GDT#12: Sabres @ Senators: 7:30PM, Nov 1

Sens need a strong game after the disastrous road trip. They managed to get a loser point in Vegas but didn't deserve it. They have been pretty awful since Ceci had been cleared for contact.

Condon is on his way to Belleville. Call it a conditioning stint. McKenna will back up Anderson. Nick Paul will get his first game on his third (?) callup.

Two good periods. PP and Anderson clicking
2 points and back to .500.

Holy crap...that third.

So Chabot is pretty damn good.

14 points in 12 games. Mind you, this *is* his second season.

All hail Mr. Anderson.

The Duchene/Dzingel/Stone line kind of disappeared in the 3rd for a while which sure didn't help things. Man, this team has had problems for three+ years with leads in the 3rd period. The first two periods were really good though.

Nice to see Chabot helping us get over EK.

tim1_2 wrote:All hail Mr. Anderson.  

The Duchene/Dzingel/Stone line kind of disappeared in the 3rd for a while which sure didn't help things.  Man, this team has had problems for three+ years with leads in the 3rd period.  The first two periods were really good though.  

Nice to see Chabot helping us get over EK.

EK -3 again last night and pointless. -10 on the season now I believe. No goals. SJ not looking nearly as powerful as everyone had projected.

The Sens need to split the top line up. Apparently Tkachuk is traveling with the team this weekend and is expected to play sometime next week which is a great sign. Hope he plays tomorrow!!

Happy to see Formenton sent down. The guys on the radio said it best. Rather him over-ripe than under-developed. I think this was the best move. Nick Paul looked pretty good last night. We may not see him sent down for a while. Same with Jaros. I think he's here to stay. Lajoie has cooled down significantly. Not making mistakes but not contributing the same way as before. I expected this to happen. But Chabot, man that guy is just cooking right now.

My hatred for Ceci continues. Maybe I'm just paying extra attention to him but I am getting sick of all the blown coverages and him literally defending empty ice. We had a saying when I used to play football - don't cover grass; go out and find somebody. I feel the same with this guy. He's positionally in the worst spots in the ice defending nothing.

It sounds like Duchene will be re-signing in Ottawa. The way Dorion talked about it - he sounded confident that something will get done and get done soon. I imagine Stone and Dzingel as well. Move Boro and Ceci during the season, trade Pyatt and Paajarvi at the deadline, and buyout Condon in the off-season. Replace with Balcers, Chlapik, Batherson, Formenton, Brown, etc

Dzingel-Duchene-White
Tkachuk-Tierney-Stone
Boedker-Paul-Ryan
Paajarvi-McCormick-Pyatt

Chabot-De Melo
Lajoie-Jaros
Wolanin-Wideman

Make it happen!!

That post nicely sums it up, although I personally quite like boro.

I'm okay with Boro. I'd prefer we had a player like him as a forward not a d-man as his PIMs have a much larger impact on the D than as a forward. Easier to manage his shifts like they did Neil vs playing with 5 defencemen. Also concerning when he goes for a big hit and misses. Not what a poor defensive team should be doing.

^^
I was hoping McCormick would play with more of an edge. The Sens as a whole lack a lot of team toughness. Smith isn't the big hitter he used to be which really does leave Boro as the only 'enforcer'. I believe Tkachuk will be a big hitter but hope he's poised enough not to fight and run around looking for action and focuses on scoring and pestering other teams.

Lajoie led the team in icetime. Don't forget he was not a big offensive threat in the AHL. He's still getting it done.

DefenceWinsChampionships wrote:

Move Boro and Ceci during the season, trade Pyatt and Paajarvi at the deadline, and buyout Condon in the off-season. Replace with Balcers, Chlapik, Batherson, Formenton, Brown, etc

Dzingel-Duchene-White
Tkachuk-Tierney-Stone
Boedker-Paul-Ryan
Paajarvi-McCormick-Pyatt

Chabot-De Melo
Lajoie-Jaros
Wolanin-Wideman

Make it happen!!

Where are the "replace with" guys I that lineup? You still have Pyatt/Paajarvi there.

My guess is the P guys will be gone (Pyatt, Paajarvi and Paul).

Boro's big hits will be great in a best of 7 against one team. Not as helpful in getting there. But Boucher likes playing 7D so we can still have him play 5-8.

I like me some Boro. Keep in mind, he's generally not taking stupid penalties or looking for fights. He only seems to fight nowadays when he throws a big hit and someone comes at him. The other penalties he takes are when his hits cross the line (or are perceived to have crossed the line).

As DFW says above, my hatred of Ceci continues as well. He blew it on one of Buffalo's goals last night, or maybe it forced Anderson into a big save, I can't remember. He is definitely a whipping boy now though, with every little mistake being blown up because everyone's just waiting for them to jump all over him.

When Ceci was out the other D icetime went up. They played the tough minutes against the top lines. Since he's come back he hasn't really taken over as the top TOI guy (Lajoie was last night). I think it's fair to say that we can retire the "he plays against the toughest competition" excuse from previous years. Small sample size or not, they played better, defensively, with him out of the lineup. They gave up fewer does on goal and went 3-1.