Penalty Kill Mightier than the Sabre: Ottawa 3; Buffalo 1

The Ottawa Senators played another complete 60-minutes to down the Buffalo Sabres for the second straight game, this time by a score of 3-1. The victory was Ottawa’s 7th road win this season. For those of you who are baffled as to why the senators are so far removed from a playoff spot, a telling statistic: The Sens now have as many road wins as the San Jose Sharks do regulation losses this season.

Goaltending was a key to this victory, as Brian Elliott was not spectacular, but solid. He got a piece of a top corner Jaroslav Spacek slap shot through a screen in the first period to send it out of play. Not a huge stop by any stretch, but the kind you got the feeling was going when Martin Gerber and even Alex Auld were in net. Elliot also shut down Nathan Gerbe on a breakaway that looked to hold the potential for trouble. TSN showed Elliott working on his rebound control with Sens goaltending coach Eli Wilson. Practice paid off, as Elliott was, as described by Pierre McGuire “a piece of Velcro,” swallowing up Buffalo shots.

The Newmarket native’s low goals against total is more impressive in light of the fact Buffalo had 13 powerplays in this one, including an 11 minute stretch where Ottawa played with four skaters. Elliott was Ottawa’s best penalty killer on this night, finishing with 31 saves.

Jason Smith was given the rare triple-minor penalty for his hit from behind on Patrick Kaleta. I have to side with McGuire in my analysis of this penalty. Smith let up when he saw Kaleta was vulnerable, and Kaleta dropped his gloves, signalling that he was a willing participant in the dust-up that ensued between he and Smith. How Smith got six minutes in penalties, and Kaleta got none is beyond me. Give Kaleta credit though. For a guy who played less than seven minutes in this contest, he made his mark.

Moving on to a different kind of bad penalty, what was Jarkko Ruutu thinking when he ran over Ryan Miller, arguably negating a Chris Kelly goal (it is arguable because Kelly likely would not have scored in the first place without some assistance from Ruutu.) I like Ruutu because, as a general rule, he picks his moments to stir the pot and doesn’t let his desire to be a hir under the collar of his opponent interfere with the welfare of his team. But how did Ruutu rationalize running the goaltender without so much as a shove from the opponent to help his fall? To be fair to Ruutu he was not alone, as Daniel Alfredsson and Nick Foligno also took time out of their busy schedules to drive Miller into his net, receiving two minutes in the penalty box for their troubles.
The intellectual instigator redeemed himself though, executing a masterful screen on Sabres goaltender Ryan Miller to help set up Ottawa’s second goal, and by playing an otherwise solid game. Coach Cory Clouston even rewarded him with a shift or two with Daniel Alfredsson and Jason Spezza.

That second tally for the Sens was the product of a series of smart plays by the club’s fourth line. Deam McAmmond was strong on the forecheck, using his speed and low centre of gravity to fight off a hit and center the puck to Shean Donovan, who made use of Ruutu’s screen and some patience to wire the puck past a handcuffed Miller.

I liked Clouston’s decision to play the Brian Lee-Filip Kuba pairing with the Foligno-Fisher-Shannon line. The club’s two best puck movers playing with some of the team’s best north-south forwards seems like a winning combination to me. Fisher’s line looks to be benefiting from the marriage, as they had another strong game. Antoine Vermette seems like he could fit in well with that five-man unit should Shannon be sent back to the minors. Ditto for Chris Kelly.

The Sens will try for their first 3-game winning-streak tomorrow night when they travel to Philadelphia to face the Flyers. The team’s energy level and offensive presence has remained strong in Clouston’s first four game, which means a victory against Philly is a
distinct possibility.

Notes

I noticed Dany Heatley didn’t score in this one. Ergo, he must have had a bad game. I love how the Sun’s ego maniacal writers are trying to insert themselves into the “story” of the fued between Dany Heatley and or the media that they have manufactured. I will now address each party.

Dany: I for one understand your plight. If I were you, I would hate the guys at the Sun too. Hell, if I had media accreditation to speak with the team personally and thus didn’t need the Sun for quotes and such to do my work here, I would likely not read their work at all. Hook a brother up?

Bruce, Don, Chris, and co.: How about, instead of finding ways to integrate yourself into the story of the team and manufacturing animosity and baseless rumours that never come to fruition, you focus on writing accurate, fact driven, interesting articles about the team. I know this would require “effort” and “talent,” but I’m sure you guys can find a way around that. I mean, you’ve made it this far. Maybe you could call up the guys at The Citizen to ask for tips.

Check out article on The 6th Sens and Black Aces for a more.