Toronto vs. Ottawa - 09/27/2011

I also appologize for forgetting about the lead lost in the Montreal game. I was on the 401 at a dead stop at 9 at night.

I thought Zibanejad was the best player for The Sens all night. The kid is 100% legit. Daugvanins also got my attention, that was an all-star play he made on that 2nd goal.

It will be interesting to see what this team looks like with the full lineup. Not sure what to expect but if Anderson plays well and the guys like Filatov, Zibanejad, and Da Costa bring what they are doing into the regular season, this is a very competitive team and will be able to win on any night.

SpezDispenser wrote:The Sens kept the pace for almost 2 periods too, damn, that was a shame. And all the goals I can remember were good on Lehner - no chance. Maybe the final goal, but it seemed like a laser.

I thought the couple that went glove side should have been had. That ping pong had no chance. A few pucks got in behind Lehner but he did a good job covering up and keeping them out. He probably wasn't expecting to play so take that for what it's worth.

SpezDispenser wrote:Filatov is a rock star. He has to continue playing like that, but that's exciting stuff.

Yeah, hopefully he'll continue to improve and start putting some pucks in the net.

Speaking of Rundblad looking uncomfortable and getting turned the wrong way on the left side, same can be said about Borowiecki on that goal. Brutal mistake and he never recovered. But you can also ask where was Spezza? He was watching the play developing and he was still on the wrong side of the Leafs' blue line at the time. And while they say the puck was loose, I think it was loose for the first couple of whacks and then he had it between his pads and paddle, but they Kulemin kept whacking at it. If the ref had been in position he may have blown it before it went in. That said, a back-checking Spezza could have helped out as well.

Anyhow, looked like half the team (mostly the youngsters) were tired last night. I wonder if they got screeched the night before. Maybe that's why Zibanejad looked so good -- he's too young.

I think each game we play against the Leafs this season is the 2nd game in two nights for the Sens. Just like last night, What's up with that?

We Know defence Is a problem. But where oh where is our offence? Sens haven't scored more than 3 goals in a single game this preseason. With only one game left, I wonder who sees some action.

Also. I agree: welcome to the nhl Mika!

Sens need to ice a full team to get a real sense of where they are in terms of defense and offense. At this point, it looks like this.

Filatov/Spezza/Alfi
Michalek/Zibanejad/Butler
Foligno/Smith/Neil
Condra/Konopka/Greening

Phillips/Lee
Cowen/Karlsson
Kuba/Gonchar
Carkner

Anderson
Auld

Pretty sure how thigns will shake out on opening night. I can see Greening and Butler switching places though.

Da Costa and Rundblad will get the time in The AHL they need and be major players down there for a couple of months.

My humble opinion at this time is that perhaps Filatov doesn't need Spezza as much as we originally thought. Not that it would hurt, it wouldn't, but Filatov appears to be the same style of player as a Jeff Carter, Rick Nash, Phil Kessel etc., where they create offensive chances themselves.

That gives a line combo that we all probably wanted from the beginning:

Michalek - Spezza - Butler

Filatov - Z-Bad/Regin - Alfredsson

with Greening waiting in the wings if anyone falters.

The reason I would put Filatov with Z-Bad and Alfie is that Z-Bad has the nose for the net - and I have a feeling with Filatov there'll be a lot of rebounds - and Alfie can adapt to any situation and has a lethal snipe.

Or, if people want Filatov with Spezza, let Butler work it out there with them and put Michalek/Z-Bad/Alfie together - a dream line as the season wears on IMO. Lots of net drive and your VERY talented captain around to pick up the garbage.

I was thinking last night that we have the pieces, now it all needs to be put together. And unfortunately I can't see that happening until game 5 or 6 - or even later, but it'll be a damn fun team to watch.

One slip in the top 6 and Da Costa comes in, one slip in the bottom 6 and Daugavins comes in (real impressed with his limited time in the pre-season).

Rundblad is 100% not ready (final answer lol), Boroweicki is ready, but needs conditioning IMO - the grind of a full 80 game schedule in the AHL (with callups first), but next year, he's a lock IMO.

Michallica wrote:We Know defence Is a problem. But where oh where is our offence? Sens haven't scored more than 3 goals in a single game this preseason. With only one game left, I wonder who sees some action.

Also. I agree: welcome to the nhl Mika!

What offense though? Aside from Spezza and Alfredsson, we're relying on Filatov who has 44 games of NHL hockey under his belt, or Butler with his 33 games, or Z-Bad with his 0 games.

There's no offense on this team, we'll have to grind every single game out and hope for Spez + co to carry us.

Where the hell is O'Brien? He didn't even get a game this year, that guy is a total and utter bust of a 1st round draft pick. A lot of players from that draft are though, either way, his time is basically done in Ottawa and Bingo after this season I would assume.

Must be nursing an injury, has to be. He's one of the most improved players in the organization, doesn't make a lick of sense. He'll be good for close to a PPG in Bingo and a call up once or twice if I was guessing (although, not over Daugavins).

SpezDispenser wrote:

Michallica wrote:We Know defence Is a problem. But where oh where is our offence? Sens haven't scored more than 3 goals in a single game this preseason. With only one game left, I wonder who sees some action.

Also. I agree: welcome to the nhl Mika!

What offense though? Aside from Spezza and Alfredsson, we're relying on Filatov who has 44 games of NHL hockey under his belt, or Butler with his 33 games, or Z-Bad with his 0 games.

There's no offense on this team, we'll have to grind every single game out and hope for Spez + co to carry us.

I thought the missing ingredient was "communication?" This is all very confusing.

Anyhow, we haven't even seen seen anything resembling the opening day lineup yet and we faced teams that did, on the other hand, put their near-best lineups out there.

I'll worry a little more if we are at or under .500 after 10 games.

NEELY wrote:Where the hell is O'Brien? He didn't even get a game this year, that guy is a total and utter bust of a 1st round draft pick. A lot of players from that draft are though, either way, his time is basically done in Ottawa and Bingo after this season I would assume.

I certainly remember him playing v. the Bruins on TSN. Looked fine to me but I guess he was penciled in for Bingo before the pre-season even started.

Communication is one, offense is another lol.

SpezDispenser wrote:Communication is one, offense is another lol.

I personally think the skill is there but it looks to me like this team still hasn't learned that you have to pay the price to get goals in the NHL.

SeawaySensFan wrote:

SpezDispenser wrote:Communication is one, offense is another lol.

I personally think the skill is there but it looks to me like this team still hasn't learned that you have to pay the price to get goals in the NHL.

Dunno...I see some nice net crashing. Maybe getting into the soft zones and sniping is an issue, fighting through the checks in the prime time areas. I dunno what it is.

If I was to assess quickly, I'd say they need to pick their shots a bit better. Every 2nd shot is missing high, or is saved and deflects high, we need those to be rebounds.

SpezDispenser wrote:Or, if people want Filatov with Spezza, let Butler work it out there with them and put Michalek/Z-Bad/Alfie together - a dream line as the season wears on IMO. Lots of net drive and your VERY talented captain around to pick up the garbage.

I was thinking last night that we have the pieces, now it all needs to be put together. And unfortunately I can't see that happening until game 5 or 6 - or even later, but it'll be a damn fun team to watch.

One slip in the top 6 and Da Costa comes in, one slip in the bottom 6 and Daugavins comes in (real impressed with his limited time in the pre-season).

Rundblad is 100% not ready (final answer lol), Boroweicki is ready, but needs conditioning IMO - the grind of a full 80 game schedule in the AHL (with callups first), but next year, he's a lock IMO.

ZAM! Not as sexy as CASH but it'll do

By the way, I saw flashes from Butler last night where he was aggressively getting involved. More, please.

Agreed, I thought Butler was being quite tenacious, but...I was REALLY rooting for him to put one in. He needs it with the pressure starting to mount.

ZAM is cool...nice one.