Game Day - Columbus @ Ottawa, 7:00PM, Saturday, October 22, 2011

Columbus may have been playing with 8 "regulars" out of its lineup (4 of those had not yet been in the lineup so they haven't been "regulars" this season; it's like saying the Bruins are playing without Marc Savard), but they are a desperate team. Those games can go either way. And Mason played pretty well. And Anderson wasn't exactly great on two of those goals.

At the end of the day, a win is a win, and two in a row is a little streak. They have a great opportunity here to make a small run at it and make it four before they have to face Lundqvist.

I personally liked a lot of what I saw from Rundblad. I disliked a lot as well but that's to be expected his first few games in his first NHL season. Smith definitely played well and I personally would have given him one of the stars of the game.

Neil was huge in that game but my goodness Alfie was key in saving our beacons. Sucks he got no points last night but he helped save the senators big time last night.

On another note, anyone think Neil will get a disciplinar¥ hearing for shoving the ref?

NEELY wrote:There is also literally no game the Sens have played in where they have not be down by at least a goal.

Yeah it was still an ugly game. They'll come back down next week I think. They never fare well in carolina and just beat up on two teams below them in the standings after the other team was in a back-to-back situation. Tons needed to improve....and hate to say it but Anderson, because our defense isn't the greatest, needs to be better....like +.900% better. They still only allowed 21 shots on net.

wprager wrote:Columbus may have been playing with 8 "regulars" out of its lineup (4 of those had not yet been in the lineup so they haven't been "regulars" this season; it's like saying the Bruins are playing without Marc Savard), but they are a desperate team. Those games can go either way. And Mason played pretty well. And Anderson wasn't exactly great on two of those goals.

At the end of the day, a win is a win, and two in a row is a little streak. They have a great opportunity here to make a small run at it and make it four before they have to face Lundqvist.

Except for the fact that Savard is replaced with Seguin and Carter is replaced with Alexandre Giroux...

Cap'n Clutch wrote:I personally liked a lot of what I saw from Rundblad. I disliked a lot as well but that's to be expected his first few games in his first NHL season. Smith definitely played well and I personally would have given him one of the stars of the game.

Who do you kick out though? Nash was undeniably the best player on the ice for either team. Neil was a spark plug who played a solid 55 minutes. Michalek touched the score sheet more than once

NEELY wrote:

Big Ev wrote:and please send Zibanejad back to Sweden. Please. I have no idea why Wilson, Brown, and Garrioch all think he's gonna stay here.

Why? He isn't out of place out there, has played responsible hockey, he can be trusted on the ice, and he is getting chances. I bet her stays too because he looks like an NHL hockey player.

I don't think he's outta place either, but now with Winchester health¥, Butler on the rebound, AND Filatov in the minors, somethings gotta give, no? For the record, I think despite DaCosta's game saving defensive play in the 3rd period, he needs to be the first sent down. Get some confidence, playing him on the 4th line is no good to him.

It would seem like sending DaCosta down and/or sending Zibby back to Sweden is the easiest solution to the problem....or make a trade I suppose.

Neither rookie has played well recently, and I don't think Filatov is NHL ready.

Until Butler and Regin are healthy, I don't think we have 12 NHL calibre forwards in the system.

cash wrote:

wprager wrote:Columbus may have been playing with 8 "regulars" out of its lineup (4 of those had not yet been in the lineup so they haven't been "regulars" this season; it's like saying the Bruins are playing without Marc Savard), but they are a desperate team. Those games can go either way. And Mason played pretty well. And Anderson wasn't exactly great on two of those goals.

At the end of the day, a win is a win, and two in a row is a little streak. They have a great opportunity here to make a small run at it and make it four before they have to face Lundqvist.

Except for the fact that Savard is replaced with Seguin and Carter is replaced with Alexandre Giroux...

Carter was not one of the 4 I meant.

Anyhow, the larger point is this is a desperate team. They really, really did not want to lose. And from the looks on their faces I would not be surprised if they went into a tailspin for a while. That was a devastating loss, emotionally.

Michallica wrote:

NEELY wrote:

Big Ev wrote:and please send Zibanejad back to Sweden. Please. I have no idea why Wilson, Brown, and Garrioch all think he's gonna stay here.

Why? He isn't out of place out there, has played responsible hockey, he can be trusted on the ice, and he is getting chances. I bet her stays too because he looks like an NHL hockey player.

I don't think he's outta place either, but now with Winchester health¥, Butler on the rebound, AND Filatov in the minors, somethings gotta give, no? For the record, I think despite DaCosta's game saving defensive play in the 3rd period, he needs to be the first sent down. Get some confidence, playing him on the 4th line is no good to him.

It would seem like sending DaCosta down and/or sending Zibby back to Sweden is the easiest solution to the problem....or make a trade I suppose.

DaCosta to Bingo and Zibanejad up here until he's got 10 games, then to Bingo. They are both centers, so alternate calling them up to play the 3C position.

Incidentally, it's been brought up a few times that, once his ELC kicks in (i.e. cannot slide) after his 10th game, they can do whatever they want with him, so AHL and not SEL. Does he have to clear waivers, though? I don't think so, but I don't know the rules.

cash wrote:Neither rookie has played well recently, and I don't think Filatov is NHL ready.

Until Butler and Regin are healthy, I don't think we have 12 NHL calibre forwards in the system.

Zibanejad has not played poorly, especially when playing center.

wprager wrote:

cash wrote:

wprager wrote:Columbus may have been playing with 8 "regulars" out of its lineup (4 of those had not yet been in the lineup so they haven't been "regulars" this season; it's like saying the Bruins are playing without Marc Savard), but they are a desperate team. Those games can go either way. And Mason played pretty well. And Anderson wasn't exactly great on two of those goals.

At the end of the day, a win is a win, and two in a row is a little streak. They have a great opportunity here to make a small run at it and make it four before they have to face Lundqvist.

Except for the fact that Savard is replaced with Seguin and Carter is replaced with Alexandre Giroux...

Carter was not one of the 4 I meant.

Anyhow, the larger point is this is a desperate team. They really, really did not want to lose. And from the looks on their faces I would not be surprised if they went into a tailspin for a while. That was a devastating loss, emotionally.

Misread. sorry.

They're also a really Dung team. That was the worst hockey I've seen this season. Both teams looked hopeless for the better part of the game

wprager wrote:

cash wrote:Neither rookie has played well recently, and I don't think Filatov is NHL ready.

Until Butler and Regin are healthy, I don't think we have 12 NHL calibre forwards in the system.

Zibanejad has not played poorly, especially when playing center.

Agree to disagree. He has been out of position multiple times, ending offensive opportunities. He needs time to figure out how to play in NA. He hasn't had a decent offensive chance in games. He simply is not NHL calibre right now.

If you missed 12-year-old Madi-Lynn belting out O Canada last night, it's up on SensTV:

http://video.senators.nhl.com/videocenter/console?catid=769&id=129903

Lost in all this is the fact that my Sens jersey is 2-0!



AWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW YYYYYYYYYYYEEEEEEEAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!

We've discussed Spezza's performance ad nauseum, but how was Spezza's jersey?

wprager wrote:We've discussed Spezza's performance ad nauseum, but how was Spezza's jersey?

The jersey had an awesome game. Heh. Beers, cigars, bourbon and a thrilling win. It had a good time.

Glad the kids got to be part of that game last night - really did snatch victory from the jaws of defeat, though and they probably need to recall how close they came to losing in regulation to the worst team in the league.

Has no one talked about how good Kuba and Gonchar have been the last 2 games?

NEELY wrote:Has no one talked about how good Kuba and Gonchar have been the last 2 games?

annnnnnnddddddd......jinxed it.