Sens Beat Up Pens

The Sens lead from start to finish, beating up the Penguins 5-1 for their first ever victory in the Consol Energy Center. The game was a total domination, as the Sens chased Brent Johnson from the net for the 2nd straight game. Jason Spezza scored a ridiculously awesome goal, while Michalek chipped in with 2. Bobby Butler and Chris Neil added the others, while Anderson was solid in what little work he had tonight. The only blemish was the late scratch of Erik Karlsson. Let's hope the injury isn't too bad.

Other thoughts from the game:

• Greening was a beast, racking up 3 assists
• With the 2 goals, Michalek is now tied for 4th in the NHL with Toews.
• Turris had another good game.
• Foligno had a great rush tonight.
• Penguins looked awful.
• Loved Gonchar being boo'd. A little late Pens fans.
• Phillips struggled a bit again for me.
• Kuba played pretty well yet again. Credit where credit is due.
• The Sens remain the only NHL team not involved in a shutout game this season.
• 2 game win streak.

With 2 goals tonight, Milan Michalek wins the night.

Thoughts?

Dallas Leaves Sens Seeing Stars

The Sens gave up to goals in less than 3 minutes with only 6 minutes to play, to go from up one to down one, ultimately succumbing to the Dallas Stars 3-2, after nearly evening the score in the last second on an Alfredsson rebound shot. It was not out night however and the mini win streak has come to an end. On to Washington for Saturday's game.

Other thoughts from the game:

• the announced attendance was just over 10,000 but no way there was more than 5000.
• Nikita Filatov had a lot of jump in his game tonight. I thought he gave a good effort.
• All 3 of the Dallas goals were as a result of sloppy/lazy defensive play. We need to stop those mistakes.
• Sens only had 1 powerplay tonight. That's a bit light.
• Alfie was fairly invisible again tonight. I love him but his age is showing more and more.
• Craig Anderson was ok. Not great, not bad, just ok.
• Lee and Rundblad both played under 12 mins.
• Konopka, Winchester and Butler allplayed under 10 mins. Make of that what you will.
• Jared Cowen looked solid and had an assist and was a plus 2 tonight.
• I thought Spezza was trying to force his game a bit tonight.
• The Condra-Smith-Daugavins was very quiet tonight. Unusual for them.

With a beautiful goal tonight and a plus 2 rating, Milan Michalek wins the night for the Senators. With the goal he is now tied for 2nd in the league for goals with Steven Stamkos, just one back of Phil Kessel.

Comeback Kids

What was a fairly boring game, all changed in the last minute , where the Sens came back from a goal down to shock the Columbus Blue Jackets and the fans at SBP and pull out a comeback 4-3 win in regulation time. With the win the Sens have their first win streak of the season, albeit it just a 2 gamer at the moment. This game is why you never leave early, especially when only down a goal. Happy Saturday night!

Other thoughts from the game:

• Attendance was 18,889. Pretty solid for Cbus.
• Craig Anderson was pretty bad. Especially on that Nash goal.
• Loved the fans chanting we want a scoreboard.
• Kuba scored!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
• What a beauty pass it was from Spezza to set that Kuba goal up.
• Neil had another solid game until he was kicked out. I'm not entirely sure why still.
• For the 2nd straight game I thought Gonchar looked better
• Mika Zibanejad only plyaed 14+ minutes tonight. Make of that what you will.

With a beautiful tip with 4.7 seconds left to win the game for the Senators, Milan Michalek wins the night for the 2nd straight game.

Post game thoughts?

Sens Ground Jets

The Sens got just what they needed, another struggling team playing the 2nd game of a back to back, and they took full advantage, dropping the Jets 4-1 in their first game in Ottawa since 1995. It was an entirely different team out there tonight. I guess that closed door talk did some good, or the opponent was just that bad. Probably a bit of both.



So what was the difference tonight? Our key players played like key players. Jason Spezza and Milan Michalek each had 3 points tonight, Alfie scored on a beauty play, and we got solid goalkeeping from Craig Anderson. I would venture to say that if we get all of that, it will almost always result in a win.

The Sens get the worst team in the league on Saturday in Columbus, hoping to put a win streak together for the first time this season. Maybe we aren't as bad as we thought, or likely, our problem is consistently playing the way we did tonight.

Other thoughts from the game:

• Jesse Winchester looked solid in his first game back. Nothing fancy but solid. His normal type game.
• Peter Regin injured his shoulder and didn't return. Not good for a guy with past injury problems and in need of a big comeback season. 
• Speaking of Regin's injury, the main beneficiaries could be Zibanejad or Da Costa, neither of whom were very noticeable tonight.
• Colin Greening had another big night, chipping in with 2 points tonight. He's looking to be growing into the power forward we desperately need.
• Anne Murray was at the game. Yes, that Anne Murray.
• Andre Ladd's nose was a mess after taking that puck to the face.
• Gonchar had a better game tonight I thought. Rundblad too.
• In fact the entire defence was a lot better than in previous games.
• Erik Karlsson needs to play better positionally and not take so many penalties.

Apparently the Sens also blew it promotional wise tonight as well. Kinda funny though. Yet typical.

With 2 goals and 1 assist, good for 3 points, Milan Michalek wins the night. Jason Spezza also had 3 helpers, so he gets honorable mention.

Post game thoughts?

Shamed

First off, I want to give a shoutout to the Sens marketing department, who someone convinced this years squad to play like the 1992-93 team. Brilliant! That had to of been one of the worst games we have ever played, period! To lose to a team like that who played last night and traveled is embarrassing. Not a good start to the new jersey to lose 7-1. I'm going to keep it short before I lose my mind.


Other thoughts from the game:

• Attendance was 19,239 - kinda weak since so many free tickets were given out with purchase of new jersey.
• The new jerseys are Spectacular! I love them. Everyone loves them.
• The refs were very suspect tonight. That Smith penalty and the Neil penalty were brutal calls.
• Our entire defence was pathetic tonight. Can we send them all to the NHL?
• I'm sure glad we started Anderson in 192873434 consecutive games to close the season last year, bumping us back in the draft and missing out on Sens fan and now Avs player Garbiel Landeskog, who had 2 points tonight.
• Matt Duchene's celebration tonight was very douchey. Smarten up kid!
• The Folign-Regin-Neil line was our only decent trio tonight. Again.
• Anderson was great through 2, lousing in the 3rd.
• Only took us 4 games to get our first too many men call. Impressive.
• We looked like we didn't care tonight. Maybe we didn't. Was very hard to watch.

With the only goal tonight, Milan Michalek wins the night.

Thoughts on the game?

Sens Get Killed In Murder Capital

The Senators got off to a great start, a suspect middle stanza and finally closed strong in their season opener in Detroit, which is sort of what you'd expect with this sort of team. Sens fans take note, this is what most of the season may look like. We have the ability to compete at times and even look good, but we don't have the depth or experience to keep it up for 60 minutes.

The Senators who were nowhere close to the Red Wings in the talent department started very strong. Their pace and overall game was amazing for the first 10mins plus, until the Wings sprung Todd Burtuzzi on a breakaway late in the first on a very sloppy and lazy line change by the Senators. Sergei Gonchar in particular looked uninterested in skating to mend the error.

The 2nd period is where it got rough. The Sens looked completely over matched and overwhelmed and had a lot of trouble trying to manufacture any sort of offence, which will be an ongoing theme this season. The Sens were down 4-0 after the middle frame and it looked like the start of a long season, but they picked it up late in the third.

They managed to make it respectable, scoring 3 in the 3rd to make it a 5-3 final, but it was clear we were teams going in different directions, despite the score. The Sens did what they could, but just aren't that good yet. It will be a long season, but one full of rewards of watching players progress over the 82 games.

Overall a solid effort against a team much better than us. The Sens hope to rebound against the Leafs tomorrow, a team more at our level. Let's hope we get a better result.

Notable Notes:

• Nikita Filatov recorded his first point as a Senator with an assist on the first Michalek goal
• Rookie Mika Zibanejad registered his first career NHL point on the Kuba goal. Congrats!

 With 2 goals, including a beauty deke cutting to the net on a power move, Milan Michalek wins the night. Honorable mention goes out to Jason Spezza who had 2 helpers.

Thoughts on the first game of the season?