| 05 February 2009
• Cory Clouston has the Senators working hard. After an absolutely shitty first period, the Sens came out and put forth possibly their best 40 minutes of the season. The forecheck that was missing under Craig Hartsburg’s system is evident in Clouston’s system even though it’s only been 2 games.
• The Big Line of Heatley, Spezza and Alfredsson came alive in a big way. In the final 40 minutes and into overtime these guys controlled the game. After the freak that is Zdeno Chara dominated and frustrated them for the first 20 minutes, the Big Line seemed to have awoken and answered the bell, which hasn’t been the case in the last year. After Spezza scored, the feeling of the Senators being ahead felt almost surreal.
• Brian Elliott was solid in net and didn’t allow for the game to get out of control early on. You could argue he had a chance on Chara’s goal, but otherwise he was in the zone tonight. He looked significantly more comfortable in the shootout than against Montreal.
• Nick Foligno has become my favourite Senator over the last year. He works hard every night and is learning how to better translate that effort into results. He had another highlight reel goal and an assist to boot.
• Boston is a scary good team. They’re well coached and make the most of every mistake their opposition makes. Tim Thomas is a Senator killer. They just can’t find a way to solve him regularly. The Senators usually rush their shots on Thomas, but the trick seems to be waiting him out and forcing him to make the first move. Easier said than done considering his head takes up about a third of the net on its own.
• We all know the chances of Ottawa winning a shootout. Nothing new here, shootouts are a toss-up anyway. Alfie probably should be the Sens’ tenth shooter.
• The only critique I can make tonight is about a lack of focus and discipline with less than 5 minutes to go. Antoine Vermette can make all the excuses he wants, but it’s his job to control his stick and not go all Dr. Hook on Michael Ryder. I think everyone in Sens land yelled a collective “what the fuck” when Mike Fisher steamrolled Stephane Yelle at the end of regulation. I don’t think I can complain about the overall effort put forth by Ottawa tonight. They battled against the best team in the NHL and came out with a respectable point.
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