The most worrisome aspect of the Ottawa Senators' latest collapse -- coming from ahead to lose 4-3 to the Washington Capitals -- is this quote the Washington Times attributed to Alex Ovechkin, who said the Sens were laughing and joking after they got up three goals in the first period:"It looked like their (attitude) wasn't very good," the Times quoted Afleet Alex. "That got us angry."
When the sub-.500 Sens let up on the first game of a long road trip, that's a troubling sign. It's one thing to lose -- Washington's still a member of the NHL in good standing and so long as they have Ovechkin, they have a chance every night. It's only 13 games in, barely 15% of the schedule, but it should be troubling to Senators fans that their team apparently acted like the game was in the bag. That would not have been the case last year, when the Sens had more blowouts than a NASCAR race.
Anyway, it's all in how you perceive it: The Sens have a better goal differential (+6) than the Leafs and several other Eastern teams that are playing .500 hockey or better, but one knows better than to preach patience to an Ottawa fan, even in early November.
Leafs 4 Flyers 1: Let's hold off on planning the Stanley Cup parade until the Leafs can not get outshot 17-3 in a period by the worst team in the league, shall we? Yes, that actually happened last night, and the Leafs still won, thanks to Andrew Raycroft stopping 40 saves and Nik Antropov, perhaps inspired by his fictional Kazakh countryman Borat, having a good game. Nii-ice.
Canucks 2 Stars 1: While Raycroft was both lucky and good, his one-time backup with the Kingston Frontenacs, Mike Smith, was merely good -- he ended up with his first NHL loss after Taylor Pyatt scored the game-winner for Vancouver with 45 seconds left.
Ducks 3 Penguins 2 (OT): Teemu Selanne's overtime goal allowed Anaheim to equal the '84-85 Oilers for the longest point streak to start a season -- 15 straight games. Of course, the Oilers did it in an era of no shootouts and 5-on-5 overtime. By the way, Sidney Crosby hasn't had a shot on goal in three games.
Thrashers 5 Bruins 3: The kind of game Gary Bettman dreams of -- which is to say seven of the eight goals came on special teams. Ilya Kovalchuk buried three of them for the Thrashers.
Lightning 5 Islanders 1: Just as Ricky Bobby was contractually obligated to mention Powerade in every prayer, we're obliged to point out that Rick DiPietro and his 15-year contract were on the bench again last night.
That's all for now. Send your thoughts to neatesager@yahoo.ca.
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5 comments:
The Leafs were also shorthanded for half of the second period.
Well, that doesn't prove much. Why were they taking penalties against such a struggling team?
Not seeing the period and commenting on the Leafs' play doesn't hold much weight either.
Thanks for your input, Ninja.... so I take it people whose jobs require evening and weekend work are second-class citizens are in your world? Not all of us are 9-to-5ers.
With all due respect, way to promote a diversity of opinions.
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