Ottawa Senators Fan Blog

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?

ALFREDSSON A GAME TIME DECISION

Well the quick healer is at it again. Daniel Alfredsson is going to take the pre-game skate tonight and decide then if he will play against the Phoenix Coyotes. My understanding is that Alfredsson feels 100%, but his common sense is kicking in here as he wants to consult with team doctors before playing. He is expected to do this today, take the pre-game skate regardless and then we'll all find out together. Exacerbating this decision is the fact that the Senators play back-to-back games tonight and tomorrow, when they'll face off against the Bruins.

My expectation is that we will not see Alfredsson tonight, but instead tomorrow night against Boston. Many fans have expressed that they would like to see Alfredsson fully heal before returning. From what I hear, Alfie will only play if he is 100% healthy and certain that doing so will not cause any damage whatsoever.

Tonight's game will go a long way in either healing or further damaging fan confidence in the play of Martin Gerber in goal. A solid, 60 minute game with zero bad goals is imperative tonight for Gerber. Craig Hartsburg and the Sens room to a man are all saying the right things to the media that they have confidence in Gerbs, but the fact of the matter is they have to be feeling just a little uneasy based on the bad goals at bad times he has allowed.

Team Records:
Phoenix (2-1-0)
Ottawa (1-1-1)

Starting Goaltenders:
Phoenix - Ilya Bryzgalov - 2-1-0 | 2.33 GAA | .926 SV%
Ottawa - Martin Gerber - 0-1-1 | 3.41 GAA | .901 SV%

Injuries:
Phoenix - Jonas Ahnelov (D) - Hand, IR; Joel Perrault (C), Concussion, Day-to-Day.
Ottawa - Daniel Alfredsson (RW) - Knee, Game time decision; Chris Phillips (D) - Ankle, Probable.

Puck Drop:
7:08 pm

FOLIGNO PROMOTED, PHILLIPS OK, GERBER TO START

Nick Foligno's fine play through the young season has earned him a spot on the first line, and is currently practicing alongside Jason Spezza and Dany Heatley. Craig Hartsburg has noted that he could change his mind at a moment's notice.

Hartsburg has also switched up the other lines. He currently has Antoine Vermette with Mike Fisher and Jesse Winchester. Fisher and Vermette's speed combined with Winchester's ability to maintain puck possession makes this a line with a lot of potential. If it clicks, Alfredsson's return to the top line will make Ottawa that much tougher to play against. Not to mention that Foligno would be paired with Chris Neil and Chris Kelly on the third line which can also cause opponents some fits.

On the injury front, while there are reports that Alfredsson could play as early as Friday (Ottawa's next game), it is more likely that he will return to the lineup against the Florida Panthers two games and five days later. Certainly if he returns earlier, Foligno's promotion should be short lived. Chris Phillips was seen limping after Saturday night's loss to the Detroit Red Wings. Turns out, he took a couple of shots of the same ankle which opened a stitch requiring gash.  Phillips did not practice yesterday, but he should be fine for Friday night against Phoenix.

Hartsburg also announced that Martin Gerber will start in goal on Friday night. He will determine Saturday probably based on Gerber's performance against the Coyotes.

GERBER CAN'T CATCH A BREAK

Red Wings 3, Senators 2

At the 18:43 mark of the third period, I saw what looked to be a soft goal let in by Martin Gerber at just the perfectly wrong time. Again. As I left the building without getting a very good replay, I was thinking about how I was going to be ripping Gerber again on my blog. Even after playing so well and making such key saves, some of the spectacular variety, it was the ill-timed miscue that did him and the Senators in again.

But upon catching a reply at home, I can not blame Gerber. It was a tough, bouncing puck. Anyone that blames him has to also have called Joe Corvo's goal in the second overtime of game to of the 2007 Eastern Conference Finals a softie on Ryan Miller. And clearly, it wasn't.

Pucks bounce. And when they do, they can be very unpredictable.

So this one is not on Gerber. In fact, as Craig Hartsburg told reporters after the game, if not for Gerber's stellar play last night, that bounce wouldn't even have mattered. The Red Wings outshot the Senators 41-22, and looked every bit like a favourite to repeat as Stanley Cup Champions. The Senators looked good in spurts, but the night clearly belonged to Detroit. The hockey gods made sure of it with that special bounce off Filip Kuba's stick with 1:17 to play in regulation.

If anything cost Ottawa this game it was the terrible line change they made which led to Detroit's tying goal. Johan Franzen picked the far side top corner with a perfect shot to beat Gerber and tie the game at 2-2 at the 11:16 mark of the third period. This came after a brutal prolonged powerplay by Ottawa. The Senators seemed more content to sit on a one-goal third period lead than try to pot some insurance. That, and the afore mentioned line change is what really did them in. They were outshot 13-4 in the third period.

Some notes on players not named Gerber - Mike Fisher looks rusty. That's to be expected for a guy who missed most of training camp as well as the first two games of the season. Alexandre Picard had a good game offensively, scoring his first goal as a Senator. But defensively, he seemed off, and gave the puck away too often in his own end as he failed connect with an outlet pass or finish a clearing attempt. Speaking of giveaways, number 19 was back to his usual tricks. Dany Heatley wore the C and I think wore it well. I really like Jason Smith's game.

Chris Phillips was seen limping after the game. I spoke to one of my sources about this and was told he is going to see how it feels today and tomorrow and we should know more soon. The good news is that the Senators do not play again until Friday when they host the Phoenix Coyotes. The long layoff should help to heal some bumps and bruises. After this game, the team could use the mental healing too.

Tough one.