FIVE QUICK THOUGHTS
-Well that wasn’t very good. The back to back excuse is a legitimate one and the Anaheim Ducks are good team but that was just nowhere near good enough. Boucher made the unconventional decision to start the same goalie on back to back nights and it really didn’t work out. This one certainly isn’t only on the goalies though. The Ducks controlled the game from puck drop and a late first period power play goalie by Antoine Vermette put this one on ice with forty minutes to go. Ottawa just didn’t have the legs to fight back. As Boucher said after the game, “It was a no show. All around. Not good. Not good.”
-Every team gets bad bounces over the course of a game and throughout the season but in Los Angeles on Saturday and again on Sunday, it felt like every bad bounce was ending up in the back of Ottawa’s net. On all three of Anaheim’s first period goals, the puck took a strange bounce off an Ottawa defender before going in. In Los Angeles it was a puck off Phaneuf’s skate and Condon’s blocker. That’s hockey though. Certainly not suggesting that the result should have been anything other than a decisive Anaheim win though. The Senators got what they deserved.
-We all knew this road trip was going to be a tough one for the Senators. And despite finding a way to steal two points in San Jose, the four game swing was as advertised. Six points would have been a hell of a trip. Even four points would have been good enough. Instead they finish with just two of a possible eight points and now have to hope they can get back on track at home. They may be coming home but it’s the same San Jose Sharks that dominated them earlier in the week waiting for them on Wednesday night. Ottawa still sits second in the Atlantic Division but the rest of the Eastern Conference has caught up. Boston, Tampa Bay, Florida and Detroit are all within four points.
-Just as the Senators start to figure things out on the power play, now the penalty kill starts to fall apart. Ottawa gave up three power play goals against for the second straight night. They look completely lost on the PK right now. There are passing lanes open all over the ice and opposition forwards are being left all alone in front of the Ottawa net. Guy Boucher and his staff are likely to give the team a day off tomorrow but will have plenty to work on when they return to the practice ice on Tuesday.
-Lots of talk about ice time in the aftermath of this one. Cody Ceci was up over 11 minutes through the first, was approaching 22 minutes through the second and by the end of the night, he had played a season-high 28:38. A big part of that was obviously Chris Wideman leaving with an injury but it was Ceci’s time relative to Erik Karlsson that seemed to be raising a few eye brows. Honestly, I don’t think it’s a big deal, especially given the situation. The Senators were down three in the second game of a back to back in the final game of a lengthy road trip- probably a good time to go easy on your Captain. Ceci has been over 20 minutes in every game but one this season.
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