-We’ll start with some bad news- the Ottawa Senators still have six afternoon games left this season including games that start at 5:00 PM and earlier. Five of those games come in the month of March. Paul MacLean and his team have to find a way to break this afternoon curse or it actually could end up costing them a playoff spot.
-The good news is despite a disappointing and ugly loss in Carolina, the Senators actually didn’t lose too much ground in their push for a playoff spot. Montreal lost huge on home ice, the Leafs picked up just a single point in Winnipeg and miraculously, the Sabres managed to beat the red hot Blue Jackets in Columbus. In the end it’s obviously a missed opportunity for the Senators but it certainly could have been a lot worse. Tuesday’s game against Columbus will be huge.
-Robin Lehner struggled badly yesterday but to his credit, he took full responsibility for the loss. While defensive miscues certainly didn’t help Ottawa’s cause, Lehner would have loved to have two or three of those goals back. Craig Anderson looked pretty sharp in relief and will certainly be back in the net on Tuesday night.
-A whole lot of bad to take away from this game but if you’re looking for positives- the duo of Kyle Turris and Clarke MacArthur continued to click. Turris scored twice, including a pretty shorthanded goal late in the second period. Bobby Ryan was actually taken off that line for a few shifts as MacLean tried to get him going. Ryan hasn’t looked great the last 8-10 games and is starting to show some signs of fatigue. Disappointing that he wasn’t able to crack Team USA but that time off should be good for him.
