The Sens well 2-1 to New York in a shootout, bringing their day game record to 0-1-1 this seaon. Frankly, I hate day games. They throw my whole routine out of rhythm and I just plain don't like them, so screw you CBC for making us change the game time from 7pm to 2pm. You are lame.Second of all, I actually thought the Sens played pretty well as a team today. No one was amazing, but no one was truly awful (thought Campoli and Picard continue to drive me crazy). I thought a bunch of guys had solid games. Brian Lee continues to impress me after being recalled. He seems to have simplified his game and cut down on the errors, which is a big help.
Jarkko Ruutu maximized all 12 mins of icetime he had, playing a solid 2 way game and making a nice pass to Lee for their only goal. Peter Jensen, I mean Regin, had a nice afternoon as well. He skated hard and showed us he has potential. It was nice to see Shean Donovan back in the lineup. I'm not saying he's a key to our team, but I don't see what Shannon brings to the table that is better then Donovan really. Bottom line is you're not gonna win too many games when Alfie, Kovie, Fish, Spezza and Michalek all go pointless.
Brian Elliott was very solid in net, making several beautiful saves. Must be tough to give up only one goal, a goal that you couldn't stop, and still lose. But it was nice to see that should Leclaire continue to struggle, that we have a very capable backup. Does he get the start Tuesday against the Leafs now?
In other news, I continue to hate the shootout. I just hate how a team gets the extra point in such a gimmicky way. What was so bad about drawing? I hate how it's meant to appeal to people who don't love hockey, but more to the casual fan to bring excitement and a conclusion to each game. What about us fans who actually care about the game? Seems we're getting the Joan Collins special.
The attendance was only 17,500 or so, which means clearly I'm not the only one who hates day games. The point is we played pretty well and were unlucky in not getting the 2 points. If we have a team effort like we did today against Toronto, and our big guns remotely show up, we should be able to get the win.
At least there were positives to take away from the loss. Your thoughts?
13 comments:
They played alright but they do need more from their difference makers, and they need to stop shooting over the net.
I think Spezza fell of a bit, but I think Fisher played pretty well. I think Neil also had a great game.
I think Picard continues to be terrible. He elected to do nothing on the 2 on 1 after Campoli's turnover. He gave Gaborik a clear lane to take the shot and he failed to hit the ice to block the pass. He also had a great turnover trying to hold onto the puck at his own blueline.
I also think Kovalev continues to be terrible. He turns the puck over as soon as someone touches him and he seems more concerned with deking people than scoring.
I think we do stay with Elliot for now. Leclaire has just been garbage lately and we need to win a game. I think a big difference between Elliot and Lecaire is that Elliot makes himself big in the net when making a save whereas Leclaire curls up into a ball.
I think the attendance has more to do with the Sens boring style of play as it does with the day game. When they really started to skate at the end of the 2nd the crowd got into the game. If the Sens are going to be mediocre they might as well play entertaining hockey.
Are there any GMs out there dumb enough to take Cheechoo or Kovalev off our hands? Picard can just be put on waivers. Signing Kovalev has turned out to be a terrible move, he is completely useless and -7. I hope we don't fall into the Maple Leafs pattern of overpaying whoever they can get to play for them just to try to make the playoffs. I hate to say it but the current Sens are not going anywhere. Like anyone else they need some young cheap talent before they go anywhere.
The Sens should go back to the 2 forchecker system CCC had them playing when he first was given the job. Maybe they can surprise a few teams get their game going before going back to trapping. I think this is essentially why CCC did it last year, to get the Sens going and get some energy in their game. Then after about 10 games, when teams started adjusting to them, he switched to trapping. The Sens definitely need a boost right now to get a win over a team that might finish in the top 8 the year.
Totally agree with the mayor and don't listen to the two windbags up above. Kovie had a pretty good game all around, and you were dead on with Ruutu, but forgot to mention Alfie who played his usual solid game. Elly was darn good between the pipes and deserves the start against the Leafs ( cause Toronto folks don't know how to spell "Leaves"). A total team effort.
Totally agree with Donovan instead of Shannon. Donovan makes things happen in the corners and behind the net on the offensive.
As to the shoot-out, I'm with you on that for a different reason. Why is a regular win worth 2 points overall, but a shoot-out win hands-out 3 points? Either hand out 2 points per game or 3 per game, but don't mix up the cards. C'mon Betts, stop pandering to the American dollar and do what's right for the game. Get rid of the shoot-out.
I guess a pretty good game for Kovie is a couple of shots, a couple of dekes and a couple of turnovers. I guess no minus helps too since he is -7 on the year. He is paid $5M to make difference, and truthfully Chris Neil had more an impact on that game than Kovie did. That is why Neil was on the powerplay in OT and Kovie was not. CCC has do find a way to get him going otherwise we will continue to only be a deep team (forwards) on paper.
Kovie was a great addition, just not for $5M.
Elliot was great and should absolutely get the start next game as Leclaire has been an insult to dog shit.
Honestly, if only our defence was better I think our forwards would look even better = they are constantly having trouble getting out of their zone bc the d is crap and have to back check like made to support the crappy d.
Agree about Elliot and the D. Maybe if we did not give Kovie $5M we could afford a D when one becomes available. We need to find a way to get the A-Train resigned. I think the drop off in our PK as of late has a lot to do with not having him in the lineup. Lets hope that Lee can continue to play well and that CCC finally realizes that Picard does not belong in the NHL.
If Kovalev gets on a role and tears it up for 3 weeks and wins us some games, then I won't feel so bad about him. For the time being he is -7 and had not really shown any signs that he cares what the outcome of the games are.
I think we should be giving Foligno a top 6 spot instead of Cheechoo, who should be sitting. Foligno showed us last year that he might still develop into a capable top 6 forward, Cheechoo is on the decline, he takes too many penalties, and unfortunately I think Hall Gill could outskate him.
At least twice on our powerplay in OT, Kuba had a shooting lane from a good angle but kept his stick on the ice and was not ready to onetime the puck when Alfredsson passed it to him.
Kovalev was one of the Sens best players on saturday, if anyone could actually finish, he would have had 3 points
we played well enough to win the game, just didnt finish our scoring chances
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