GAME DAY: Ottawa Senators @ Montreal Canadiens - 7:00pm ET - Sat. Oct. 17th, 2009

Whole lotta this after last night... 5 losses in a row...



BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

wprager wrote:Kovalev with a goal and an assist and not really much else. Oh, well, that's still two points and a nifty pass for the winner.

By the way, that was an awesome pass from Fisher on Kovalev's goal. And have you seen his face off percentage lately? Wow! 10 for 14 tonight (71%) and he was something like 75% the previous game.

Something has changed in Ottawa. The players can feel it. The coaches can feel it. And the fans are starting to feel it. Mike Fisher is starting to turn into the player we hoped he'd be. And I can honestly say, we couldn't be happier to watch it happen right in front of our eyes.

If I had to narrow it down to three things I would say:

Clouston
Leclaire
Heatley trade

This is a great team to watch.

Didnt lead the team in ice time though. Almost 2 mins more than anyone else on the team. Campoli is coming out of that lineup for sure, Picard is not only playing better, he's making it about the easiest choice of anyone about to come back into the lineup. What's this team going to look like when Kuba gets back and Regin comes in for Shannon (who is doing absolutely nothing)

Picard outclasses Campoli big time and Regin is easily contributing more than Shannon, who has been a shadow of himself since his most recent concussion. When you can say that there isn't room for these guys in the lineup you have a decent team.

Heatley with another amazing game last night since he name was brought up. 0 points, 0 shots. 1/2 of his points in one game, get used to that.

As for The Sens this team just need to get everything together to be at the top of the conferance and stay there. They are winning with hard work right now which is great but wait until they actually start playing as a team that has been together for more than a month.

Leclaire is absolutely unreal right now and looks like a top 5 goaltender in the league. You cant really say that the Leclire/Lehner trade was a steal for The Sens because of how well Vermette is playing in Columbus and the fact Leclaire was their spare goaltender, but getting that 2nd rounder and turning it into Lehner makes it so much more sweet. Like I said a while ago, Vermette set up our goaltending for the next 10-15 years, haha.

Our next 5 games are against Nashville, Boston, Florida, Tampa Bay and Atlanta... quite the mix of teams.

I don't know. I thought the opening period and parts of the second were downright embarassing for the Sens tonight. They squeaked one out and had a solid 3rd period, but they need to be able to do something about the amount of pressure the Habs were able to maintain for the first 20 minutes.

The blocked shots were unbelievable (26) and Leclaire had a solid game. Once the Sens get the power play going, this will be a rock solid team. I just don't think tonight's was a great game.

but they need to be able to do something about the amount of pressure the Habs were able to maintain for the first 20 minutes.

I can see what you're saying but it's great that they still came out of that with a 3-1 win. The Sens responded to the pressure in that sense but I do agree it would be better if they didn't have to lean on Leclaire and the PK the amount they did early on. Always room for improvement.

When Kuba comes back I think you will see the pressure that other teams are putting on our D down low relieved somewhat. This start we are off to is without the teams best all around D man.

Karlsson making the rookie mistakes he is and being forced to learn the game in his own zone without Kuba is only going to help this team going forward.

Ottawa literally has a chance to be 10-2 or 9-3 going into Novemeber which is exatly the start they needed and the fans expected.

beerandsens wrote:

but they need to be able to do something about the amount of pressure the Habs were able to maintain for the first 20 minutes.

I can see what you're saying but it's great that they still came out of that with a 3-1 win. The Sens responded to the pressure in that sense but I do agree it would be better if they didn't have to lean on Leclaire and the PK the amount they did early on. Always room for improvement.

I agree.

They need to be able to respond better and faster to that kind of pressure. It was sustained for almost the entire opening period. At the same time, to open a game like that and leave victorious is a testament to the fact that this is a different team than in years past.

shabbs wrote:Our next 5 games are against Nashville, Boston, Florida, Tampa Bay and Atlanta... quite the mix of teams.

Nashville, Florida, Tampa Bay and Atlanta are all games we need to get at least a point out of. Boston is struggling as well.

Could be five wins. We knew coming into the season we were going to have an easy start, so let's take advantage of it.

Quick question......what did Ruutu do to get a 10 minute misconduct penalty?

No clue... I was watching at a bar and didn't even notice.

SpezDispenser wrote:Really impressive way to come back after the 1st. Really nice effort, hats off to everyone!

Ugh, really? I thought that was a brutal game for us, our absolute worst effort for us since game 1. Leclaire was the difference, absolutely.

rooneypoo wrote:

SpezDispenser wrote:Really impressive way to come back after the 1st. Really nice effort, hats off to everyone!

Ugh, really? I thought that was a brutal game for us, our absolute worst effort for us since game 1. Leclaire was the difference, absolutely.

I thought it was a poor effort for the most part as well. But, that said, you have to add Volchenkov, Carkner and Fisher as difference makers. 18 blocked shots between them, if I remember correctly. I believe it was 6 for AV, 8 for MC and 4 for MF. Allow the Habs another 18 shots getting through, the game would have ended differently for sure.

N4L wrote:Heatley with another amazing game last night since he name was brought up. 0 points, 0 shots. 1/2 of his points in one game, get used to that.

As for The Sens this team just need to get everything together to be at the top of the conferance and stay there. They are winning with hard work right now which is great but wait until they actually start playing as a team that has been together for more than a month.

Leclaire is absolutely unreal right now and looks like a top 5 goaltender in the league. You cant really say that the Leclire/Lehner trade was a steal for The Sens because of how well Vermette is playing in Columbus and the fact Leclaire was their spare goaltender, but getting that 2nd rounder and turning it into Lehner makes it so much more sweet. Like I said a while ago, Vermette set up our goaltending for the next 10-15 years, haha.

I'd say the one positive to take out of last night's game -- after Leclaire, our PK, and guys like Volchenkov, Carkner, and Fisher -- was the fact that we won the game without playing anything like our best. That's pretty much the difference right there between making the playoffs or not. You're not going to be at your best as a team all year long; you have to be able to steal games here and there. We did just enough right last night (through goaltending, PK, PP, capitalizing on MTL's defensive zone turnovers) to sneak out of the Bell Centre with a win. We were absolutely asleep, for what 5-on-5 there was, for about 45 minutes of that game.

Sens4thecup wrote:Quick question......what did Ruutu do to get a 10 minute misconduct penalty?

He kept chirping during a scrum and looking to start trouble; after a few warnings, the ref had had enough.

spader wrote:

rooneypoo wrote:

SpezDispenser wrote:Really impressive way to come back after the 1st. Really nice effort, hats off to everyone!

Ugh, really? I thought that was a brutal game for us, our absolute worst effort for us since game 1. Leclaire was the difference, absolutely.

I thought it was a poor effort for the most part as well. But, that said, you have to add Volchenkov, Carkner and Fisher as difference makers. 18 blocked shots between them, if I remember correctly. I believe it was 6 for AV, 8 for MC and 4 for MF. Allow the Habs another 18 shots getting through, the game would have ended differently for sure.

That's hilarious. Check out my last post. We singled out the same three guys, in the same order, for their play last night. I think we're on the same page on this issue.

rooneypoo wrote:

spader wrote:

rooneypoo wrote:

SpezDispenser wrote:Really impressive way to come back after the 1st. Really nice effort, hats off to everyone!

Ugh, really? I thought that was a brutal game for us, our absolute worst effort for us since game 1. Leclaire was the difference, absolutely.

I thought it was a poor effort for the most part as well. But, that said, you have to add Volchenkov, Carkner and Fisher as difference makers. 18 blocked shots between them, if I remember correctly. I believe it was 6 for AV, 8 for MC and 4 for MF. Allow the Habs another 18 shots getting through, the game would have ended differently for sure.

That's hilarious. Check out my last post. We singled out the same three guys, in the same order, for their play last night. I think we're on the same page on this issue.

Ya, for me, it was Fisher that turned this game around.  His hard forecheck and determination (killing a 5 on 3 also helped) swung the momentum our way.  He also dominated in the corners and managed to setup Kovi and Neil.  Fisher is quietly having a great year so far.  I was really surprised the team 1200 didn't give him the nod for hardest working sen.