The effort was certainly better than what we saw against the Avalanche.
But in the end the result was the same, as the Ottawa Senators dropped a 2-1 decision in Washington last night. Peter Regin was the lone goal scorer for the Sens, who fell to 1-4-0 with the loss.
On paper this one looked like it could get ugly, especially after the debacle against the Avalanche. Credit to Paul MacLean's side though as they tightened up and played a much better game against the high powered Caps team.
Had it not been for the at times spectacular goaltending of Tomas Vokoun, Ottawa would have earned a point in this one. He made massive saves off of Michalek and Alfredsson in the third period to preserve the one goal lead.
One big positive from this one, the play of rookie defenceman David Rundblad. He picked up an assist on Regin's goal and was one of the better players on the ice for the Senators. Rundblad logged 17:16 and seemed to get more comfortable as the game moved along.
Defenceman Sergei Gonchar went down with what the team is calling a bruised foot. His status will be reevaluated later today.
Ottawa has the day off today and will return to the ice on Monday morning in preparation for a string of three straight home games against the Flyers, Jets and Blue Jackets.
- Had a few people asking me about a rumoured deal between Edmonton and Ottawa. I asked around and nobody I spoke with has heard anything about this rumoured swap. Will certainly update if that changes.
- Nothing new on the Columbus/Ottawa rumours from earlier in the week either. As I mentioned, there was some preliminary tire kicking but nothing more than that.
