PLAYOFF GAME DAY: Game 5: Ottawa Senators (1) @ Pittsburgh Penguins (3) - 7:00pm ET - Thu. Apr. 22nd, 2010

to be honest i'm very happy about this. maybe CC read my post last night?
leclaire is the gamble. at this point we have to take a gamble. we've put our faith in elliot in all the . game. he faired well in his second, then it went downhill. leclaire has much better skills. i say it's our best chance to win this one from the goaltending point of view.
GO SEN GO!

I feel like Karlsson, Regin and Alfie will come out and play hard tonight.

Goals for Cullen and Karlsson tonight. Sens lose 4-2.

Flo The Action wrote:to be honest i'm very happy about this. maybe CC read my post last night?
leclaire is the gamble. at this point we have to take a gamble. we've put our faith in elliot in all the . game. he faired well in his second, then it went downhill. leclaire has much better skills. i say it's our best chance to win this one from the goaltending point of view.
GO SEN GO!

Like I said in an earlier post. Go BIG or Go HOME! Seriously it's going to take some divine intervention for this to work but when you're down 3-1 in a best of seven now's the time to try anything. I wouldn't be surprised to see all the lines juggled as well. Perhaps move Spezza, Alfie, Cullen, Fisher and Regin around and make Bylsma work to get his match ups?

SensGirl11 wrote:Goals for Cullen and Karlsson tonight. Sens lose 4-2.

Goals for Spezza, Alfie, and Cullen tonight. Sens lose 4-3 in OT.

he should've been doing that from the beginning. Too little too late. At least he's learning.

Donovan with a hat trick.

SensGirl11 wrote:Goals for Cullen and Karlsson tonight. Sens lose 4-2.

Good call, I forgot about Cullen. Always plays hard, I'd love him resigned personally as long as he doesn't get a raise.

beerandsens wrote:

SensGirl11 wrote:Goals for Cullen and Karlsson tonight. Sens lose 4-2.

Good call, I forgot about Cullen. Always plays hard, I'd love him resigned personally as long as he doesn't get a raise.

I really like him too and I hope he wants to stay. We'll find out soon enough. This might have been enough to turn him off of this team.

shabbs wrote:Donovan with a hat trick.

I had to give you a plus for that.

I'll go you one better and say shut out for Elliott.

Cap'n Clutch wrote:

N4L wrote:Elliott won his first game, he was good enough. Game 2 he almost stole it, game 3, not his best game, game 4, he kept The Sens in it as long as he possibly could and it took Spezza sending Crosby in on a breakaway to break Elliott. Elliott was broken in game 4, that was clear.

All in all, I dont think Elliott has been a problem but he defently isnt the solution, Im not sure if there is one.

Perhaps that right there is your answer to why Leclaire is in the net tonight? If Clouston agrees with you then the game would be lost before Elliott stepped onto the ice.

Absolutely, seeing how Elliott reacted after the 2nd goal when he was playing out of his skull is defently cause for concern. I dont think a lot of people appriciate just how back breaking a goal that was for The Sens on so many different levels.

1) It lost the game
2) Losing that game basically garenteed losing the series
3) It killed your number 1 confidence
4) It was your number 1 center making the play and everyone else followed suit.

What Spezza did was inexcusable and killed that team in so many ways based on one play that EVERYONE (even the people who love Spezza) knew was coming at some point. A lot of people said it would be in a big time game in the playoffs and the worst time possible... well, pretty close.

Starting Leclaire tonight is probably the right move no matter how badly I or anyone else want to see Elliott bounce back.

That goal did not kill the Sens FFS, it made it 2-0. The goal 12 seconds later from a giveaway by Elliott put the nail in the coffin, the 4th, 5th, 6th and 7th goals killed the Sens.

shabbs wrote:Donovan with a hat trick.

YES!

Sens will 14-4 Donovan 3 goals 4 assisst and 3 fights

Elliott has a long time to bounce back from this and will most likely come back next season even stronger. Alternatively something amazing, incredible, far fetched and miraculous happens and Leclaire plays out of his mind good in front of a more structured, disciplined and solid team for the next 3 games and we either lose in 7 or some how win.

I think, should that miracle happen, that might affect Elliott but, even then it'll still be a long off season for him to get over it IMO.

SpezDispenser wrote:That goal did not kill the Sens FFS, it made it 2-0. The goal 12 seconds later from a giveaway by Elliott put the nail in the coffin, the 4th, 5th, 6th and 7th goals killed the Sens.

You have to be kidding right? That 2nd goal was the turning point in that game, there should be very little debate about that. That was the biggest mistake any player has made this year.

Here's the story if anyone is interested.

PITTSBURGH - Pascal Leclaire will get a chance to play with the season hanging the balance.

The Senators goaltender will be in the net Thursday night at Mellon Arena for Game 5. After Brian Elliott’s meltdown in Game 4 by allowing four goals on 19 shots in a 7-4 loss, Leclaire will make his first-ever playoff start.

Senators coach Cory Clouston has to hope Leclaire can get the team up off the mat to force a Game 6 at home Saturday. Ottawa trails the Penguins by a 3-1 count in the best-of-seven series.

“We feel Brian has struggled,” said Clouston.

Winger Shean Donovan will also play in place of Jonathan Cheechoo. He will add a bit more grit and physical presence on the Senators' fourth line in taking the place of Jonathan Cheechoo. He, in turn, had taken the spot of Ryan Shannon in Game 4.

“We know we have a tough road ahead of us,” said Clouston. “It’s one game at a time. There’s still confidence in the room.”

Leclaire says he is pumped up about the opportunity to play, even if things look grim overall for the Senators.

"I'm excited to play, especially here. It's a loud building," said Leclaire. "It's a great challenge for our team and I'm definitely excited to be part of it.

"We're all focused on the task. I don't think there's many people giving us a chance right now. It's a great challenge, kind of like the underdog feeling right now."

The Penguins would like to get this done.

“We have to play with better discipline, stay out of the penalty box for one, because there were a few lapses in our game,” said Pittsburgh winger Billy Guerin. “We have to play a better 60 minutes.

"These a tough games when teams are fighting for their lives. We’ve got to be ready for their best.”

DirtyDave wrote:

shabbs wrote:Donovan with a hat trick.

YES!

Sens will 14-4 Donovan 3 goals 4 assisst and 3 fights

Come on. NOW you're just being ridiculous.

N4L wrote:
You have to be kidding right? That 2nd goal was the turning point in that game, there should be very little debate about that. That was the biggest mistake any player has made this year.

Again, the 2nd goal is only backbreaking if your team has no leadership and no backbone. It was a terrible play by Spezza, I think we all get that, the 3rd goal was bad, the 4th, 5th, 6th, and 7th were also not necessary if we felt like coming back/winning.

Not to mention that the 2nd goal - the Crosby partial breakaway - was a weak goal. I'm surprised he didn't get yanked after that goal, or after his giveaway caused the 3rd goal, or after whiffing on the 4th goal (I guess he did get pulled here actually). He's been pretty weak, I agree with Clouston, not great.

What I don't agree with is putting the crappiest goalie in the league in replace of him. I'd rather Elliott have to fight through this and deal with it.