First posted by me @ www.thesensforum.com 18/10/09
What you've missed:
The Senators kept rolling with 2 wins from 3 starts last week. Dropping a 4-1 decision to Pittsburgh, the Sens then totally dominated a meek-looking Tampa Bay 7-1, and in an emotional return to Montreal, Alexei Kovalev picked up two points to take Ottawa past the Habs 3-1.
The offensive heroics have been there, but in reality the Sens are at the top of the North-East because of their defensive effort. Ottawa has the 2nd best penalty kill in the league (after Columbus) at 93.1%. In particular, Daniel Alfredsson and Mike Fisher have stepped up their two-way games, and the pairing of Chris Phillips and Anton Volchenkov has been solid.
Chris Neil continues to prove his worth as a $2 million 4th liner. Milan Michalek scored his first hat-trick Thursday and his skating is giving opposition teams fits. Jason Spezza is one lucky break from bursting out and has been dishing out the puck really well.
In other games around the league:
- Phoenix caused a boilover when they took the W from visitors Boston 4-1 on Saturday. Shane Doan had 3 assists on the night.
- Colorado sit solely atop the West conference after a perfect 4 for 4 road trip. The Avs collected points in Boston, Toronto, Montreal and Detroit
- Toronto continue to languish at the bottom of the standings after being outscored 15-4 in the last 3 games. The Islanders also dropped their 3 games last week and are the only other winless team in the NHL.
- Halfway through the 1st period Monday, Chicago found themselves 5 goals down. However, they staged a tremendous comeback to win their game against Calgary 6-5 in OT.
What's coming up:
Ottawa have a relaxed schedule this week with just 2 games. The first action is on Thursday, when the Sens take on Nashville (7:30pm, Sportsnet) at Scotiabank Place. And to close out the week, they face divisional rivals Boston Saturday (7pm, CBC), also at home.
Injury-wise, Peter Regin has recovered from his concerns and will be available for Thursday's game. Jesse Winchester is also looking to return to the lineup this week or early next. The last report on Filip Kuba was hopeful of his return soon, more likely for Saturday vs the Bruins.
It's fairly safe to say that most expect a victory for the Sens, based on current form, over the lowly Preds. But the real tester this week will be against Boston. Ottawa have quite a travel-friendly and spaced out schedule in the coming 5-6 weeks, and need to strike while the iron is hot. The Bruins are still finding their feet this season, and a Sens win now will be crucial if Ottawa expect to be playing post-season hockey.
Pascal Leclaire has looked good, but with the exception of the Pens game (which didn't go so well), he hasn't really been tested over a full 60 minutes by opposing teams thus far. Can he keep it going? Is Alexei Kovalev just starting to heat up at the right time, or will he go back into his shell again if Alfie is moved off that line? And can Erik Karlsson rebound from what has been a sub-standard effort so far without the veteran presence of Filip Kuba?
In other games this week:
- Dallas have at least 1 point in 6 out of their 7 games, and will look to continue on form on their road trip this week. They face stops in Anaheim, Los Angeles and St Louis as well as facing the Kings at home Monday.
- Detroit are in tough this week with games against 2 red-hot teams in Phoenix and Colorado. The Wings will need to pick up the pace if they want to keep up with the rest of the West.
- Likewise for Florida, whose play has been all over the chart. They stunned Philly last week and the rematch is Saturday, but before then the Cats will have to face strong starters Buffalo as well as Pittsburgh.
Who's hot?
- Daniel Alfredsson (Ottawa) has 5 points from the last 2 games, and has already scored 2 game winning goals this season.
- Martin St Louis (Tampa Bay) has at least a point in every game this season.
- Dustin Penner (Edmonton) went +5 and picked up 6 points in 3 games last week.
- Ilya Bryzgalov (Phoenix) has 2 shutouts, a 1.14 GAA and an incredible 0.953 save percentage through 6 games. Marc-Andre Fleury (Pittsburgh) has won all 7 of his starts.
Who's not?
- Christobal Huet (Chicago) was pulled just 7 minutes into Monday's game after letting in 3 goals on 5 shots, and currently sits at 0.844 save percentage.
- Josh Harding (Minnesota) has now let in 11 goals in just 2 games.
- Mattias Ohlund (Tampa Bay) is a +5 at home but a -6 on the road, and has been held scoreless in the last 3 contests.
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Actually I think Leclaire has made some key saves and has stepped up when needed to prove he's the real deal. The Pens game was a whol team breakdown, I think they had the mentality of "we can't beat those Penguins" going in
ReplyDeleteSo glad Regin is coming back, no offense Shannon but you're kinda useless. At least Kelly kills penalties and creates tons of chances (hands of stone though) but Shannon is probably our worst forward atm
Yeah, Shannon really needs to step his game up. He has not been impressive. Kelly has done what has been asked of him. The line of Neil-Regin-Kelly was surprisingly good when they played together.
ReplyDeleteSpeaking of which, Chris Neil in the hockey pool is starting to look like an inspired choice!