GDT - Ottawa @ Toronto

Hoags wrote:

NEELY wrote:
I would say sneeking into the 8th spot is 50/50. The biggest thing is the best players staying healthy, if that happens then the younger guys will overachieve.

I don't know .. this team is going to have a rough few months until they gel and start to learn MacLean's system.

Tonight might be pretty telling of a typical Sens game this year.

A couple of brilliant plays by Karlsson/Spezza but no goal and a few mistakes by one of the rookies leading to a goal against.

Too soon to tell, I do think it's possible. The question that needs to be asked is if the Sens make the playoffs, who doesn't ?

Quick start is key, no doubt. They should be able to come away from the first 4 games 2-2, after that a lot could happen but I agree, they need to get into a groove quick otherwise they will be left behind and they could have a tough time recovering.

The East is weak and I don't think The Sens are far off from teams like NYR, Buffalo, Montreal, and even Philly now. It's pretty even in The East aside from Pitts, Boston, and Washington.

asq2 wrote:

shabbs wrote:Well, hockey's back boys and girls... should be an interesting season for sure. Focus on the good stuff tonight... it's pre-season. Lots of new faces, gonna be some silly moments for sure.

Positives:
-Filatov with two assists
-Hoffman had a pretty good game
-Rundblad was shaky but did pull off a sick toe-drag at the point - so sick that he didn't even have to move the rest of his body
-Cowen was great
-Karlsson was unbelievable
-Zibanejad was fast and physical at least at the start of the game
-Lehner and Auld both played pretty well
-Regin had a pretty good game I thought
-Kuba's not trying to get our hopes up so we won't be disappointed when the season starts

Nicely done.

Whole lotta newness out there...

Exciting times indeed.

Question: Why would you play any player over 28 minutes in an exhibition game?

I hope Michalek is okay. I'm quite worried.

Michalek injured? Shocking.....

The Good:
Regin looks excellent - the best of the forwards tonight (which wouldn't be too hard)

Filatov has a top gear that's out of control. Nice skill tonight, very impressive.

Cowen - beast.

Auld - fantastic.

Karlsson - had some bad plays in his own zone, but exhibited some skillz.

The Meh

Rundblad made some baaaaad plays - some nice ones, but a lot of giveaways.

Wiercioch - not terrible, but outmatched

Zibanejad - kept wanting to see more

Kuba

He's fine.

Nice. I read the thread and someone said it was his arm - I was instantly relieved.

Greening's gonna be a lot of fun to watch with Smith. Both big dudes who love to take the body along the walls.

If anything, I though it was Neil and Konopka that kind of lacked some bite tonight - not that there's much on the line.

Have to really tip the hat to Filatov for playing such a strong game and Regin for answering the bell - if only for tonight. Michalek also looks as strong as ever (ha), so hopefully he can stay healthy.

Dung game, but fun to have these guys back on ice.

SpezDispenser wrote:Karlsson - had some bad plays in his own zone, but exhibited some skillz.

What are you thinking of in particular? I remember he got walked once and on the first goal he could have boxed out his man more but otherwise I thought he was really effective in the defensive zone. Also one give-away that I can remember. The only other criticism I have was that later in the game he started venturing further and further into the offensive zone, but I think that's because the Sens needed a goal and Karlsson was aware of how much better he was than everyone else on the ice.

I'm really ecstatic with the game he played. Offensively he was Patrick Kane-esque.

Yah, I didnt see this bad game from Kuba that everyone seems to be talking about... I thought he was fine. Steady d partner for Karlsson, not sure what others expect of him.

I only got to listen to the first 6-7 minutes in the car, then a bit of the post-game show. The callers seemed pretty clueless (one guy thought Stone was a little guy from the rookie tournament -- probably thinking of Petterson), so I switched that off as soon as they mentioned the final score.

So, how did they look? Were they really deserving of those penalties early on or was it home-town reffing? Not too happy with Zibanejad taking a hooking penalty on his 1st shift (maybe 2nd) -- hoping he was better the rest of the way.

So what were the keys to the Leafs victory? Reading this thread it feels like everything was fantastic for the Sens -- Cowen with two goals, Karlsson the best player on the ice, Filatov impressing with speed and getting a couple of assists, Auld was fantastic -- and so on, yet the score was 4-2 for the other guys.

Why did we lose?

I didn't see the game and only heard bits of the second period so I can't comment but, I'm at least glad to read that Cowen came out of it with 2 goals. I'm not really concerned since it was game 1 of the pre-season.

This season I think we'll be reading a lot about how this guy did well and that guy impressed and so on and still coming out on the losing end.

Cap'n Clutch wrote:I didn't see the game and only heard bits of the second period so I can't comment but, I'm at least glad to read that Cowen came out of it with 2 goals. I'm not really concerned since it was game 1 of the pre-season.

This season I think we'll be reading a lot about how this guy did well and that guy impressed and so on and still coming out on the losing end.

Two goals *and* he fought Phaneuf for elbowing someone. If the score was different he'd have been 1st star, I think.

wprager wrote:I only got to listen to the first 6-7 minutes in the car, then a bit of the post-game show. The callers seemed pretty clueless (one guy thought Stone was a little guy from the rookie tournament -- probably thinking of Petterson), so I switched that off as soon as they mentioned the final score.

So, how did they look? Were they really deserving of those penalties early on or was it home-town reffing? Not too happy with Zibanejad taking a hooking penalty on his 1st shift (maybe 2nd) -- hoping he was better the rest of the way.

So what were the keys to the Leafs victory? Reading this thread it feels like everything was fantastic for the Sens -- Cowen with two goals, Karlsson the best player on the ice, Filatov impressing with speed and getting a couple of assists, Auld was fantastic -- and so on, yet the score was 4-2 for the other guys.

Why did we lose?

I'll just give my thoughts.

Karlsson was the best player for either team. When I say the best player I mean by such a large margin it's impossible to actually describe.

Filatov I thought was really good being his first game out there with The Sens and linemates he has never played with. Impressive for sure, shyed away from contact though which he has to stop doing.

Regin looks like he is coming into camp fighting for a spot and he looked good because of it. I think last year may very well be behind him. New year, new outlook I guess.

Cowen was a beast, just everything you want in a D man.

Greening looked like your typical, 3rd line winger that makes life tough on the other team. Fantastic speed, agressive, and hard working.

Rundblad's offensive instincts and abilities are insane but way too many turnovers and mistakes. Unless things improve real quick he will be starting in The AHL.

Zibanejad looked like an 18 year old at times there but at other times looked like a true NHL player. Tough game to judge him on but there was good and bad.

Auld looked great. Lehner was meh. No real focus on the goaltending coming into camp though, everyone knows the outcome.

Wiercoich looked dreadful, not even close to NHL ready yet.

Kuba was fine, IMO. Steady partner for Karlsson. Everyone noticed a penalty but for most of the game I thought he did his job.

No other players really come to mind.

The early penalties by the Sens didn't help things. Not sure if they were all totally warranted but it really killed them out of the gate and led to an early goal by Armstrong. Cowen lifted Lehner's blocker by accident on one of the Leafs goals so that didn't help. Closer game than the score suggested.

Not sure what people were expecting, but I think it was a good game for the Sens. The kids did well. There were some struggles, but that's to be expected.

Karlsson led all skaters with 28:16 in ice time... Kuba was 2nd overall with 24:20.

Conboy led the forwards with 18:32 in ice time. I was surprised to see that.

Next game is Wed. vs Boston. Game is on TSN.

EDIT: My bad on the Conboy stat... ESPN had him listed as a forward...

shabbs wrote:The early penalties by the Sens didn't help things. Not sure if they were all totally warranted but it really killed them out of the gate and led to an early goal by Armstrong. Cowen lifted Lehner's blocker by accident on one of the Leafs goals so that didn't help. Closer game than the score suggested.

Not sure what people were expecting, but I think it was a good game for the Sens. The kids did well. There were some struggles, but that's to be expected.

Karlsson led all skaters with 28:16 in ice time... Kuba was 2nd overall with 24:20.

Conboy led the forwards with 18:32 in ice time. I was surprised to see that.

Next game is Wed. vs Boston. Game is on TSN.

Yah, I'm not too sure either... I thought it was a pretty solid game looking at both lineups and what you want to see out of a team with what? 10 rookies? The outcome of the game means nothing, it's what was done in game by guys like Filatov, Regin, and Cowen.

Thought Stone made an impression for sure. He looks like he will be an NHL player and signing a 6th rounder to an entry level contract after 1 year, I think you can call him a steal now.

Coach MacLean sums it up pretty nicely:

MacLean said it was a good start.

“I thought it was a pretty good game. There was a lot of things we liked about it,” said MacLean. “I felt we had some self-inflicted wounds for the third and fourth (goals) that could have been avoidable.

“I thought we were a little bit tight and tentative to start the game and that’s indicative of young players. Cowen responded pretty well and Mika Zibanejad got better. Overall, it’s their first game against NHL players and it’s not unexpected to have growing pains.”