GAME DAY - Ottawa Senators @ Tampa Bay Lightning, 7:30 PM, March 6th

Phillips had to have his schnozz re-set and won't be available against the Rags.

JOB had a nagging UBI which they felt was best to rest lest it got worse (yeah, I did; I just said "best rest lest" in a row).

Seven goals, three of them by his winger, and not so much as an assist for Spezza is one of those once-in-a-blue-moon situations. Getting two empty netters in one game, by the same guy, to complete a natural hattrick falls under the same category: weird.

Why does that Guy keep applauding me? Is it really *that* witty? Come on, stop. No, please, STOP! SOMEONE MAKE HIM STOP!!!

Big Ev wrote:Lost a little respect for Michalek here

Totally, I mean he should not have even been on the ice. Hell, he should have put the puck in his own net, that I would respect. I can't believe he would do that.



WTF are you smoking man? Jeezus.

Why did Potvin keep referring to T-Bay as the team in black? That was weird.

Anyway, it was an entertaining game...kinda sloppy, but the W is what matters. Spezza was +4 on the night, so you can't complain about his game too much. I would take it as a positive that we put up 5 real goals without his aid.

I hope Phillips isn't out too long, as he's our best defensive defenceman.

Karlsson's defence really impresses me. Watching him strip the puck from guys with ease is amazing. It seems like as soon as a forward gets a pass near the blue-line, he's all over 'em.

Bishop was solid, if unspectacular.

We're now 8 pts clear of 9th.

Yeah, Sens have a nice cushion from 8th spot now... we need to keep the wins coming though as there are still games in hand with teams below us... I would like to get out of this 7th spot and avoid what looks to be shaping up as a match up with Boston in the 1st round. Rags are 10 points clear of Boston for 1st in the East. Wow. 10 points!!!

Great for Michalek to score the easiest hattrick of his career, of course he will take it, would be stupid not to. Not sure what Boucher was thinking. And clapping after Michalek scored his first goal? Sarcastic clapping or what? Then pulling the goalie down 3 goals? Strange. It's like he wanted Michalek to turn the trick.

shabbs wrote:Yeah, Sens have a nice cushion from 8th spot now... we need to keep the wins coming though as there are still games in hand with teams below us... I would like to get out of this 7th spot and avoid what looks to be shaping up as a match up with Boston in the 1st round. Rags are 10 points clear of Boston for 1st in the East. Wow. 10 points!!!

Our only real hope of 6th at this point is catching New Jersey (1 pt up on us, 2 games in hand) or Philly (3 pts up on us, 3 games in hand). New Jersey plays a ton throughout March, so if they go on a bit of a slide, it's possible. Not probable, but possible. Obviously, we'll need to start playing better and pick up a lot of points.

Given that 6th means a 1st round matchup likely against Florida, and 7th means a 1st round date the Bs, PLEASE FOR THE LOVE OF GOD FINISH 6TH!!!

shabbs wrote:Yeah, Sens have a nice cushion from 8th spot now... we need to keep the wins coming though as there are still games in hand with teams below us... I would like to get out of this 7th spot and avoid what looks to be shaping up as a match up with Boston in the 1st round. Rags are 10 points clear of Boston for 1st in the East. Wow. 10 points!!!

Rangers might just win round 1 on momentum alone. But at some point fatigue may catch up. Lundqvist does not have the defense around him that Brodeur did all those years. Is he tired? We'll see.

Boston is struggling badly. 5-4 against the Leafs? And what happens when they give Thomas a night off and Turco suddenly faces shots that are 5-10 mph faster than he's used to seeing? Chara is another one to watch for signs of fatigue. Was it two years ago he got dehydrated and was actually admitted to hospital? Or was that just last year?

Still, I'd prefer not to face off against either them or the Rags in round 1. Unless we have Lehner and someone tells him "Oh yeah? Calder Cup MVP? Big **** deal!" Even then, I'd prefer the Panthers or Jets.

Now, neither Toronto nor New York could do us a favor last night. We're 3&3 behind Philly (maximum 9 points) but only 1&2 behind the Devils (5 points max). The play a home-and-home Sunday-Tuesday. Hoping for a sweep either way, with no 3-point games.

Decent game, nothing to write home about but a win is a win is a win at this point in the season.

Bishop... wasn't overly impressed. I'm not a big fan of goaltenders who play the "let the puck hit me" kind of game. He's either has to learn how to keep standing a little bit more or he will get the corners pick on him all game. AHL shooters don't hit those spots, NHL shooters do. Only 1 game but again, I don't like that style of goaltender.

Hard to get a handle on Gilroy right now, but he's not a guy you want in your top 4 IMO. Maybe a #5 guy,but reminds me of Campoli. Need a bigger sample size obviously.

NEELY wrote:Decent game, nothing to write home about but a win is a win is a win at this point in the season.

Bishop... wasn't overly impressed. I'm not a big fan of goaltenders who play the "let the puck hit me" kind of game. He's either has to learn how to keep standing a little bit more or he will get the corners pick on him all game. AHL shooters don't hit those spots, NHL shooters do. Only 1 game but again, I don't like that style of goaltender.

What about him as a backup, though?

Klinkhammer had another very good game. Would actually like to see him on the top line because he goes to the front of the net. He reminds me of Greening, and it was positive to see Greening get 2 points last night - and a fight.

wprager wrote:

NEELY wrote:Decent game, nothing to write home about but a win is a win is a win at this point in the season.

Bishop... wasn't overly impressed. I'm not a big fan of goaltenders who play the "let the puck hit me" kind of game. He's either has to learn how to keep standing a little bit more or he will get the corners pick on him all game. AHL shooters don't hit those spots, NHL shooters do. Only 1 game but again, I don't like that style of goaltender.

What about him as a backup, though?

Need a bigger sample size to see if he's NHL caliber or not, backup or not. Some guys are more cut out to be backups, and for some guys, it's starter-or-bust (Leclaire, for example). If Bishop is one of these "let the puck hit me" guys, as Neely indicates, then maybe he's better suited to a backup role, as it's not likely he's going to steal you any games.

Still, way too early to tell. It's nice to be discussing goalie prospects beyond Lehner though!

shabbs wrote:

Big Ev wrote:Lost a little respect for Michalek here

Totally, I mean he should not have even been on the ice. Hell, he should have put the puck in his own net, that I would respect. I can't believe he would do that.



WTF are you smoking man? Jeezus.

Read my reply bub.

NEELY wrote:Decent game, nothing to write home about but a win is a win is a win at this point in the season.

Bishop... wasn't overly impressed. I'm not a big fan of goaltenders who play the "let the puck hit me" kind of game. He's either has to learn how to keep standing a little bit more or he will get the corners pick on him all game. AHL shooters don't hit those spots, NHL shooters do. Only 1 game but again, I don't like that style of goaltender.

That's basically Lundqvist in a nutshell.

Riprock wrote:Klinkhammer had another very good game. Would actually like to see him on the top line because he goes to the front of the net. He reminds me of Greening, and it was positive to see Greening get 2 points last night - and a fight.

I really strongly think this has a lot to do with Kleinendorst preparing guys the right way down there - even though he has very little to work with. Klinkhammer went to Bingo and immediately turned his game around from when he was in Rockford (or whatever it was), O'Brien was personally recommended by KK as being exactly what he is - a hard worker who won't take a shift off.

He deserves more credit that he's getting this year - even thought the team sucks.

Big Ev wrote:

shabbs wrote:

Big Ev wrote:Lost a little respect for Michalek here

Totally, I mean he should not have even been on the ice. Hell, he should have put the puck in his own net, that I would respect. I can't believe he would do that.



WTF are you smoking man? Jeezus.

Read my reply bub.

Read it bub.

shabbs wrote:

Big Ev wrote:

shabbs wrote:

Big Ev wrote:Lost a little respect for Michalek here

Totally, I mean he should not have even been on the ice. Hell, he should have put the puck in his own net, that I would respect. I can't believe he would do that.



WTF are you smoking man? Jeezus.

Read my reply bub.

Read it bub.

no worries....just saying a two-empty netter is pretty lame and a bit selfish in my books

Big Ev wrote:

shabbs wrote:

Big Ev wrote:

shabbs wrote:

Big Ev wrote:Lost a little respect for Michalek here

Totally, I mean he should not have even been on the ice. Hell, he should have put the puck in his own net, that I would respect. I can't believe he would do that.



WTF are you smoking man? Jeezus.

Read my reply bub.

Read it bub.

no worries....just saying a two-empty netter is pretty lame and a bit selfish in my books

Meh. I don't mind selfish wingers that want to score.

Who was on the ice with him at the time?

And if he had passed to someone else and the play was broken up... what of that? We'd all be saying "Stupid Michalek should have buried it." Worse if they came back to win... do we all remember this? Patrick Stefan?