Freak Storm: Ottawa 5; Carolina 1

Where on God’s green earth did that kind of dominance come from?

Sens fans were treated to a taste of the kind of play they were once familiar with, tonight. The Senators ran roughshod over the Carolina Hurricanes, defeating Tobacco Row’s hockey heroes by a score of 5-1. Mike Fisher and Antoine Vermette each tallied, while Jason Spezza executed one of his much maligned drop passes to perfection to open the scoring. Ottawa had several odd man rushes against a Carolina defence that just looked porous.

It will be tough for Craig Hartsburg to go back to Alex Auld - let alone Martin Gerber - after another solid start from Brian Elliott, The AHL all-star looked cool, calm and collected, controlling his rebounds and challenging shooters. Elliott may be ready for full-time service with the big club, provided he can sustain this level of play.

The only negative for Sens fans was having to watch Joe Corvo’s idiot smile after he recorded his fifth goal in three games against his old club. In both pre-game coverage and on the ice he looked pretty cocky for a player who once came within a wisher of weeping on the post-game show after turning the puck over to cost his team the game in overtime. On New Year’s Day 2007, Corvo shit the bed at the Atlanta Thrasher blue line, turning the puck over to Slava Kozlov, who proceeded to score the game winner on the hapless Martin gerber. Corvo was inconsolable when interviewed on the Team 1200’s post-game show, proclaiming himself to be “just a defensive liability out there, I guess” and bemoaning how the media reports about the goal would surely damage his ego for some time to come. Andy and I listened to it on our drive home from the game, and couldn’t help feel a mix of pity and contempt for the man.

By the way Joe, the number 77 is supposed to be for great players. Paul Coffey and Ray Bourque wore it with the utmost class and set a standard of excellence. Hell even Adam Oates pulled it off. It looks ridiculous on you to be honest. Same goes for Todd Gilbert and Pavel Kubina. You wouldn’t wear 66 or 99, and most people tend to shy away from 88, so let’s throw 77 in the “don’t touch” category to pay homage to the great players who have worn it. If you intend to wear duplicate digits past 44, you better back it up with your play. The three of you are on notice.

The question we must ask ourselves after this rare win is: Is it even good that the Senators won? Unless the club wins at close to a .700 clip from here on out, the playoffs are a pipe dream. I for one am not convinced the club can pull off such heroics, and even if they do they will be weaker for it. Shouldn’t they just go Mel Bridgeman and shoot for that high draft pick? Any thoughts?