Long Island Loss Signals Sens' Soft Spots

Well folks, this marks the first time in franchise history that the Senators have lost three games to the Islanders in a single-season, pretty much negating any hopes that this team was “turning things around.” Unfortunately, I was unable to view the game as the internet in the Queen’s University library was uncooperative, and I had to catch up on some reading. I did manage to listen to the game, and Dean and Gord left me with a firm impression of what went on, but I'm pretty much just going on highlights for visuals. It seems like the problems the Sens had tonight are indicative of their broad deficiencies: a poor breakout and a lack of conversion on scoring opportunities.


Frankly, this team misses Wade Redden circa anytime before December 2007. They are without the ability to break out of their zone in a consistent and effective manner. For all Wade’s perceived flaws, the team’s record was always perceptibly better when he was in the line-up than when he was absent. He played over 25 minutes a night, and while he wasn’t one to deliver punishing body checks, his skating could have been better and he turned the puck over in numbers proportionate to the ice-time he logged, buddy knew how to make a calm, simple play to get the puck out of the Senator zone. I'm not for a second suggesting the team should or could have kept Redden, but they sorely miss having someone who could get them out of their end and start the rush.

Many nights this season, the Sens have looked disorganized and sloppy when attempting to clear their defensive zone for minutes at a time. From the sounds of things that was the case on the two Freddie Meyer goals tonight. The Senators have several good stay at home defencemen, however most of them are incapable of being consistent studs when it comes to leading the breakout. Alexandre Picard and Filip Kuba are solid power-play contributors, but don't have the same poise when it comes to the breakout. If those Bouwmeester rumours are true (which, if history has taught us anything, they probably aren’t) then that might be a solution to this particular problem, but would likely exacerbate what I feel is currently the more grave concern

Even if that need were addressed, secondary scoring is the Achilles heel of this team right now. In the now “vaguely new” NHL, you won’t win consistently if you can’t score more than two (2) goals a night. I don’t feel the problem is that Ottawa’s “second line” is incapable of generating chances. Quite the contrary, as they create a relative glut of them. But for some reason, the Senators’ second tier forwards are lacking in the finish department. Antoine Vermette and Chris Kelly are, in my books, the prime offenders in this area.

Now, I like both Kelly and Vermette. Ol’ Antoine brings a dimension to this team they don’t really otherwise have: His skating and foot speed are both excellent and the boy can carry and pass the puck with tantalizing skill. Vermette generates as many scoring opportunities as he does young female admirers. However, his ability to close the deal when it comes to the former leaves something to be desired. He seems to be guilty of both gripping the stick too tight and being flat out unlucky. Kelly, despite his ability to create chances for himself and others appears unable to cash in on his opportunities against NHL goaltenders. I've been saying this about these two for a few years now, but with the two of them combining for a total 3 goals in 22 games, it's particularly true this season. Both seem like “car-actor” people to use a Bryan Murrayism, but unless they start producing, the Senators will spend a lot of nights short of that elusive three goal barrier.

Luckily, I have devised means of coping with this frustrating state of affairs: The Kelly-Vermette drinking game! Every time Chris Kelly and/or Antoine Vermette fail to convert on a reasonable scoring chance, take a shot. If the Senators lose, you’ll likely be too wasted to really care! If you aren’t hammered by the end of the night, that means the Sens probably scored four goals or more! It's a win-win!

The scoring problem extends to the rest of the Senator forwards. Mike Fisher, whom I am a big fan of, is in a huge slump that in reality dates back to around January of last year. I am confident he will once again be a 20 goal scorer, but as for when that will happen? Well your guess is as good as mine. Jesse Winchester and Nick Foligno – who I feel could eventually be a 25-30 goal man based on his skill and willingness to crash the net – still need more time to fully adjust to the NHL game. They do a lot of things well on a lot of nights, but they aren’t ready to help carry the ball production-wise as many had hoped. The rest of the Sens’ forwards are grinders who cannot reasonably be expected to produce big offensive numbers. Alfredsson and Heatley each scored tonight and, in conjunction with the much maligned Jason Spezza, have been producing at a satisfactory rate, especially when you consider no other line helps to distract opposing defences. Mats Sundin and Brendan Shanahan aren’t coming to save us, and there aren’t really other options on the free agent market. Short of breaking up the Big Three, which creates a whole new set of issues, the answer to this problem needs to come from within. Until it does, losses are likely to continue.