FIVE QUICK THOUGHTS
-Going into last night’s game I talked about how this would be a tough back to back for both teams. Certainly seems like fatigue ended up being a factor for the home side. Ottawa looked pretty good in the first half of the game but just seemed to run out of gas in the second period. Sloppy second periods have really been this team’s downfall all year. They’ll need to rest up in a hurry with three games out West coming up this week.
-In a season where the goalies have stolen games for them regularly, this was probably the first time all year where you could make the argument that a goalie cost them the game. Two of the goals that beat Robin Lehner last night were inexcusable. The goalies have covered up some defensive issues early this year but that didn’t happen last night. Anderson and Lehner have gone toe to toe for the starting position so far this year but right now, that job clearly belongs to Craig Anderson.
-After a few games of consistent combinations, Paul MacLean has officially hit the shuffle button on his line up. I’m OK with the in game substitutions to try and get the guys going but would prefer if he went back the orginal combinations to start this West Coast road trip. Although I was definitely intrigued by a line of Hoffman-Zibanejad-Ryan. Interested to see what MacLean has in mind once Chiasson is ready to return.
-Was kind of surprised to see Twitter and some fans on here talking about guys like Greening, Smith and Neil after last night’s game. The issue last night was certainly not the third and fourth liners but rather a poor performance from the team’s best players. Over an 82 game schedule there are going to be nights where the top players don’t have it and that was the case against the Leafs. I know a lot of people chose to target their frustration towards Erik Karlsson but he certainly wasn’t alone. I thought MacArthur, Turris, Michalek, Zibanejad and a few other veterans all had rough nights.
-I posted this picture on Twitter last night, seconds after the final horn sounded on another home ice loss to the Leafs. That view- of thousands of blue and white jersey standing and celebrating has become all too common over the years. If you’re a Sens fan that attends games regularly, you’ll know exactly the view (and sound), I’m talking about. After every Leaf game I swear I’ll never go to another one but I always end up going back. I know I’ve seen the Senators beat the Leafs before but the losses seem to drown out any good memories I have of Sens/Leafs games in Ottawa. Never. Again. Until the next one…
