The tyranny of the normally excellent CBC (non hockey aspects) forced me to acquire standing room tickets to tonight's game. For those of you who missed it, I have the nitty gritty. However, I have a few pieces of business to conduct before moving on to any analysis. To the entire row of people who didn't show up to claim their section 320 row G seats: Thank you, they were lovely. To the beer swilling, constantly shouting father-son team who sat behind me for the third period: Fat, drunk, and stupid is no way to go through life, guys. To the francophone gentlemen who sat in front of me: Yes, Radek Bonk, Alexei Yashin, and Alexandre Daigle were all once Ottawa Senators. However, they no longer play for the team. The loud chanting of their names throughout the entire game was wholly unnecessary for a litany of reasons.
The story of this game was the solid performances of the team's role players. Cody Bass threw a number of bone rattling body checks, his third period hit on Matt Niskanen (see below) standing out among them. Anton Volchenkov blocked four shots and threw five hits while playing a very strong and simple defensive game. Chris Neil didn't earn an assist on the play, but he worked a beautiful screen on Marty Turco that cleared the way for Alexandre Picard's power-play goal. The Senators got some of that secondary scoring they have lacked, as Antoine Vermette broke his Bruce Garrioch sized slump with a back door goal on the power play and Mike Fisher set up Jason Smith's winner with a pretty pass on the rush. Nick Foligno earned well-deserved First Star honours by playing physically and showing some offensive flair, picking up two assists and making some smart plays with the puck to find open ice and teammates. Coach took notice, granting the former Sudbury Wolf 17:40 in ice time. Finally, stay at home defender Jason Smith got to play the hero, recording his first point as a Senator in style, as he scored the OT winner. Ottawa's supporting cast came up big and success followed.
The game was not without some negatives for the Bytown side. Most obviously, team captain and infallible man-god Daniel Alfredsson was dealt a minor setback on his inexorable journey to becoming the human supreme. Alfredsson was most savagely slammed into the the boards from behind by the now treacherous Jere Lehtinen. Fortunately, when Alfredsson was asked on the
Team 1200 post-game show if he thought the injury was serious, he replied with a confident "No." Lehtinen didn't really show malicious intent, but I am somewhat shocked there wasn't at least a boarding minor called. Martin Gerber was horrible, and the first and secon
d goals were downright embarrassing. I'll be shocked if we don't see Alex Auld start in goal next game. The Senators as a team showed poor awareness on the tying goal in the third period. Anton Volchenkov broke his stick on a shot at the Dallas blue line, sparking to a rush and sustained offensive zone possession for the Stars. Volchenkov played for over 30 seconds without a forward offering him a stick. The A-Train did his best to break up Dallas' rush and clear the defensive zone afterwards, but without a stick he was forced to try to clear the puck with his hands. The result of this miscue was a turnover that led to Loui Eriksson's goal. Don Cherry Moment Time: Kids, if you're a forward, always give your defenceman a stick when he loses his (this is the part where I would show two or three examples to prove my point and then call somebody stupid, unaware of the delicious irony of such a statement.)
Overall, the Senators should be happy to get the win. 5-goal games have become a scarce commodity for this team, and a win on a night when Martin Gerber plays poorly even scarcer. Hopefully they can build on this as they stand on the doorstep of their World Junior Championship enduced 8-game road trip. History tells us they will not.
Now for C-Bass tribute.
d goals were downright embarrassing. I'll be shocked if we don't see Alex Auld start in goal next game. The Senators as a team showed poor awareness on the tying goal in the third period. Anton Volchenkov broke his stick on a shot at the Dallas blue line, sparking to a rush and sustained offensive zone possession for the Stars. Volchenkov played for over 30 seconds without a forward offering him a stick. The A-Train did his best to break up Dallas' rush and clear the defensive zone afterwards, but without a stick he was forced to try to clear the puck with his hands. The result of this miscue was a turnover that led to Loui Eriksson's goal. Don Cherry Moment Time: Kids, if you're a forward, always give your defenceman a stick when he loses his (this is the part where I would show two or three examples to prove my point and then call somebody stupid, unaware of the delicious irony of such a statement.)
2 comments:
Thanks for doing this ..
One of the better games the sens have played this year. Gerbs was brutal, but a lot of guys had good games Vermy, Spez, Heatley all looked good, even fish had a decent game. I think an extended road trip will be good for these guys. Last night didn't change any of the glaring problems for this team, however, notably slow offensively challenged d. Still hoping for a trade to bring some new life to the d, personally. Jbo is a nice idea, but makes no sense practically. Unless one of the big 3 is moved to make room, or at least fish and someone else (hopefully not vermette.)
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