GAME DAY: Ottawa Senators @ Montreal Canadiens– 7:30PM EST, Monday, March 22, 2010

Only saw the 3rd, but the Sens were awesome in the neutral zone again. Lots of hate for Leclaire right now, don't think it was his fault against Dallas but at this time of the year no time to think about that. Alfie said in the post game that Elliott gave them tons of confidence, that's the only thing I want to hear.

Was wrong about the "many goals" part in my prediction but I saw a ton of 2 on 1s and 3 on 2s for the Sens that they will really need to bury in the future. Those were what the other teams did to kill us lately. Didn't see MTL have a lot of them too and Elliott pointed it out in the postgame.

HUGE game tomorrow.

Both goalies will be better next year.

You know what the worst part about this game was? The officiating. I don't like excuses, but the poor officiating almost blew this game for us. The fact that we didn't get a PP until about the midway of the third was almost the knife in our back.

However, with that said, this is the kind of win, in a tough environment, with less than favorable circumstances, against an opponent streaking towards a playoff spot and a myriad of things that could have killed us and kept our losing streak going. But they fought through it, they picked up the two biggest points this team has earned in 3 years and hopefully they'll use this to turn things around right before the playoffs begin.

N4L wrote:

wprager wrote:OK, Neely, *now* you can say Elliot has played 80 games

Oh, and, by the way, he was in 31 games in 08-09. You thought he was 6 over the rookie limit, must have been thinking about his wins, since he had 16 of those.

I think it's 25 games then you are not a rookie anymore, not 100% but pretty sure.

Elliott was fantastic but Im sure with one loss people will be on Elliott again like he cost the team.

It is 25 games, but that is for skaters. The number, which I can't recall atm, is different for goaltenders.

marakh wrote:Only saw the 3rd, but the Sens were awesome in the neutral zone again. Lots of hate for Leclaire right now, don't think it was his fault against Dallas but at this time of the year no time to think about that. Alfie said in the post game that Elliott gave them tons of confidence, that's the only thing I want to hear.

Was wrong about the "many goals" part in my prediction but I saw a ton of 2 on 1s and 3 on 2s for the Sens that they will really need to bury in the future. Those were what the other teams did to kill us lately. Didn't see MTL have a lot of them too and Elliott pointed it out in the postgame.

HUGE game tomorrow.

Huh? They scored four goals.

N4L wrote:Also, it doesnt seem who The Sens seem to sign in terms of UFA goalies, they all bust in large ways, or even by trade. The two best goaltenders record wise over the last 6 years have been Elliott and Emery, both home grown. Stay the course, it's a young team along with a young goalie, people have to be way more patient.

Totally agree here. The only FA goalie that played well for us got injured. Next season likely isn't going to be our year either so we should just grow with Elliott. He's actually a solid goalie who continues to get better.

If the Sens are able to move Leclaire for a solid backup goalie and a blue chip forward prospect I say go for it. If not then hang onto him because at worst he should be a reliable backup next season.

Great night. My son pitched a shutout for the first game of his league Finals and I come home to watch Elliott do the same thanks to "PVR" technology.

SeawaySensFan wrote:Great night. My son pitched a shutout for the first game of his league Finals and I come home to watch Elliott do the same thanks to "PVR" technology.

Cap'n Clutch wrote:

SeawaySensFan wrote:Great night. My son pitched a shutout for the first game of his league Finals and I come home to watch Elliott do the same thanks to "PVR" technology.

I was disappointed to hear our pals on the radio pretty much say Elliott was just "good". Opponents have a habit of getting behind our defense and Elliott shut the door with huge saves on more than one occasion. Meanwhile, we're hearing about Volchenkov's heroics while ignoring the fact that Elliott was in position and A-Train was covering up for his own screw-up.

I guess fans/media are afraid to embrace goalie success because it can be fleeting in Ottawa? I honestly don't know what more this guy can do to win people over.

Well it wasn't all the media or they wouldn't have given Elliott first star right?

Cap'n Clutch wrote:Well it wasn't all the media or they wouldn't have given Elliott first star right?

I'm talking in general. And the same ones that give Elliott the first star will have no problems Dung on him when the team loses.

I will say that Elliott didn't steal the game for the Sens but he was definitely quite good and well deserving of first star.

Elliott made a lot of good, very technical saves and was in position every time. People in Ottawa are actually as ignorant as they come in terms of goaltending. The guy made every save look easy, was in control the entire night, so on.

I would rather see a goaltender play a game like that then scrambling everywhere and being forced to make great saves 5 or 6 times. There is a reason why it looked easy last night at times, it's because he didnt give up rebounds, he made the shooters pick the corners, so on.

People get way too caught up in "well, he didnt have to be great". That's always been a BS arguement and what I was saying about The Monster last week goes for Elliott last night. Give the guy some frigging credit, it's the media this time.

Cap'n Clutch wrote:I will say that Elliott didn't steal the game for the Sens but he was definitely quite good and well deserving of first star.

The big difference I noticed is that he was always upright. Whenever he has a sub-par performance he does a lot of rolling around in his crease.

All hail Andy Sutton.

SeawaySensFan wrote:
I was disappointed to hear our pals on the radio pretty much say Elliott was just "good". Opponents have a habit of getting behind our defense and Elliott shut the door with huge saves on more than one occasion. Meanwhile, we're hearing about Volchenkov's heroics while ignoring the fact that Elliott was in position and A-Train was covering up for his own screw-up.

I guess fans/media are afraid to embrace goalie success because it can be fleeting in Ottawa? I honestly don't know what more this guy can do to win people over.

My goodness that's pathetic. I'm gonna say that they don't know what the hell they're talking about.

One thing I will say about goaltending is that a great save that you don't expect the goalie to make does not necessarily mean the goalie was at fault for being out of position.

An example is a two on one. Goalie plays the shooter, is in proper position, but the quick pass gets across. The goalie slides across and makes a blocker, glove or pad/toe save that he had almost no chance on. Great save and not anything to do with a goalie being out of position.

Those types of saves can happen and it doesn't mean the goalie is having an off night positionally. Those types of situations will happen, especially in the playoffs and a save or two of that nature will likely be required now and then.

Cap'n Clutch wrote:One thing I will say about goaltending is that a great save that you don't expect the goalie to make does not necessarily mean the goalie was at fault for being out of position.

An example is a two on one. Goalie plays the shooter, is in proper position, but the quick pass gets across. The goalie slides across and makes a blocker, glove or pad/toe save that he had almost no chance on. Great save and not anything to do with a goalie being out of position.

It doesnt, but when he doesnt have to make a single one, it means he was. A great save is sometimes needed and its not the fault of the goaltender. When there isnt a single one needed, it could be for a number of reasons, but everytime one of the reasons is he was in position all night and played a solid game.

Ive never heard someone say "he didnt have to make a great save and barly noticed him, he was awful".