Mike Fisher saved... the Senators' bacon with an overtime goal, as the Sens defeated the Tampba Bay Lightning to win their fourth straight last night. The Sens, by their own admission, did not play their best game, but it was enough to defeat the league's second most dysfunctional former cup winning franchise (the first being Rick "My Contract Will Age More Than Cheap Scotch and Leave a Similar Taste in the Mouths of Those Who Have to Taste It" DiPietro and the New York Islanders.)Fisher had an all-around strong game, earning first-star honours. The former Sudbury Wolf was at his multi-dimensional best, throwing 5 hits, blocking a shot, hurling 2 pucks on net, and winning 54% of his draws. Fisher's goal was scored in true Mike Fisherian fashion, as he jammed in a rebound off a Chris Phillips point shot while fighting off a Lightning defender. I hitherto advocate the widespread used of nickname Jesus Fish for Fisher, taking in consideration to factors such as: his well advertised faith, last name, and the reverence he enjoys amongst the followers of his team. Now go forth, and spread the word.
Unofficial Mayor of Ottawa Daniel Alfredsson was also in fine form, having yet another strong showing on the penalty kill while recording two assists. The Captain helped Chris Kelly score only his thirs goal in 23 games, setting him up on a short-handed two-on-one. Alfredsson is now on a bit of a hot streak, picking up points in four straight (3G, 3A.)
The Senators won this one despite falling off the waggon with regards to a habit they looked to have kicked: Allowing a goal immediately after having scored on of their own. I don't have any qualitative stats on how many times they have done so this year, but it seems like somewhat of a trend for the 2008-09 edition of the Senators.
Brian Elliott deserves some credit, however. While he allowed what would be best described as a flaky goal to let the Lightning tie the game only 13 seconds after his club had taken it's first lead of the hockey game, Elliott stood tall in the Senators net, making several saves on odd man rushes. Elliott's counterpart, Kari Ramo was rightly named second star. While Elliott did have a good game, Ramo was easily the stronger of the two goaltenders making several good saves.I though Lightning defneder (and Kanata native) Cory Murphy had a solid game for the Lightning. His skating and offensive awareness made him a standout on Tampa's blue line. Murphy registered the opening goal of the game, an extension of the offensive success he's been having since being claimed off waivers by the Lightning. The 31-year-old has 13 points in 22 games with Tampa this season, giving him 30 in 76 NHL games with the Lightning and the Florida Panthers. Murphy bounced around Europe for much of his 20s, playing in the Finnish league for five seasons, but has been producing when healthy since being Pogiven a chance in the NHL. He is unrestricted at the end of the year, and I wouldn't complain if the Sens saw fit to bring him in to play a 6-7 role on their back-end at the right price, as he seems to be capable of generating offense and playing well on the powerplay. He could be a good candidate to play the role of someone like a Brendan Bell.
TSN showed an interesting stat during their broadcast. With last night's win, the Senators have now picked up 23 points in the 18 games since Cory Clouston took over behind the bench, meaning they have been playing .638 hockey since the coaching change. Obviously it's different playing without the pressure and intensity of playoff expectations, but that stat is nevertheless encouraging. If Clouston can keep the team playing close to that rate for the remainder of the schedule, he will likely be able to count on a new contract with the Senators.
The gents will have their work cut out for them if they hope to continue their winning ways. They flew to Boston following the game to prepare for Tonight's meeting against the Eastern Conference leading Bruins. The Bruins are slumping, going 3-6-1 in their last 10 games, but Tim Thomas has given Ottawa's shooters fits since joining the brown bears after the lockout, so the Sens will need to bring their A-game if they hope to be successful.
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