CrashingTheGoalie

by desertdawg

Ottawa has been the biggest surprise for me so far.

After last year’s less than inspiring performance, I really felt the Senators were going to make the big come back this year. And why not? I mean here’s a group lead by one of my all time favourite (eastern) Swedes in Daniel Alfredson, along with perhaps the best pure Canadian-born goal scorer over the last five years in Dan Heatley, as well as the quintessential big, set-up man at center in Jason Spezza.

Are they that far past their run to the Stanley Cup of two and a half years ago? A team that lead the NHL in goal scoring three years straight is now 29 ^th overall! Well, they said last year, blame the coach. And they did. First they gave John Paddock the boot and then GM/coach Bryan Murray fired himself and hired Craig Hartsburg.

Of course, Hartsburg was a shoe-in to lead the Senators back to respectability. Here’s a guy who after ten, very good years as a player…who’d already been a head coach (twice) in the NHL and then further, whose most recent accomplishment was coaching our national junior team to a fourth straight championship seemed ready to lead the Senators back to the top. But already there are rumblings that he’s lost the room.

Cue the Bill Laforge music. It goes something like “We are Billy’s Raiders.” La te dah te dah, te dah…sung while holding hands. In the dressing room…professional hockey players.

Eeooowww!

Now, I’m not saying that Hartsburg has gone that psychotic, but who can explain the lackluster effort put out by the Sens this year? Sure Chara’s gone (grande mistakeo) at the expense of keeping Redden. And now Redden plays pylon on the NYR blueline. And yes, the goaltending is a bit suspect with Alex Auld shouldering the bulk of the duties while Martin Gerber searches for his game.

So sure, maybe they weren’t going to keep the puck out of the net. ..but 29 ^th overall in goals! Like I said, go figure.
And tonight they are playing a Canucks team that certainly knows how to shoot straight.

Unfortunately, they’ve been using that skill to shoot themselves straight in the foot. The Canuck penchant for penalties (with six five-on-threes against in the last three games) has been discussed at length. The simple fact is, those kind of penalties smack of playing from a position of desperation…fostered by being reactive rather than proactive.
In short, playing with a losers’ mentality.

Collective attitude is an elusive concept. Confidence disappears and then reappears like some kind of karmic beach ball, sometimes easy to spike, sometimes floating out of our reach and just eluding our grasp. Confidence can deflate so suddenly that we can play two or three games without realizing it has left us. And it can return suddenly, like it did in the third period against Edmonton, when we suddenly look like world beaters. But is it here to stay?

To the game:

My impression of the first period is that we’re seeing two teams who have Fragile Handle With Care stickers planted on their butts. Both teams look like a sure, early elimination from Fear Factor. The best line on the ice is the Jaffray/Brown/Hordichuk line, which kind of makes sense when the rest of the team is acting like whirling dervishes in a China Shop. Hordichuk and Brown are handing out tickets to a cage match while Jaffray is getting chances close in. And even though Demitra combines with Henrik for the first goal, Ottawa is pressing us far too often instead of us making them pay for their second game in 24 hours. But really, both teams are so tentative that they look like they’re on a first date.

At least Alfredson looks interested but twice Curtis Sanford comes up big to rob him. The first one is particularly notable with the Sens’ captain combining on a two on one with Foligno, only to have Sanford slide across to make his best save in a Canucks uniform.
A couple of other points worth mentioning. I don’t hear Danny Heatley’s name mentioned until there’s eight minutes left in the period. And I hear it once after that. The only time I see Spezza is when he crumbles to the ice after a high stick. And these are the guys that used to run the offense for the Sens?

What the hell!!!

The second period sees brief Ottawa fluries in the offensive zone, but again, the Ottawa players are most notable by their absence. Is Vermette a healthy scratch?…nope, there he is, finally noticeable with three minutes left in the period. How about Chris Neil getting into his usual shape (as in bent out of) and then responding to the nasty forecheck of Hordichuk and Brown.

Well, there was a discussion with about a minute and half left in the period. Yep, I suppose Ottawa did threaten a few times, but Sanford is one Canuck playing with confidence and he stones them each and every time.

And then the Sedins once again combine with Demitra and this time Pavol is the triggerman. I’m sure that Coach V. has recognized that these guys belong together. And after a very obvious sophmore slump, Alexander Edler is playing this game like he played his first 60 games last year. Clearing the zone with confidence, taking his time on passes and using his wonderful skating ability to great advantage. His end to end rush is a glimpse of things to come as Gerber is exposed as a back-up for the first time this game and we are up three zip heading into the third.

A quick note about Ruutu. I always liked Jarko, he was never a Matt Turtle out there. But sometimes his act works against his team and we saw that at the end of the period. Take the two minutes, shut up and skate to the box.

The third period sees us content to chip the puck out, make the safe play and preserve the W.

There are a couple of hairy moments – guys like Schubert and O’Donnell get great chances – but Curtis Sanford locks it in the vault and we are full value for the win. The old saw is that your best players must be your best players is usually quite true. And the Sedins with Demitra scored when they had the chance. Alfredson did not. And Spezza and Heatley din’t even get chances. Heatley’s stats will be the four minutes he got for penalty time. The six million dollar man, Mike Fischer, looks like he is carrying the federal debt on his shoulders.

Jason Spezza just looks like he wants to get traded.

We’ve been promised help when big Mats Sundin starts to play…but we haven’t seen him yet. And Roberto’s been out of the line-up for over a month. Rival fans predicted a quick downfall for us after the Captain went down because after-all, we are only a one man team…who, by the way, remain a point back in the division race.

And folks, in the distance…I hear the sound of the sound of the cavalry coming.

The Dawg’ Three Stars:

1) Curtis Sanford…robbed them until they were in tears.

2) Pavol Demitra…re-awakened playing with the twin towers

3) Alex Edler…looked great at both ends of the ice.

Unsung Hero… Ryan Kesler…checked Danny Heatley into distraction.