(UPDATE 11:37 AM)- As expected, the Binghamton Senators announced this morning that they have signed veteran Todd Bertuzzi to a professional tryout agreement. Bertuzzi is expected to join the team on Monday and could play as early as Friday. The Senators have long been looking for a power forward and now get a free look at Bertuzzi to see if he has anything left in the tank.
FIVE QUICK THOUGHTS
-After another loss, this time a 9:00 PM start, I’ll be lucky to put three coherent thoughts together but here goes. Possession-wise, the Senators dominated this game but obviously the Avalanche got better goaltending. There haven’t been many games this season where the other team has had better goaltending so both Anderson and Lehner can get a bit of a free pass on this one. And to be honest, I’m not sure Anderson had much of a chance on any of the three goals he let in. Can’t stop what you can’t see.
-The power play woes continued last night. The Senators are now 0 for their last 582 with the man advantage. OK maybe that’s a slight exaggeration but it’s pretty bad. It’s actually getting to the point where I don’t look forward to the power play and instead just sit there cringing for the entire two minutes. And as much as I can criticize what the Senators are doing on the power play, I’m not really sure I have a solution to fix things. I think right now things run through Karlsson too much and it’s making it pretty easy to key on him. Someone else needs to make a play out there.
-I took some heat last night on Twitter from a reader who felt I was sugar-coating things in these blog posts. Not “telling it like it is”. You can go back through them but essentially what I’ve been saying is if the Senators want to make the playoffs, they need to start stringing wins together. If that’s what counts for overly-optimistic these days then things are pretty bleak. This road trip was obviously a crucial one for the Senators and so far, they haven’t got it done. Pierre McGuire said it this morning but a regulation loss in Arizona on Saturday and you can say goodbye to a playoff push. How’s that for optimism?
-There was a report yesterday from TSN’s Pierre LeBrun suggesting that the Senators are looking to add a forward to help with a playoff push. Dumb. That would be really, really dumb. If they are looking to add a young forward that can fit in with the young core and play with the team for the next 5-6 years, that’s one thing. But to give up picks or prospects to add a rental, at this stage, would be completely ridiculous. And Management must feel the same way. The only concern of course, is they have been given a clear mandate to push for a playoff spot. Not saying that’s the case, but that’s the only possible explanation for a team this bad renting at the deadline. Not to mention, the forwards aren’t really the problem.
-I have to sneak at least one positive thought in here- really liked the game of Jean Gabriel Pageau last night. The Senators are desperate for a centre that can win some damn faceoffs and he’s been doing that recently. He won 9 of 15, including 6 of 7 in his own end. Lost faceoffs in the defensive zone have killed the Senators the last couple seasons so having someone a little more reliable in that situation would be a huge lift. Pageau is also skating well, aggressive on the forecheck and responsible at both ends of the rink. Not really sure how much offensive potential he has but he certainly looks like an NHL regular at this point.
