FIVE QUICK THOUGHTS
-Embarrassing. Pathetic. Awful. All these words apply to varying degrees but more than anything, Ottawa’s performance in these two weekend games was just disappointing. There was so much hype coming into this weekend series and the team had put in so much effort to get themselves within striking distance of the top spot in the Atlantic. It was a chance to send a message to not only the Canadiens but the rest of the league. And they just couldn’t get the job done. The game on Saturday night could have gone either way obviously but this one never seemed in doubt. Montreal was the better team, plain and simple.
-It’s certainly not going to get any easier for the Senators. A quick glance at the schedule for this week shows another run of difficult opponents. They’re in Boston tomorrow night. Home to the Penguins on Thursday. And then back at the Bell Centre on Saturday night. During the six game winning streak it was impossible not to look up in the standings and now that they’ve dropped four straight, everyone’s eyes will begin to shift downward at the teams behind them in the standings. Just four points up on the Bruins now. And uh 8 points clear of the 9th place New York Islanders.
-As bad as the Senators were last night, this was somehow still just a one goal game heading into the third period. And if not for a downright miraculous save by Carey Price on Kyle Turris towards the end of the second period, it’s a tie game heading into the final twenty minutes. It never really felt that close but they were an inch or two from tying it right there. Price wasn’t tested a whole lot but it seemed like the only decent chances Ottawa had came with Hoffman on the ice with either Brassard or Turris. Boucher has been trying to spread out the offence by putting Hoffman on that third line with Jean Gabriel Pageau but it’s just not working right now. Hoffman needs to be on one of the top two lines.
-Craig Anderson has been so good for the Senators this season and under difficult circumstances. And that’s part of the reason why it’s noticeable when he’s not quite as sharp. And that was the case in both games this weekend. Certainly not blaming him for either loss but there were four or five goals this weekend that he would likely want back. Coming off what was called a lower body injury, it was sort of interesting to see Boucher go back to him on consecutive nights. Can certainly see the justification for starting either guy but I really thought Boucher would go with Condon, especially against his former-team.
-If there was any doubt, these last four games show just how important Mark Stone is to the Ottawa offence. In the four games without their best forward, the Senators have scored just six times. Last night, they generated next to nothing on offence. The hope was that getting Turris and Ryan back might help pick up some of the slack while Stone was away but it hasn’t been enough. Stone still hasn’t skated though and really doesn’t seem close to coming back. Still considered “week to week” at this point.
Boucher’s Post-Game Comments
Boxscore
Advanced Stats
Standings
Loading …