or 5-0. In the end, the score worked itself out to be a little more telling as to how much better the Capitals were last night.

Pascal Leclaire had a night to forget. It would be too easy for me to give Leclaire last night’s Non-Classy. So instead, I’ll address it and get it out of the way prior to getting into other aspects of last night’s game.

Of Washington’s five goals, two of them were complete Leclaire errors. Actually, they were both Nicklas Backstrom goals. Leclaire had no chance on the first two goals thanks to poor defensive coverage and bad decisions. And of course, Alex Ovechkin’s goal was a goal the second he got the puck. Here’s what I don’t get about Leclaire. He’s not a bad goalie, yet it’s very regular for him to let in a weak goal (usually early in games) in most games. And then he’ll come back and make a few highlight reel saves. The best way I can sum up Leclaire so far this season for the Ottawa Senators is consistently inconsistent.

Although both his goals were weak, I absolutely love Nick Backstrom and what he brings to the Capitals. I think he’s one of the top five playmakers in the NHL. I predict he’ll turn a lot of heads at the Vancouver Olympics for Team Sweden.

Without further delay, here are the Classy, Non-Classy, and Could-Have-Been-Classier moments from the Senators-Capitals game.

The Classy

I thought TSN’s Ray Ferraro hit the nail on the head during last night’s telecast when talking about Erik Karlsson’s play. Erik Karlsson was excellent for the Ottawa Senators. Actually, he was the only Senator who played hard all game and who’s name I can use in the same sentence as the word excellent. Karlsson’s positioning was bang on and he used his speed and intelligence to win man-on-man battles. He moved pucks very well and helped create some (albeit small) offensive pressure. This was by far the best game Karlsson has played in the NHL. I believe this is Karlsson’s first Classy performance too.

Non-Classy

I really didn’t like the way the Senators were completely outworked all game. Whether it was 5-on-5 or on powerplays, Washington worked harder, won puck battles, and clearly wanted to win more than the Senators did. A great example of this came from a first period Senators powerplay that saw Mike Green dive to clear the zone while the Senators sat back and watched. I don’t want to put words in the mouths of the Senators players, but their play last night looked like them shrugging their shoulders saying “we can’t match the firepower the Caps have”. That’s true, but you don’t need star players to work hard. Washington’s star players and role players all worked far harder than the majority of the Sens. That’s the bottom line.

An honourable mention for the Non-Classy goes to the powerplay, again. It’s not working and I think I know why. The Senators are not moving around enough. The more every player moves around and cycles, the more it pulls the defending team’s players out of position. The Senators need to employ multiple powerplay set ups in the same shift in order to do this. Right now, the Senators players are standing around and it’s easy for the opposition to set up a box and aggressively attack the Senators standstill set up. They should listen to me for no other reason than because what they are doing right now isn’t working and hasn’t for the last few weeks dating back to 2009.

Could-Have-Been-Classier

Ottawa had limited scoring chances against the Capitals last night. Partly because the Capitals did a great job shutting them down and partly because Ottawa didn’t play well enough. The chances Ottawa did get were blown by bad shots on goal. How many quality scoring chances did the Senators get where the shot hit Caps goalie Jose Theodore right in the chest? I think to Nick Foligno’s nice deke/walk out or the Jonathan Cheechoo shot on the 3 on 1, plus many other point shots from Anton Volchenkov and Chris Phillips. It’s not like the Senators had any kind of net presence either. A shot at the chest of an NHL goalie with no net presence or screens has a likeliness of 0.000121 per cent chance of going in. Maybe less. Theodore didn’t have to be spectacular last night, but Ottawa didn’t really test him.

Honourable Mention for Could-Have-Been-Classier goes to the Senators dump-ins. There were way too many dump ins that weren’t well placed or followed by aggressive forechecking. Even when changing lines on the fly, there should be one player going in to push the other team. That either didn’t happen or the player couldn’t do anything effective because the dump ins weren’t shot into strategic areas. Rarely did any dump in last night give Ottawa a chance to win an offensive battle and stood as a big reason why Ottawa didn’t have much going in the way of puck possession time in Washington’s zone.

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Up next for the Senators is a Saturday night home game against the struggling Florida Panthers. The Panthers have lost five of their last six games, despite finally having Nathan Horton and Steven Weiss (finally) play well. Following Saturday’s game, the Senators start a five game road trip that will see them play the Hurricanes, Thrashers, Rangers, Canadiens, and Bruins within eight days. Five road games in eight nights might prove ugly with the Senators injury woes and poor play.

Lastly, Milan Michalek left last night’s game in the first period with what’s believed to be an upper body injury. Michalek didn’t return to the ice following a collision with Mike Green. For those keeping track, that’s the Senators entire first line injured. At the moment, Michalek is expected to miss at least the next two Senators games starting Saturday against the Panthers.

Stay classy, Ottawa Senators.

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Thoughts on this afternoon’s Flyers-Senators game

January 3rd, 2010

Ottawa Senators- 7, Philadelphia Flyers- 4

Before getting going on this game recap, the score should probably read Alex Kovalev defeats the Flyers or something to that extent.

For everyone who didn’t watch the Flyers-Senators game, this wasn’t a dominant Senators blowout win. Far from it, sort of. After jumping out to a quick 1-0 lead (on Pascal Leclaire’s first of three weak goals against), the Flyers played terribly and allowed the Senators to score four more before the end of the first period. In the second period, the Senators and Flyers reversed roles. The Senators didn’t show up for the second period and let the Flyers back into the game, ending the period tied at four. In the third period, the Senators woke up and capitalized on more bad Flyers defensive play. Both starting goalies (Leclaire and Michael Leighton) were pulled before the half-way mark of the game, too. This game was one of the strangest Senators games I’ve watched in awhile. The way each team played, it felt like I was watching a junior game and not an NHL game. There were too many simple mistakes made, turnovers handed out like gifts, and momentum tossed back and forth like it was Tiger Woods call girl.

At any rate, here’s the Classy, Non-Classy, and Could-Have-Been-Classier moments from the Flyers-Senators game.

The Classy

For the first time in awhile, Alex Kovalev showed up for the Ottawa Senators. And he did so in a very big way. Kovalev was the game’s first star, scoring four goals and adding an assist in the win. Kovalev has stepped up for the Senators over the last few games dating back to shootout win over the Buffalo Sabres after Daniel Alfredsson and Jason Spezza went down with long term injuries. This afternoon’s game against the Flyers was Kovalev’s “coming out party”, of sorts (sorry – that’s a terrible nod to TSN’s Bob McKenzie whom I greatly respect). For all the goals Kovalev scored in last night’s game, I was equally impressed with his skating and desire to get to open area’s of the offensive zone. And given how well Kovalev skated in this game, I’ll temporarily relinquish the “Koastalev” nickname. This was the second game this year Kovalev has scored three or more goals in a game for the Senators (he has 11 goals this season).

Honourable mentions to go both Chris Kelly and Ryan Shannon. Like Kovalev, Shannon and Kelly have elevated their play as of late and have helped make a difference for the Senators in a key time. The team are 3-1 4-1 since Alfredsson’s injury and many (myself included) questioned if the key players like Kelly and Shannon could step up for the team. It’s nice to see players like this rise to the challenge.

Non-Classy

In a game like this one, it’s easy to pick out Non-Classy moments or players. Don’t worry, I have a few. The easy one is Pascal Leclaire who allowed three goals on 10 shots and generally looked out of it during his limited action. There isn’t much else to say on Leclaire’s performance from this game. Needless to say, he’ll look to be better in his next outing.

In a game where the Senators scored seven goals and nine players got points, it’s surprising Milan Michalek wasn’t one of them. In fact, Michalek hasn’t scored a point in his last seven games. Since scoring two goals and playing a strong game against his former team – the San Jose Sharks – on December 1st, Michalek has just one goal and one assist in his last 17 games. Non-Classy.

Could-Have-Been-Classier

While Ottawa’s powerplay continues to struggle, this game’s Could-Have-Been Classier goes to Nick Foligno and his head down tendencies. He never makes the right play because his head is always down looking at the puck. He frequently drives nets with speed (which is good), but never realizes how little space he has to shoot/make a move/pass the puck. It drives me up the wall because Foligno has all the things you want in a checking forward; skill, size, heart, etc…

Most players are taught to skate with their head up at the Peewee level (approx. 12 or 13 years old), yet Foligno continues to do his thing. I know it’s another nit-picky point of mine, however, I strongly feel if Foligno played with his head up, he could score 20-25 goals per year and perhaps be the top 6 forward the Senators so desperately want him to be.

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Up next for the Senators is the final game of a five-game homestand against the Boston Bruins. The Senators have been very strong on home ice this season with a record of 16-6-3 at Scotiabank Place. It’s another critical game between these two Northeast opponents as the Bruins currently sit one point above the Senators for second place in the division. It’s possible Milan Lucic could return from his injury for this contest.

Stay classy, Ottawa Senators.

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Thoughts on last night’s Avalanche-Senators game

December 31st, 2009

Colorado Avalanche- 4, Ottawa Senators- 3

Kind of a predictable game and result from the Avalanche and Senators last night. Craig Anderson had another strong performance (it’s becoming routine this year), the Senators finished the game off strong despite some weak play early on, and breaking out of their own end proved to be difficult for the Senators (as it has all season long). Colorado’s speed was difficult for the Senators to handle and the young Avalanche kids were certainly a factor all game long. It was nice to see Alex Kovalev (or Koastalev as he’s known to our classier readers) driving the net and Ryan Shannon showing some strong play Senators fans got used to towards the end of last season. It should be noted Nick Foligno returned after missing seven games and Erik Karlsson was a healthy scatch for the third straight game.

Here’s the Classy, Non-Classy, and Could-Have-Been-Classier moments of last night’s Avalanche-Senators game.

The Classy

Hey, what’s up with Ryan Shannon lately? He’s like… scoring. Weird. Shannon now has four goals in his last three games and he came through with some big goals for the Senators last night. Yes the first goal went off  Kyle Cuminskey’s skate, but his second goal was a great shot and came at a critical time in the game. I found Shannon’s positioning excellent all game. He’s finding dead area’s in the offensive zone and is moving his feet well. When he’s on his game, he reminds me of a less (much less) physical Mike Fisher. When he’s not on his game… I don’t notice him. Like Jonathan Cheechoo or Alex Kovalev (wow, two low blows!). For Shannon’s sake (and the Senators), I hope he can continue this kind of play. His improved play has really helped this team since Jason Spezza and Daniel Alfredsson went down with serious injuries.

Non-Classy

The sum of Pascal Leclaire’s rebounds and the Ottawa Senators defencemen (and forwards)’s inability to clear Leclaire’s rebounds makes last night’s Non-Classy mention. I lost track of how many routine shots became high risk rebounds… and three of those rebounds turned into Avalanche goals. To Leclaire’s credit, he didn’t have much chance on those goals, but the defence was suspect to say the least. The Senators defencemen were simply out of position or standing around on each of those three goals. Ryan O’Reilly’s game winning goal was a great example of Jonathan Cheechoo not paying attention. Chris Kelly did a great job to hustle back into the play (and nearly caught Darcy Tucker), but it was the third trailing man (O’Reilly) that Cheechoo needed to pick up. He didn’t and the Sens lost because of it. As far as the Matt Duchene goal, I’m sure it’s one Leclaire would like to have back (on a side note: that was a bullet of a shot from Duchene).

Could-Have-Been-Classier

Maybe this is a small thing I’m giving too much attention to, but did anyone else notice Adam Foote dropping to his knees more often than a Tiger Woods transgressioner? It seemed like his default “defensive positioning” to drop down on his knees to take away shots and passes each time the Senators had decent in-zone pressure. However, in doing so, he was leaving just enough room for the super Senators puck handlers to deke around. Don’t worry Adam, Cheechoo, Shannon, and Kovalev thank you. Call it a late Christmas gift or something, but only Shannon could cash in.

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Up next for the Senators is a game tonight against John Tavares and the New York Islanders. The Islanders are 5-5 in their last 10 games and are coming off a home shootout win over the Columbus Blue Jackets. I’m sure many broadcasters will be all over the fact that a year ago today at Scotiabank Place, Tavares had the huge hat-trick performance against the United States in that epic World Junior Canada/US battle. Prediction: the billing will read “Can Tavares do it again?” or something to that extent. I predict the Senators to win the game with Brian Elliott in goal.

Please note we won’t be providing thought’s from the Islanders/Senators game as our complete and undivided attention will be on the World Junior showdown between Canada and the United States. And as well, we’ll be “recovering” from various pool parties. That said, you can expect a full Winter Classic review on the evening of New Years Day.

Happy New Years Eve, classy readers.

Stay classy, Ottawa Senators.

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Thoughts on last night’s Canadiens-Senators game

December 29th, 2009

Ottawa Senators- 4, Montreal Canadiens- 2

And just like that, the Ottawa Senators have won two straight games without Jason Spezza or Daniel Alfredsson in very unlikely ways: shootouts and timely powerplay goals.

Watching the Canadiens-Senators game on Monday night was like watching two half games. The first game stunk of another terrible Senators performance against the Canadiens and the second game being one of those gritty-team building games. As hard as the Canadiens pushed early on in this game, I kept thinking Pascal Leclaire’s play could steal a win for the Senators and that ended up being the case.

Although Sens fans walk away happy with Ottawa’s comeback win, last night’s game was far from perfect. But hey, at least the powerplay scored, right? Let’s take a closer look with the Classy, Non-Classy, and Could-Have-Been-Classier moments of last night’s Canadiens-Senators game.

The Classy

Without a doubt, the classy for last night’s game goes to Pascal Leclaire. Leclaire was the only reason the score was 2-1 after the first period and the only Senator to play a full 60 minutes. I’m not sure where to start with Leclaire’s performance. He made the saves he needed to make, he made timely saves (the toe save on Kostitsyn just after the Regin goal was huge), and he wasn’t at fault for either of Montreal’s goals. I thought Leclaire’s confidence grew as the game wore on. He was playing way out of his crease, challenging Montreal shooters, even at the side of the net/off angles. This is one of the few games I’ve truly felt Leclaire stole for the Senators this season. He gave his team a chance to win and the Senators, led by Mike Fisher and Chris Neil were able to gain momentum from Leclaire’s amazing effort. Big time kudos, Pascal.

Honourable mention goes to Chris Neil who’s been nothing short of a driving force in Ottawa’s last two wins. Neil carried the same pest presence into this game and contributed big time, assisting on Peter Regin’s goal and eventually scoring the game winner in the third period. Neil’s impact was best felt in front of Jaroslav Halak and caused the Canadiens problems all night. Welcome back, Chris.

Non-Classy

Again, the Non-Classy element of last night’s game (from a Senators perspective) is their defensive play. It’s not just Ottawa’s defencemen, it’s the forwards too. Both of Montreal’s goals came from the slot – somewhere the centerman should be. Both goals looked more like penalty kills as the Senators boxed out four of Montreal’s players but left a man open and alone in the slot. I can’t believe this only burned the Senators twice. They can thank Leclaire for bailing them out as much and as often as he did. It’s worth mentioning last night was one of Filip Kuba’s worst games in recent memory.

And as far as actual Ottawa defencemen go – breaking out continues to be a problem. Watching the Senators run into Montreal’s neutral zone wall time and time again last night was frustrating. I found Chris Campoli’s empty net goal somewhat ironic considering how well it summed up Ottawa’s difficulties breaking out all night. Campoli wasn’t trying to score. He was trying to pass to Neil, but in keeping with the bad breakout passes theme, ended up scoring on the empty net. The puck wasn’t even close to Neil or his stick.

Could-Have-Been-Classier

I think I can confidently say both Senators and Canadiens fans will agree with me here. Between the penalties called and not called, as well as the Mike Fisher disallowed goal at the end of the second period, I think reffing could have been classier. As far Fisher’s non-goal, I’ve never understood why referees don’t go to video replay to ensure the right call is made. The emphasis seems to be on making sure the ref’s don’t look stupid. Given the importance on every call, let’s put the emphasis on getting the right call made. In this case, Kerry Fraser’s gut decision – Neil interfering with Halak – was incorrect. Imagine if Montreal had won 3-2? The NHL needs to stop worrying about hurting referees feelings. Just my take…

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Up next for the Senators is a game on Wednesday at home to Matt Duchene and the Colorado Avalanche. The Senators are going to be in tough against one of the biggest surprise teams of the year. The Avalanche are 7-3-0 in their last 10 games and last played on Saturday in a win over the Dallas Stars. Ottawa will need to play strong the whole game (not just the third period) and ensure their forechecking is hard on a slick Avalanche team that moves pucks quickly and well. For many in Ottawa, this will be the first time to get a live look at a potential Calder candidate in Duchene. It should be a treat to watch him and other young stars on the Avalanche roster like Ryan O’Reilly and Kyle Quincey among others.

Stay classy, Ottawa Senators.

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Thoughts on last night’s Senators-Sabres game

December 27th, 2009

Ottawa Senators- 3, Buffalo Sabres- 2, Shootout

The Ottawa Senators shootout win on Saturday night continued their recent dominance over the Buffalo Sabres. Coming into last night’s game, the Senators had won six straight games against the Sabres. Make it seven. Last night’s Senators win was pretty big for a struggling Ottawa club who were missing Jason Spezza and captain Daniel Alfredsson with long term injuries. Earlier on Saturday, the club announced Alfredsson having a separated left shoulder and could be sidelined for up to six weeks.

While the Senators outshot the Sabres 40-22, this wasn’t a runaway game. Sure, the Sabres registered only one shot on goal in the first period, but this wasn’t a pretty performance from the Senators. This was one of those games many would describe as gritty and “blue collared”. The Senators understood that they’d need to get into the tough areas and win one-on-one battles without their top two stars.

Without further delay, here are the Classy, Non-Classy, and Could-Have-Been-Classier moments of last night’s Senators-Sabres game.

The Classy

Last night’s classy player of the game was Chris Neil. Neil made the most of his 16:44 of ice time, proving to be a thorn in the Sabres side and even contributing on the scoreboard (Neil scored the Senators second goal). Neil played the ‘love him on your team, hate him against your team‘ role perfectly while agitating most of the Sabres roster, most notably Adam Mair. This was exactly what Ottawa missed when Neil was out of the line up for most of December. It was nice to see Neil find his groove after running around a little too much in Wednesday’s disastrous loss to Pittsburgh.

Non-Classy

Coming into Saturday night’s game, the Senators hadn’t scored a goal in their last 18 powerplays. You can make it 0-21. To say Ottawa’s powerplay is scoring as much as Tiger Woods is with his wife, Elin Nordegren is probably accurate. In the Senators final powerplay of the game – with three minutes remaining – there seemed to be little urgency or puck pressure. Long gone are the days of the Senators sending a defenseman down for the back door play (a throwback to the Redden or Chara’s hay days). Those plays are all I could think of watching Kovalev handle the puck on the half wall, looking for a pass – not seeing a pass – and ultimately taking a weak shot on the NHL’s hottest goalie Ryan Miller.

Could-Have-Been-Classier

In what seems to be a troubling pattern, the Senators came out very strong in the first period and died off as the game wore on. By the time the Senators got into overtime, it seemed apparent they weren’t trying to win the game, but rather, trying to ‘not lose the game’. A perfect example came off the opening faceoff in overtime. Buffalo won the faceoff and immediately sent both forwards and defenseman Tyler Myers into Ottawa’s zone. Moments later, after finally breaking out of their zone without a turnover (yeah, it took a while), the Senators offensive rush featured Milan Michalek on a 1-on-3. I saw this same sequence happen over and over again during the quick overtime period. It’s not like the Senators were playing for the shootout (the Senators are a miserable 13-26 all time in shootouts prior to Saturday’s game). It can’t be…

An honourable mention for Could-Have-Been-Classier goes to Alex Kovalev. While he registered an assist and scored the winning shootout goal, he was invisible throughout most of the game. In a time where the Senators need him most (I know, it’s becoming as cliche as calling every December game a “must win game”, but still…), he barely showed up. Talking with friends on Twitter, it was agreed he showed some signs of life. While true, he’s got to show much more than that if the Senators hope to survive the next month without Spezza and Alfredsson.

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Up next for the Senators is a game on Monday night against the Montreal Canadiens at Scotibank Place. This game is the first of a five game home stand for the Senators – a critical stretch of the season to distance themselves away other teams trying to sneak into the playoffs. Ottawa’s December slump finds them with only two points more than the 9th place New York Rangers. With their big OT win over the Maple Leafs on Saturday, the Montreal Canadiens are one point back of the Senators for 6th in the Eastern Conference.

Stay classy, Ottawa Senators.

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Thoughts on last night’s Senators-Penguins game

December 24th, 2009

Pittsburgh Penguins- 8, Ottawa Senators- 2

Let’s not pull any punches – last night’s game was one of the worst performances from the Ottawa Senators in a long time. I know we said the same about a Sens loss to the Montreal Canadiens earlier this month, but this game was that bad. Last night’s game looked like men against boys and to make matters worse, the Senators lost captain Daniel Alfredsson with a suspected shoulder injury. TSN reported on Wednesday night that Alfredsson is expected to miss “a few weeks” with the injury.

Here are the Classy, Non-Classy, and Could-Have-Been-Classier moments of last night’s one-sided Senators-Penguins game.

The Classy

Nothing. I shouldn’t saying nothing. The first period featured some class. Especially the last 12 or so minutes. The Senators did all the things they needed to do in order to give themselves a chance against one of the NHL’s best teams. They cycled the puck well, they moved their feet, and they drove hard to the net. For most of the first period, Marc-Andre Fleury had to be very good, facing terrific screens and solid Senators net presence. And once the first period buzzer sounded, that was it for the night. (From a Senators-pressure perspective).

Non-Classy

The collapse the Senators displayed between the first and second period was something fierce. The most notable aspect of this collapse was the terrible defensive coverage. For those of you who didn’t catch the game, I can’t tell you how many 2 on 1’s were given up to the Penguins… maybe 8-10. To take this a step further, I’m going to outline which defenceman’s fault each goal was. It was that bad.

Goal 1: Filip Kuba wasn’t paying attention to the back door-cross ice pass to Evgeni Malkin. How was Malkin left wide open like that? It doesn’t make sense to play a tight box against such a star-studded powerplay like Pittsburgh’s.

Goal 2: Bill Guerrin walked out from the corner, took a shot and scored on his own rebound. He literally walked through or around Anton Volchenkov to do this. Why didn’t A-Train body check Guerrin, or at least get in his way?

Goal 3: First Erik Karlsson made a bad read on the 3 on 2, playing the puck and not the pass. He missed and the rush turned into a 2 on 1. Then Kuba does the exact same thing. He didn’t take away the pass like they teach in minor hockey, goes for the shooter and suddenly Ruslan Fedotenko was left with the puck and an open net.

Goal 4: Matt Carkner and Jonathan Cheechoo combined for the world’s worst breakout, ever. The result was a clean turnover (which looked more like a pass) to Guerrin who made a great tip-pass to Chris Kunitz, who’s left wide open as Alexandre Picard was nowhere to be found in the slot. Generally, when your defensive partner is behind the net making a breakout pass, the other defenceman stands in front of their net guarding the slot. Clearly this didn’t happen.

Goal 5: This was a 3 on 1 goal that made Carkner look ridiculous. Ottawa took a chance going for a shorthanded 3 on 2 rush and got burned. I don’t mind the risk – at this point it was 4-1 for the Penguins – but having Mike Fisher on that rush with Kuba and Jarrko Ruutu isn’t the most dangerous looking rush from a Penguins perspective. I wouldn’t take it seriously either.

Goal 6: Chris Phillips chased a Penguin all the way up to the blue line and Chris Neil dropped back for support. So far so good. Then, knowing he’s covering for a defenceman, Chris Neil delivered a soft pass right up the middle of the high slot (another no-no lesson from minor hockey) right on Kunitz’ stick, setting up for a 2 on 1 for Kunitz and Malkin. Of course, Picard being the lone defenceman doesn’t take away the pass hanging Leclaire out to dry.

Goal 7: Sergei Gonchar snuck into the slot and scored on a one timer, right in front of Kuba. No slot coverage at all. Nice.

Goal 8:  Ryan Shannon is the lone Senator playing defence in the offensive zone. Chris Phillips saw this from the half-boards, sends a bad pass to Shannon (that he had to receive on his backhand), setting up for 2 on 0 with Malkin and Sidney Crosby. Result: Malkin hat-trick.

Yes, Pascal Leclaire didn’t look good in his Senators return, but he wasn’t given any help whatsoever. I find it hard to blame Leclaire when the defence played this poorly.

Could-Have-Been-Classier

One area (of many) the Ottawa Senators could have been classier in was discipline. For a team who publicly complained about the lack of powerplays they’d been receiving, they didn’t help themselves last night. The Pittsburgh Penguins scored on 3 of their 8 powerplays… and they have the league’s worst powerplay. I found a lot of the penalties taken were unnecessary – Jonathan Cheechoo’s back-to-back penalties come to mind, especially given the timing of the penalties. The Senators were tied at 1 at that point. Basically, this was a pretty big fail by the Sens. “Penalty-Fail”.

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Luckily for Alfredsson and the Senators, they’ll have a few days off between games. In fact, their next game is on Saturday night in Buffalo against Ryan Miller and the Sabres. I don’t even know what else to say. Hopefully for Senators fans, there’s a much better effort from the club.

Stay classy, Ottawa Senators.

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Thoughts on last night’s Sabres-Senators game

December 17th, 2009

Ottawa Senators- 2, Buffalo Sabres- 0

Yesterday, each Stayclassy.net writer predicted the Buffalo Sabres would beat the Ottawa Senators. In fact, each of us believed the game could be disastrous for a Senators team with a number of high profile injuries facing a red-hot Sabres group who’d won 4 straight games. We made similar predictions last week for Ottawa’s game in Philadelphia (the one where the Senators walked away with a 2-0 win). Last night’s game was déjà vu as the result was another 2-0 win in a game none of us accurately predicted. Not even close.

A quick note to Sens management: It seems the hockey gods do the exact opposite of what we predict. We’re willing to predict blowout losses for the remainder of the season for some form of compensation… Mull it over if you’d like.

Last night the Ottawa Senators executed a simple but effective game plan and held the Buffalo Sabres to only 22 shots. It was a solid team effort that showed character and grit – a knock this team has received for years. I thought Ottawa really took it to the Sabres early on with good pressure and smart play, despite an injury list that includes Jason Spezza, Pascal Leclaire, Chris Neil, Shean Donovan, and Nick Foligno.

Here are the Classy, Non-Classy, and Could-Have-Been-Classier moments of last night’s Sabres-Senators game.

The Classy

I’ve been very hard on Brian Elliott lately, so it’s probably time I give him his due credit. Elliott was excellent last night, earning a 2nd shutout in his last 4 games. The majority of my Elliott critiques have revolved around his inconsistent play, so I’d be remiss not to mention his rock-solid performance in last night’s game. Elliott usually makes big saves, but what I found most surprising was all the routine saves he made too (seriously, who doesn’t remember Kessel’s goal from the other night?). This was a much better effort than the one he turned in for Monday night’s Leaf game. Of course, there was a moment or two where a juicy rebound was given up, but considering it was his 14th straight start and his 2nd shutout in 6 days, I’ll let up for now.

A few honourable mentions go to Ryan Miller, Jesse Winchester and Chris Campoli. Miller was absolutely amazing for the Sabres. He made a number of highlight reel saves (especially in the 1st period) that kept the Sabres in the game. Winchester looked very strong on the top line and did well doing all the little things in big minute situations. Campoli played pretty well as a forward, too. I thought he looked a bit awkward accepting passes in the neutral zone, but he understood his role and played it well. Let’s hope he doesn’t suffer Schubert’s fate in 8 months…

Non-Classy

One of the few ugly things from last night’s game was the Jarrko Ruutu hit on Patrick Keleta in the 2nd period. Ruutu was assessed a 5 minute boarding major for the hit (which Ottawa ended up only having to kill approximately 3 minutes of), but wasn’t ejected from the game. I don’t know if Ruutu will be suspended, but I wasn’t a fan of the hit. I understand finishing hits and taking players out of plays, but I felt the way Ruutu delivered the hit was unnecessary. Slowing it down, I had (and still have) a problem with the angle Ruutu came in at. Ruutu’s direction looks as though he’s bypassing Keleta’s body and going straight for the head. I feel if Ruutu had delivered a regular check by pressing Keleta’s back against the boards/glass, it would of been just as effective and not cost him team a 5 minute penalty kill.

The hit certainly puts a damper on the kind of game Ruutu played last night. I felt he contributed to a number of great scoring chances and played a strong game for the Senators.

Could-Have-Been-Classier

When you consider the adversity the Ottawa Senators are facing, coupled with the number of teams breathing down their necks for playoff spots, this was one of Ottawa’s better performances this season. It’s a difficult to point to a Could-Have-Been-Classier moment, but I’d like to speak to the number of penalties taken. At times, Ottawa lacked discipline that could of hurt the team, had it not been for solid penalty killing (the Senators diamond PK was impressive during Ruutu’s 5 minute major) and the lack of discipline from the Sabres (twice the Sabres took penalties while on the powerplay). Ruutu stands out as none of his 3 penalties were particularly good ones. I’d like to see Ottawa refine that portion of their game as they move forward.

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Up next for the Senators is a Friday night date with Martin Brodeur and the New Jersey Devils.  The 23-8-1 Devils are coming off 2 straight wins and have only played 1 road game this month. As a brief side note, will every New Jersey Devils game be previewed as “Can Marty Brodeur set the all time shutout record tonight versus …” until he actually does it? I’m already sick of this. I’m hoping he gets his 104th shutout soon so we can all move forward.

Back to the Devils – they are hot with 6 wins in their last 7 games and playing some of the most exciting hockey I can recall a Devils team playing. This will be another big test for the Ottawa Senators. Game time is at 7pm and will be aired on RDS and Sportsnet East.

Stay classy, Ottawa Senators.

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Thoughts on last night’s Senators-Leafs game

December 15th, 2009

Toronto Maple Leafs- 3, Ottawa Senators- 2

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** Jason Spezza injury update **
(12:15pm) Jason Spezza is scheduled for an MRI on his right knee on Tuesday afternoon. Spezza is expected to be out for at least a few weeks (at minimum) after a strange incident in Monday night’s game. Josh Hennessey has been called up to replace Jason Spezza.

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On one hand, that was a pretty sloppy hockey game. On the other hand, it was entertaining and fun to watch. Obviously, from a Leafs perspective, that was a great game. And from a Senators perspective, the game sucked from the 2nd period and on.

Virtually the only thing Leafs and Sens fans can agree on is the luster that’s been lost in recent Battles of Ontario matchups. However, last night’s installment was fun and had a bit more juice going in it. Before getting into any serious analysis, I’d like to point out that this was probably Mike Komisarek’s best game as a Toronto Maple Leaf and that the Leafs as a whole played exactly like the Senators do in good games. It was virtually the same level of aggressive plays, quick transitions, etc… As much as it pains me to say it, Ottawa could learn a thing or two from Toronto… at least in last night’s game.

Here are the Classy, Non-Classy, and Could-Have-Been-Classier moments of last night’s Senators-Leafs game.

The Classy

This is a difficult one. Nothing good happened for the Senators last night, beyond another strong game from Mike Fisher and Matt Carkner’s fight with Colton Orr. I’ll give the Classy to Carkner.

Going up against Colton Orr is no small feat and I give credit to Carkner for wanting to retribution from their last tilt in Ottawa back in November where Orr easily won the decision. Carkner certainly made up for the previous bout winning last night’s battle unanimously. Although quick, it was a heavyweight battle.

Non-Classy

Again, in what feels like a regular occurrence, last night’s Non-Classy goes to the Senators defense. I thought the Senators defense was pretty bad last week against the Canadiens, but last night might of been worse. Ottawa’s break out passes were simply terrible, especially as the game wore on. Passes weren’t connecting, offensive shots from the point weren’t hitting the net or getting through bodies, and there was no threat at any point of the game from Ottawa’s back end.

When Ottawa plays well, their defense does a good job controlling speed in the neutral zone. Last night, this did not happen. In fact, the defense didn’t have any neutral zone presence whatsoever. There were a number of times the Leafs caught the Sens defense sleeping – see either Jason Blake or Phil Kessel’s goals if you want proof. As mentioned above, the Leafs defense played exactly like Ottawa does when playing well.

Also, a quick note about Alex “Koastalev” Kovalev (thanks Mantooth) – I thought Mike Komisarek’s hit (or elbow) in the 3rd period might get Kovalev into the game. Kovalev was seen chirping from the bench and I thought “finally, some emotion from “AK27″. Once again with Koastalev, I was wrong. He took the rest of the game off after the hit.

Could-Have-Been-Classier

Just like they did on Saturday night against Carolina, the Senators faded before the end of the game. Last night, after a decent 1st period the Senators more or less mailed it in. The Senators lacked the same intensity in the 2nd and 3rd periods they brought at the start of the game and it cost them big time. Aside from Mike Fisher, it didn’t seem like any Senator played with urgency or desire to win one on one battles (and yes, that includes Daniel Alfredsson). I can’t imagine Cory Clouston being happy with last night’s efforts. Having Jesse Winchester on the ice for one of the last few shifts might be telling about how he thought his top stars played.

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Up next for the Senators is a game on home ice against the division leading Buffalo Sabres on Wednesday. Ottawa is going to have to play a much better game against the Sabres if they want any chance of winning. The Sabres are on a 4 game winning streak, are 8-2 in their last 10 games, and 9-4 away from home this year. One interesting thing for Ottawa: the Buffalo Sabres have one player who’s scored 10 or more goals this season. It’s not Vanek, Roy, or Pommenville… it’s Clark MacArthur (yeah, didn’t see that one coming, did you?). If the Senators can continue to shut down Buffalo’s forwards – especially MacArthur the sniper – and generate 7-10 quality scoring chances, they may have a shot at winning this game. And they should hope the Sabres start Patty Lalime, too.

Stay classy, Ottawa Senators.

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Thoughts on last night’s Hurricanes-Senators game

December 13th, 2009

Ottawa Senators- 4, Carolina Hurricanes- 2

After a rough road trip and some up-and-down play, the Ottawa Senators find themselves on a 2 game winning streak, thanks to a 4-2 victory over the Hurricanes. Sure, these 2 wins come against teams the Senators should beat, however, there are no guaranteed wins in the NHL and the Senators deserve credit for winning the games they are winning.

Saturday night’s win was a big one for the Senators, as they were able to put some distance between themselves and the Montreal Canadiens in the Eastern Conference playoff race (the Canadiens lost to the Thrashers on Saturday night). It’s probably too early in the season to look at games played/games remaining, but for the record, the Canadiens have played 2 more games than Ottawa (Montreal has played 33 games while Ottawa has played 31), yet the Senators hold a 3 point lead in overall standings.

But you probably don’t care about that… you just want to know the Classy, Non-Classy, and Could-Have-Been-Classier moments of last night’s Hurricanes-Senators game. Here they are!

The Classy

This one is kind of a no brainer. The Senators high priced UFA Alex Kovalev delivered his strongest game of the season on Saturday night scoring 3 goals in the victory (including his 400th career goal). It was a welcome sight to all Senators fans, management, and especially owner Eugene Melnyk who recently called out Kovalev (and Jason Spezza among others) for a lack of production. To say this was Kovalev’s best game as a Senator would be an understatement. While he’s the champion of “enigmatic play” (whatever that really means), he was engaged, passionate, and even dove for a puck during a 2nd period powerplay during Saturday’s game. It’s worth noting the line of Kovalev-Mike Fisher-Nick Foligno worked very well for the Senators, particularly in outworking the opposition in offensive corners, winning the one-on-one battles along the boards, and in physical play that lead to offensive chances. I felt Fisher and Foligno did a great job of creating space for Kovalev all night.

An honourable mention goes to Jason Spezza who also played a good game for the Senators. Spezza snapped his goal scoring slump and played with more ‘jam’ than we’ve seen lately. It’s worth noting Spezza had a defensive play that probably saved the game for the Senators when he stuffed a lose puck back under Elliott’s pads. For Spezza and Kovalev, it’s a step in the right direction.

Non-Classy

As expected, the Ottawa Senators played a solid 1st period against a tired road team who’d played the night before, but completely let up in the 2nd period. The 2nd period lacked the execution and intensity the Senators delivered earlier and allowed the Hurricanes back into the game. While the Senators may be able to get away with this on home ice against the league’s worst team, they won’t be able to in most other games. The Senators need to ensure they play a complete 60 minute game or they could easily find themselves chasing leads in the future.

Could-Have-Been-Classier

Often any given team hangs their hopes on their goaltender, whether they want to admit it or not. And although Brian Elliott got the win for the Senators, it never felt as though Elliott himself was confident he could deliver a win, or a save. Sure, goalies are always picked on for this section, but in this case, both Hurricane goals were “would liked to have back” type goals. I’m still unsure how they beat Elliott. On the other hand, Elliott made up for those weak goals by making big stops at key moments. Elliott lacks consistency and it shows by the way his team plays in front of him. While Elliott delivered a win, it didn’t come without its fair share of Could-Have-Been-Classier moments.

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It’s worth noting rookie defenseman Erik Karlsson had one of his stronger games last night, too. He did a great job anchoring the Senators struggling powerplay and seems to have cut down on neutral zone mistakes that have plagued the defensive portion of his game all season. As a whole, the Senators defense seemed to do a better job of playing aggressively in the offensive zone without risking many  2-on-1s or scoring chances going the other way. At times I’ve been critical of the risks the Senators defense has been taking, but I thought last night was well done by them. It helped that the forwards were well positioned, too.

Speaking of forwards, I thought the Senators forwards did a good job controlling the neutral zone all game and showed good, quick speed when attacking. This is what the Senators need to continue doing in order to string off multiple victories.

So there you have it, a Senators win lead by two players shedding the proverbial monkey from their backs. We’ll see if they can keep it going Monday when the Senators face-off against the Toronto Maple Leafs in the 3rd Battle of Ontario this season.

Stay classy, monkey shedding Senators.

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Thoughts on last night’s Senators-Flyers game

December 11th, 2009

Ottawa Senators- 2, Philadelphia Flyers- 0

Although every Stayclassy.net writer predicted the Ottawa Senators would lose (badly) to the Philadelphia Flyers last night, they didn’t. As it turns out, they shutout the Flyers 2-0 in a pretty solid road victory. This is probably the road game the Senators were looking to churn out in Philly back on November 12 in that 5-1 loss.

Before reviewing the game any further, I’d like to make two quick points.

  1. Today is Daniel Alfredsson’s birthday. The Senators captain is 37 years old.
  2. Does anyone else find it strange that the Flyers went out and hired Peter Laviolette? Sure, he was probably the best and most qualified coach for an NHL team in need of a fresh voice. But he’s also a coach that doesn’t believe in teams fighting and playing intimidating hockey. Although he’s a great NHL coach, I’m not sure he’s the best coach for the “Big Bad Flyers.” Just sayin’…

With that out of the way, here are last night’s Classy, Non-Classy, and Could-Have-Been-Classier moments.

The Classy

Little Nicky, where have you been all this time. I remember last year, after Clouston took over, Burgundy and I were all hyped up that Nick Foligno might actually make it to 25 goals. We even had a Little Nicky Watch, as we called it. As it turns out, the Little Nicky Watch had to be renamed after authorities caught wind of it and thought it might be something different….but I digress.

Great to see that Nick had arguably his best game of the season. He was all over the place. I remember after the end of the second period, only Nick Foligno had shots on net from the line of Foligno-Fisher-Kovalev. He has a really interesting skillset as a hockey player, and while his goals are rarely pretty, they sure are fun to watch at times. Just thinking about his little undressing of Pronger is exciting enough.

Non-Classy

What can you say about the Philadelphia Flyers. I had extremely high hopes for them this season as an Eastern Conference powerhouse. I thought the addition of Pronger, coupled with solid goaltending in Emery was going to vault them ahead of the pack. Well, since that great start of the season, they are now playing below .500 hockey. Even a coaching change only seemed to light a temporary fire under them. They’ve been shutout in 3 of their last 6 games, which really shouldn’t be happening to a team that boasts Mike Richards, Simon Gagne, Claude Giroux, Scott Hartnell and Daniel Briere, among others.

Could-Have-Been-Classier

Brian Elliot.

Wait, what?!? A shutout. Sorry, he’s been my default guy here for a while.

But really, Jason Spezza seems to have lost a tonne of confidence. There was a time, on any one of his breakaways, when I could leave the room to grab a drink because I knew he would score. Usually he just fakes a huge shot from the hashmarks, gets the goalie to commit, and then dekes the puck into the net. Well last night, he let Boucher go down, and then he shot at the 5-hole?!???!?!? Just not sure what’s happening with his game. This isn’t a criticism. It’s a concern.

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Wow. Since none of the Stayclassy.net writers called that one at all, I’m surprised we’ll even have readers for our next gameday preview against the Carolina Hurricanes. Judging by the shear difference in points between these two squads, you’d pretty much have to give this to the Ottawa Senators. But we’ve been surprised before.

Hopefully–and I sound like a broken record–Ottawa can build off this victory and string a few more together. If not for my sake, at least do it for the kids. It’s the holiday season, after all.

Stay classy, recently off my S**t-list Ottawa Senators.

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