FIVE QUICK THOUGHTS
-I find it helps to take a deep breath before offering an opinion on a game like this. There is a temptation to rip this whole team from top to bottom after one of their more disappointing losses of the season…To question the effort level of some of the team’s best players, to wonder if this blueline is any better than AHL quality, to wonder if Dave Cameron is really an NHL Coach. But no. I won’t do any of that. Not today. Still second place in the Division.
-Seriously though, that was an ugly loss. Really bad. Not just the tying goal in the last three seconds or the overtime winner but this was just a really weak sixty minute effort. Carolina isn’t a bad team necessarily but playing them on a back to back, Ottawa should have been better than this. The Sens may have given up a late goal but the reality is they were lucky to come away with a single point. The Carolina Curse continues for the Ottawa Senators.
-In the third period while defending a one goal lead, Dave Cameron made the decision to take Shane Prince off the line one in favour of Curtis Lazar. On the surface a move like that might make sense but what it shows is that mentality that a lead is to be protected in the third period instead of continuing to attack. It’s a flawed approach and one that continues to burn the Senators who consistently try to sit on leads. Shane Prince looked great on that top line through two periods.
-For all the bad things about this game, the Senators were four seconds away from stealing two points. And the fact that they get one is all thanks to Andrew Hammond. He was rock solid in goal for Ottawa and has actually been quite good in consecutive starts. The Sens have their issues right now but goaltending is not one of them. Hammond and Anderson have both been great lately.
-Congratulations to Senators defenceman Chris Wideman as he scored the first goal of his NHL career. Not only is that a big goal for him personally, but maybe it’s a big goal for the team’s blueline moving forward. Wideman should probably be in the lineup over either Cowen or Borowiecki on a regular basis and maybe this goal helps convince Dave Cameron of that fact. Jared Cowen was benched for a stretch in the third period and Mark Borowiecki iced the puck late in the game that may have cost the Senators the win. We’ll see what Cameron has in mind for that third pair, assuming Cody Ceci is healthy and ready to play on Tuesday.
