Ottawa Senators Fan Blog

SENS EFFORT TOO LATE AGAIN

Ducks 4, Senators 3

This is starting to become annoying. While the Senators all around game was better through 60 minutes against the Anaheim Ducks than it was against Florida the other night, it still lacked the passion and desire needed for this team to be successful.

The third goal of the game spoke volumes about what ails the Senators. With all five Ottawa skaters surrounding a loose puck, no one wanted it badly enough. The result? Samuel Pahlsson snaps a wrister by Alex Auld. The five Senators made a much better door than a window for Auld, when all they needed was someone in that group to be a little stronger on the puck, to play with just a little more urgency.

The Senators would have been okay down 2-0, the second goal being one of the most flukey goals ever witnessed in Scotiabank Place/the Corel Centre/the Palladium.  As it turns out, that second goal, as flukey as it was, turned out to be a back breaker. But only because the Senators allowed it to be. The lack of effort which often accompanies feeling sorry for yourself led to the afore mentioned goal, and another one by Ryan Getzlaf after another porous defensive breakdown.

The Senators early struggles can be partly blamed on a brand new coach, new system and more than a handful of new players. It is only fair that fans be a little patient. But the areas that were not addressed in the offseason (a puck-moving defenceman and goaltending) are really hurting this team right now and the fans see a general manager that didn't do enough. As one season ticket holder said after the game last night "why should the player try, when the general manager hasn't showed any effort to make the team better?" While the statement was a tad harsh, it also has some merit to it, especially if the Senators continue to lose games because of bad goaltending and only sporadic offensive bursts.

SENS LATE ARRIVAL COSTLY

Panthers 3, Senators 1

I know this post is late since this game took place two days ago (I back dated the posting date so that there is a calendar accurate game archive). But I guess that's fitting, since the Senators were late for this one themselves. The Panthers had a 2-0 lead in this one before Ottawa recorded a shot. By the end of the first period, the Senators were outshot 11-3.

Ottawa came to life after about the halfway point of the game. Daniel Alfredsson scored on a powerplay to get the Senators in the game, but Martin Gerber struck again, letting in a terrible goal and allowing Florida to restore their two goal lead.

The Sens came out blazing in the third, firing 26 shots on Florida netminder Craig Anderson. But they couldn't put one by him.  The last two days has fans all wondering two things: Where was the third period effort at the start of the game? And how can this team be successful when their supposed number one goaltender always finds ways to let in back-breaking goals.

Some have even wondered a third thing. Should we start getting used to this?

LOUSY EFFORT SINKS SENS

Bruins 4, Senators 2

The Ottawa Senators played their worst game of the season to date, barely showing up to play the Boston Bruins as Scotiabank Place last night. On a night where the Sens looked like the team that collapsed during the second half of the season, there was not much to cheer about other than a beautiful goal by Nick Foligno which tied the game at 1-1 after Martin Gerber forgot the start time and let in a easy one on the Bruins first shot.

The Bruins pulled ahead through two periods by a 3-1 in the second period. Ottawa responded with a powerplay goal by Daniel Alfredsson, and the Sens entered the second period intermission  down 3-2.

The Senators showed some life in the third period, but could not notch the tying goal. Filip Kuba then provided the boneheader of the night as he came off the bench for his shift and charged into the Boston zone. Only problem? The puck was going the other way, and so was his man, Michael Ryder. Ryder took the puck in alone on Gerber who made a great save, but Milan Lucic was there to pot the rebound. With just over five minutes to play, that was it for the night. Kuba may still be skating in the Boston zone as I type this.

Jason Spezza played a very uninspired game. It's one thing not to score. But he failed to even make any sort of body contact all night long.

The Senators are trying to become a tougher team to play against. Looks like they have quite a long ways to go.

BACK-TO-BACK FOR GERBER

Craig Hartsburg has decided to play Martin Gerber for the second time in as many nights. There was speculation that Hartsburg would go with Alex Auld tonight as these are back-to-back games. Also, the Senators are playing the Boston Bruins, Auld's team of a year ago. So Hartsburg is electing to go with Gerber even though Auld is likely fired up to play against his former team.

This is the right move. Hartsburg obviously wants to get Gerber on a roll, playing a bunch of games in a row. When we look back to last season, Gerber seemed at his best when he got a large number of consecutive starts. At the beginning of the season, Gerber started almost every game through to mid-December, and he was mostly terrific during that span. At the end of the year, when Murray nailed Ray Emery to the bench, Gerber also performed well. This carried over into the first round series against Pittsburgh, and Gerber was perhaps Ottawa's best player in what was otherwise a debacle.

It is apparent that Hartsburg really wants Gerber to show the form of a number one goaltender, and he is giving him ample opportunity to show it.

Team Records:
Boston (1-1-1; 3)
Ottawa (2-1-1; 5)

Starting Goaltenders:
Boston - Manny Fernandez - 0-1-0 | 4.07 GAA | .846 SV%
Ottawa - Martin Gerber - 1-1-1 | 3.28 GAA | .907 SV%

Injuries:
Boston - Chuck Kobasew (RW) - Ankle, IR;
Ottawa - None

Puck Drop:
7:08 pm

THE LEGEND OF ALFIE CONTINUES

Alfredsson Returns; Forty Minute Effort Enough vs. Coyotes

Ottawa 6, Phoenix 3

Daniel Alfredsson has done it again. He has given Sens fans yet one more reason to love him. One week after undergoing arthroscopic knee surgery, the Senators captain was back in full force, helping his teammates cruise to an easy victory over the Phoenix Coyotes.

Alfredsson finished the game with two assists. Both were sights to behold for different reasons. After Jarkko Ruutu opened the scoring for Ottawa to give them a 1-0 lead, it appeared as if Alfredsson had given it right back to Phoenix with a brutal give away in the high slot. But he recovered beautifully, poking the puck away from the Phoenix player and then sending a perfect long pass up the ice to Jason Spezza who cruised in on Ilya Bryzgalov and beat him with a deflected shot off of Ed Jovanovski. Then, just over three minutes later, Alfredsson found Dany Heatley in the slot with a beautiful pass. Heatley made no mistake, blasting a one-timer by Bryzgalov.

The Senators built on a 3-0 lead in the second period when Nick Foligno found Anton Volchenkov going to the net. Volchenkov scored on a second effort, quickly potting his own rebound. Phoenix finally responded early in the third to make it 4-1, but Jarkko Ruutu answered quickly, scoring his second goal of the night.

With the score 5-1, things seemed to get completely turned around. Perhaps the Senators had it in the back of their minds that they had a game the next night, and this was all but over. The Coyotes found their legs and began peppering the Ottawa net with quality scoring chances. The Coyotes cut the lead to 5-3 and there were still more than five minutes showing on the clock. Not until Spezza scored his second goal and fourth point on the night to make it 6-3 did the Scotiabank Place crowd begin to breathe easy again.

Head coach Craig Hartsburg had to be boiling inside. He is trying to instill poise in his club and they showed anything but that as they got cocky with their lead. This is exactly the kind of attitude that got them in trouble last season. A complacency sets in on this team way to easily, and until they get this garbage out of their collective psyche, this team is going nowhere. Where was the leadership we heard so much about? Alfredsson makes this inspiring return, Jason Smith is a big part of this team and a supposed big-time leadership guy, and Jarkko Ruutu, who was also brought in to add to the leadership on this team has a big night scoring two goals. But no one seemed able to get this team out of the quicksand late in the game. They were standing around and doing nothing to take the momentum back.

On another positive note, the Senators played their most disciplined game in recent memory. Ottawa did not receive a single penalty all game. Hartsburg has been trying to get the Senators to play more disciplined, so he has to be happy about that. Especially considering the Sens didn't seem to lack in the physicality department. Until the third period, of course.

Here's to a full 60 minute effort tomorrow night versus Boston. We fans all know that 40 minutes doesn't cut it on most night. Question is, do the Senators?