GAME DAY: Pittsburgh Penguins @ Ottawa Senators - 2:00pm Dec. 6th, 2008

Nasty Nas wrote:

haha yeah I didnt want to make it seem so bad. They literally
went through a stretch of about 9 games against backups. Pretty
frustrating to watch as a fan.

I see MAF is on injured reserve. I didn't even know. So are we facing the backup again today? But that reckoning, the Pens will be facing the Senators' backup as well.

I also just saw that Boucher is injured. How do I miss these things?

Sabourin is listed as probable for the Pens. Auld will go for the Sens.

BLACK AND BLUE REPORT:

PENGUINS: D Philippe Boucher (undisclosed), won't play; RW Tyler Kennedy (knee),
won't play; G Marc-Andre Fleury (undisclosed), won't play. C Mike Zigomanis (undisclosed), could play.

SENATORS: C Dean McAmmond (flu), won't play; D Alex Picard (wrist), game-time decision.

wprager wrote:

Nasty Nas wrote:

haha yeah I didnt want to make it seem so bad. They literally
went through a stretch of about 9 games against backups. Pretty
frustrating to watch as a fan.

I
see MAF is on injured reserve. I didn't even know. So are we facing the
backup again today? But that reckoning, the Pens will be facing the
Senators' backup as well.

I also just saw that Boucher is injured. How do I miss these things?

Sabourin is a very capable goalie, I don't mind that he is playing but if they roll with Curry then I'll be very dissapointed.

If they wanna play with fire, they can go ahead.

Nasty Nas wrote:Sabourin is a very capable goalie, I don't mind that he is playing but if they roll with Curry then I'll be very dissapointed.

I think this all depends on how the Sens play. We know what the Penguins can do -- top-two point getters in the league, sitting tied for 4th in the league with points (Rangers, in 3rd, are 4 points ahead but have played 4 more games, so percentage wise the Pens would be tied for 3rd). All of this while missing their top two defensemen. I think it's fair to say that not too many people here expected them to be where they are come (almost) Christmas time.

The Sens, on the other hand, have played so poorly that most analysts (all of them, probably) no-longer are saying that this team is not playing well; instead they are saying that this just isn't a very good team.

Yet they would have been 2-0 against the Pens in Sweden if Gerber played just OK. In fact, if Gerber had played at all they way he is capable of playing this team would probably be sitting on a playoff spot.

I can't say what will happen, but I think the analysts still don't have it right. True, they don't have a great team on the backend, but please don't tell me that losing Redden has hurt this team. Would they be better with Boyle back there instead of, say, Picard? Undoubtedly, but this team is playing great defensively, getting excellent (mostly top-five) goaltending, and the main negative is they are not scoring like they could and should. Up-front this is pretty much the same team as last year, and not much different from the year before (Eaves, Saprykin, Comrie -- none of them contributed last year, when we led the league in goals, did they?)

Who could have foreseen that Vermette would be on pace to score 7 goals, or Fisher for 12? Foligno having a sophomore slump, sure, I'd buy that, but expecting Vermette to get 20-25 goals (and more with some additional PP time) and Fisher to challenge for 30 again -- those were not lofty expectations.

I still think this is a team that could and should score an average of 3.5 goals per game, and since they are gving up more than a goal less than that, they have a legitimate chance to come out on top in each game they play.

So what will it be, boys? Half your Conference seems content to be playing .500 hockey, so even though you don't deserve a playoff spot, there's one there easily for the taking.

The problem IMO is that the puck-movement from the D currently is the worst it's been in many years.

asq2 wrote:The problem IMO is that the puck-movement from the D currently is the worst it's been in many years.

Bell has actually been doing the job very well since he has been up here and it isnt as big of a problem as it was, and I would say at this point not a huge problem like it was. Only 1 game the Sens have no gotten points in since Bell has been brought up.

Not saying that Bell is the answer long term, but so far so good. The Sens have been getting their chances for the last little while, they just cant score.

Neely4Life wrote:

asq2 wrote:The problem IMO is that the puck-movement from the D currently is the worst it's been in many years.

Bell has actually been doing the job very well since he has been up here and it isnt as big of a problem as it was, and I would say at this point not a huge problem like it was. Only 1 game the Sens have no gotten points in since Bell has been brought up.

Not saying that Bell is the answer long term, but so far so good. The Sens have been getting their chances for the last little while, they just cant score.

Bang on. The D has gotten a lot better (both offensively and defensively) since Lee and Schubert were taken off the back end. Picard is playing much better than at the start of the year, and Bell has been gaining confidence and ice time. Add to that much better team defense and steady goaltending, and this is a different team from the one that got 3 of 4 points against the Pens in Sweden.

Go Sens!

Holy crap, curling better not be interrupting the Sens game, again.

At least put it on the HD channel and leave the curling on the SD channel.

HOLY MOLY.

Unreal. If this network wasn't government sponsored, people would already be fired.

I can see keeping the curling on some of the CBC channels as it is the last end, but they should definitely switch to the game in Ottawa.

Anthems are starting. And my power is flickering. Damn.

There are about fifteen people watching curling in that arena. But the real question is, can Gushue hold on?

Pathetic. And I like curling.

This isn't even HD... it's pretty poor SD...

Spezza seems to be having some issues controlling the puck. Still adjusting to the new stick?

Last minute of that period was the most exciting. 0-0 after 1. Shots are 12-6 for the Sens.

shabbs wrote:Spezza seems to be having some issues controlling the puck. Still adjusting to the new stick?

It's been quite awhile since he switched hasn't it? I thought he started the year with the composite.

hemlock34 wrote:

shabbs wrote:Spezza seems to be having some issues controlling the puck. Still adjusting to the new stick?

It's been quite awhile since he switched hasn't it? I thought he started the year with the composite.

Yep.