FIVE QUICK THOUGHTS
-It says a lot about this season when a six-goal loss on home ice isn’t automatically the worst game of the season. Sure last night was horrendous but there have been so many other embarrassing losses this season that it’s hard to label a particular game as the worst. This one was made a little more unpleasant by the fact that the Senators had played two pretty good hockey games before the Blackhawks rolled into town. Just when it looked like Ottawa might be gaining some traction, the wheels fall off completely. That’s the way it’s gone in the first half of the season. Pretty tough to win a game when the other team goes 4/6 on the power play. 41 games down, 41 games to go. Yikes.
-There was plenty of talk about second periods in the last few days as even in the wins against San Jose and Tampa Bay, it was clearly an issue for the Senators. The Coaches addressed it and the players answered endless questions about what they could do differently. And then they went out there and had their worst second period the season. Sure they scored a couple but it’s tough to win a hockey game when you give up five in a period. Awful defence, long shifts, dumb penalties, dreadful goaltending- it was all on display in those middle twenty minutes. Ottawa has been outscored 61-33 in the second period this season.
-This has been a rough season for Craig Anderson. In fact, inconsistent goaltending from both Anderson and Mike Condon is a big reason for Ottawa’s struggles this year. This was as bad as Anderson has looked all season though. On the first goal he’s sitting on the goal line, the second is a shot that should never go in on an NHL goalie and the third and fourth goals were dreadful rebounds. There had been signs that Anderson might be starting to turn things around but this was a huge step back. He looked small, slow and just not mentally engaged in the game. Clearly a goalie struggling with his confidence, and maybe his age, right now.
-Colin White has spent the majority of his two game call-up on a fourth line with Alex Burrows and Gabriel Dumont so it’s a little bit tricky to get a feel for where he’s at in his development. But in this game and in Saturday’s win over the Tampa Bay Lightning, there were certainly flashes of offence from White. Perhaps it’s a “relative to his linemates” situation but White really does have decent speed, even though that’s not a part of his game that gets much attention. Seems like the type of player that could thrive playing with skilled guys. Unfortunately Ottawa doesn’t really have a spot for him in the top six right now.
-Bobby Ryan left the game in the second period with a hand injury. Yes, really. Ryan seemed to block a shot early in the second period and then this relatively harmless play seemed to make things worse and was ultimately enough to end Ryan’s night. Realistically, that hand hasn’t been anywhere close to 100% at any point this season and it seems to be a situation where even minor contact is causing another injury. With the season slipping away, this might be a good time for Ryan to take a nice long break. He’s already been ruled out for tonight’s game and they’ll reevaluate his status following the bye week.
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